Recent Responses
My question is straight forward and people rarely have trouble answering. What is life or what makes life to be life? Is it simply just living or is there more to its definitin that we haven't explored. What is life?
Jonathan Westphal
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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There are several sense to the word "life", which derives from a Norse word having to do with the body; in German we have Leib, body. (1) There is a biological sense, which used to be taken to say that things possess life only if they possess respiration, excretion, reproduction, growth, irri... Read more
Can I hate someone I love?
Jennifer Church
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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I do not think it is possible to both love and hate someone at the same time. Love requires a kind of psychological 'embrace' and 'protectivenes' while hate requires a kind of psychological 'rejection' or 'attack'.
I would reject the possibility of loving one aspect of a person while hating ano... Read more
Is it possible to look at anything without labeling it and to simply look at it as it just Is?
Allen Stairs
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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It's pretty clearly possible to look without verbal labeling, since animals and infants do that. But whether we can just look at something 'as it is' isn't so clear. One obvious problem: our sensory systems (brain included) do a lot of processing of the information they take in, and this starts... Read more
Is it possible to look at anything without labeling it and to simply look at it as it just Is?
Allen Stairs
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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It's pretty clearly possible to look without verbal labeling, since animals and infants do that. But whether we can just look at something 'as it is' isn't so clear. One obvious problem: our sensory systems (brain included) do a lot of processing of the information they take in, and this starts... Read more
So, it's my understanding that Russell and Whitehead's project of logicism in the Principia Mathematica didn't work out. I understand that two reasons for this are (1) that some of their axioms don't seem to be derivable from pure logic and (2) Gödel's incompleteness theorems. However, particularly since symbolic logic and the philosophy of mathematics are not my area, it's hard for me to see how 1 & 2 work and defeat the project.
Peter Smith
July 30, 2010
(changed July 30, 2010)
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I agree with Richard's and Alex's general remarks about "logicism" and what counts as "logical". It would indeed be far too quick to reject every form of logicism just because it makes the existence of an infinite number of objects a matter of "logic".
Still, it is perhaps worth reiterating (as Ri... Read more
I just graduated from college with a philosophy degree. I don't think that I want to get a Phd in philosophy (though, you never know...) but I remain excited by many philosophical questions, particularly in philosophy of mathematics and ethics. How can I keep philosophy a part of my life?
Andrew Pessin
August 5, 2010
(changed August 5, 2010)
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let me supplement Eddy's fine response by noting that you will probably have to be very pro-active in making this happen! not only will you get distracted (reasonably) by life, but so will most of the people you're hanging out with, who may not have any initial interest in philosophy anyway!... Read more
What's the difference between aesthetic and entertainment value?
Jonathan Westphal
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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How about this? Entertainment value is diversion (certainly a good thing), aesthetic value is engagement.
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I recently graduated with my Specialized Honours BA in philosophy and I would like to pursue graduate studies. But until then, what extra-curricular activities relating to philosophy can I do to render my application more competitive and to demonstrate my passion for philosophy?
Peter Smith
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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When it comes to moving from the BA to beginning graduate studies, the only thing (in my experience) that grad schools really care about is just how smart you are at philosophy. So they will take note of how well you did in the BA, of what your referees write about you, and (probably most important... Read more
Definitions of health tend to focus on the absence of non-health, as in "health is the absence of disease," or in terms of what health affords us, as in "health allows one to lead a vital life." These approaches seem to avoid consideration of what health is. Why do we do this? Is it possible that something can only be defined in terms of what it is not, or what it leads to? How would we go about considering a definition of health?
Miriam Solomon
July 29, 2010
(changed July 29, 2010)
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Actually, the WHO defined health in 1946 as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being." So health can be defined positively; the question is how useful such a definition is. Some think that this definition sets the bar too high (who among is is healthy according to that defi... Read more
Why is academic genius valued more highly than sporting genius? This seems pretentious to me.
Gordon Marino
July 28, 2010
(changed July 28, 2010)
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I'm not sure that this is so in the general public. But the reason would be that some great good can come from "academic genius" e.g. cure for a disease, whereas only entertainment can come from athletic brilliance.
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