Recent Responses
What has happened to the practice of philosophy as opposed to the profession (teaching) of philosophy? Given the political, ethical, moral, and economic dilemmas facing the U.S. and the world, one would think philosophers would be as common in government as bureaucrats.
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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Thank you for this question! A minor point at the outset: I think a great deal of the best teaching of philosophy involves the practice of philosophy. There are perhaps some philosophy teachers who simply teach what Plato etc thought, and expect students to master certain texts with critical... Read more
My wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 62 almost immediately after we retired. I was her sole caregiver for over 6 years until she entered a nursing home this year. She is deteriorating at a greater rate and, for instance, she no longer recognizes her grandchildren. She does recognize me and apparently gets pleasure when I visit. I intend to continue visiting regularly at least until she no longer recognizes me. I do not even consider divorcing her - we have been married 43 years and she was always my best friend. I am a relatively young 70 years of age. How do I reconcile my own needs including having a female companion with my marriage vows?
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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This is such a profoundly personal question, my fellow panelists might want me shot for trying to respond, but I shall do my best. First, your role as caregiver for 6 years is an extraordinary act of fidelity and the fact that you have had children and children's children plus friendship for... Read more
I am curious about the formation of the moral conscience and at what age a child should be held responsible for knowing the difference between right and wrong. And would the same criteria apply for acts of commission and acts of omission assuming that there are no "defenses", so to speak, like voluntary intoxication or organic brain damage. Thanks.
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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Great question. Probably one of the other panelists will do a better job than me on this one, but here goes: I suggest that the key to determining the age of responsibility comes down to measuring the development of cognitive power and control. You ask about "what age a child should be held... Read more
Does music exist without a listener? This is kind of a corollary to the tree falling in the woods question- but it definitely deviates. Does the noise exist without someone to hear it? If music is created by a musician, does it really matter if anyone hears it? Does music have more value than random noise- because it was created with a purpose? Does this purpose give it more value than other waves?
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
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Great questions. If by 'music' one means actual auditions (sounds), then it seems that the same reply works with the tree in the woods. There would be no sound and thus no music without auditions and thus without someone or thing to hear it. And the definition of music in terms of sound is... Read more
Some twelve step groups advocate taking the right actions to lead to the right thinking, "right" being defined as non-addictive behavior. The phrase is "Fake it until you make it." Is there a philosophical comment on that process, as opposed to the idea of thinking your way into the desired behavior?
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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Interesting! Philosophers have disagreed about the scope of our freedom and even over whether we (in non-addictive states) have freedom at all. Spinoza, for example, denied that we have libertarian freedom (the freedom to do other than what we are determined to do). The great majority of ph... Read more
Is it conceivable that something finite can become infinite? Isn't there an inherent conceptual problem in a transition from finiteness to infinity? (My question comes from science, but the scientists don't seem to bother to explain this, such as in the case of gravity within a black hole -- a massive star collapses into a black hole and gravity in it rises to infinity? The more interesting example to me is the notion that the universe may well be infinite, but the main view in cosmology is that it began as finite and even had a definable size early on in its expansion. How could an expanding universe at some point cross over to have infinite dimensions?)
Peter Smith
July 13, 2010
(changed July 13, 2010)
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A few comments on Hilbert's Hotel (since Charles Taliaferro has brought that up) and "actual infinities":
If you want a standard presentation of the usual Hilbert's Hotel "paradox", which has nothing to do with money, then check out Wikipedia's good entry. The "paradox" just dramatizes the basic fa... Read more
Why do philosophers seem to object to anthropomorphic moral and value claims? In other words, what's wrong embracing our parochial human interests completely? Say for instance a rare slug which we know conclusively to have no non-aesthetic value occupies space that prevents the construction of a hydroelectric dam. Why should we not say, "Screw the slug, humanity is more important" and proceed accordingly? More abstractly, why has morality (excepting maybe Nietzsche) not attempted to reconcile humanity's obvious selfishness, bias, violence and greed with what we might call "pure" ethics. Moreover, what's to stop us from simply re-defining our philosophical terms in order to make this more palatable, e.g. by defining "free will" as "whatever it is that humans do/experience" as an easy out from some sticker philosophical dilemmas? Thanks in advance for any responses.
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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I agree that there is ample evidence of obvious human bias, greed, violence, selfishness, but I suggest that there is also ample evidence of human impartiality, benevolence, love of others, unselfish compassion. Though I am not a neo-Darwinian or a great fan of Darwin's ethics (especially his... Read more
Is there a proper role for faith in philosophy, or do they function in distinct realms?
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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Interesting question! Please forgive me for replying with what is probably the classic philosophical response: it depends what you mean by "faith." If by "faith" you mean something like trust, then I think philosophy must involve trust. One must (at a minimum) trust one's own faculties / th... Read more
Science theorises by proposing ideal types and deducing ideal relationships between them. In nature there is no ideal sphere touching an ideal frictionless plane in an ideal single point. Instead of these ideals, nature gives us avalanches. Yet to study real avalanches the theory derived from the unreal ideal is required. Presumably, reality is too chaotic to theorise directly. Does all useful theory depend on ideal types? It does seem usual. Economics creates idealised relational theories from idealised constructs such as homo economicus, market clearing, perfect information and other things which do not and cannot exist in reality. Presumably, this idealisation approach is one reason for the relative success of economics compared with other social sciences. In the natural sciences measurement is also ideal. For example, a temperature noted as 23.59 degrees is not real: the reality will be plus or minus some small amount. The recorded value, like any exact number, is a mathematical abstraction. In the social sciences there are no units of measure so the only available ideal value for any concept is its total presence or total absence. In economics, the concept of rationality is perfect rationality, market clearing is absolute. Economic theories are constructed from all-or-nothing ideals. Why don’t the other social sciences develop relational theories based on ideal types? For example: total cooperation, perfect competition, utterly forgiving nature, perfectly nice human nature, perfect selfishness, total equality, perfect justice, utter domination, complete freedom, etc, etc. Shouldn’t this be the normal approach? Am I reinventing a philosophical (square) wheel or is this a new thought?
Charles Taliaferro
July 9, 2010
(changed July 9, 2010)
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Your question is excellent. Though I am afraid your proposal is not completely novel insofar as Plato initiated a philosophy of ideal forms in all areas of life (the good, the true, the beautiful, the just, and so on), though of course he was working long before we began carving up inquiry in... Read more
Is time an independent physical dimension or a human construct designed to compare events to each other ? If it is a physical entity why can we move only in one direction and at an inexorable pace? Is it theoretically possible for a time machine (Hot Tub or any other sort) could exist?
Jonathan Westphal
July 15, 2010
(changed July 15, 2010)
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I agree with everything that Allen writes in his last comment. Some time travel scenarios are ruled out a priori : these are the inconsistent ones, and there may be others, for all I know. Are the consistent ones ruled out by anything? I can't see that they are, as the only reason I am clear... Read more