Recent Responses
I'm pretty good at reading philosophy and making rational arguments. I am very bad at interacting with people, multitasking, remembering to turn off the stove, etc. So I spend most of my time reading about moral and political theory and getting worked up about the injustices I see in the world, but fear what might happen if I lifted a finger to help change the world for the better. I've taken a job helping adults with mental retardation live normal lives. I try to disseminate to my friends important information I read about in the news. I work very hard to be kind and empathetic. Yet I still feel that maybe my capacity for understanding and using reason obliges me to be more involved in political action. Is there a way for clumsy, awkward, introverted college graduates to fulfill their moral obligations without depending on skills they will probably never possess? Am I morally obligated to keep developing these skills, even if they never become strong enough to be useful? Is this moral obligation just a figment of my imagination? Or should I just stop reading Chomsky?
Thomas Pogge
May 17, 2010
(changed May 17, 2010)
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I agree that you do focus your efforts on tasks you are comparatively good at. One possibility here is to write a popular book or blog, building on the kind of dissemination work you're already doing for your friends. If this is difficult for some reason, then you might just financially support othe... Read more
I was talking to a girl about my opinions on love, and on the topic of polygamy I told her that theoretically (it's hard enough falling in love with one person!) I could see myself with two women that I completely loved. She told me that I confused her because she could not square that statement with a previous statement where I spoke of my want for true love. I told her that I didn't see any contradiction between those two sentiments. Maybe if I understood why people are opposed to polygamy I would have an easier time defending my opinion on the subject. So why is it said by so many people that it is impossible to fall in love with more than one person at the same time? When I ask these people why this is so they can not give me a clear answer. Can you provide a clear explanation for why love must (or allegedly must) be exclusive to only one sexual partner?
Richard Heck
May 16, 2010
(changed May 16, 2010)
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Without meaning to take a stand on anything, I think it is worth mentioning that, in most actual "polyamorous" relationships, things are not as Eric describes, where one partner "receive[s] 100% of the relational attention from two [others],while they each have to settle for about 50% of" the former... Read more
I was talking to a girl about my opinions on love, and on the topic of polygamy I told her that theoretically (it's hard enough falling in love with one person!) I could see myself with two women that I completely loved. She told me that I confused her because she could not square that statement with a previous statement where I spoke of my want for true love. I told her that I didn't see any contradiction between those two sentiments. Maybe if I understood why people are opposed to polygamy I would have an easier time defending my opinion on the subject. So why is it said by so many people that it is impossible to fall in love with more than one person at the same time? When I ask these people why this is so they can not give me a clear answer. Can you provide a clear explanation for why love must (or allegedly must) be exclusive to only one sexual partner?
Richard Heck
May 16, 2010
(changed May 16, 2010)
Permalink
Without meaning to take a stand on anything, I think it is worth mentioning that, in most actual "polyamorous" relationships, things are not as Eric describes, where one partner "receive[s] 100% of the relational attention from two [others],while they each have to settle for about 50% of" the former... Read more
I want to believe that our actions are products of our own will who can choose to do right or wrong but I find this very difficult to believe for a simple philosophical reason. Given the principle that something can not come about by nothing it seems like an absolute and indubitable certainty that the total state of affairs in the universe at any one given moment in time would completely determine the state of affairs at another moment in time. The only thing that keeps me from believing this is my suspicion that my mind is playing a metaphysical trick on me and my hope in religious and spiritual possibilities. Is there some flaw to this reasoning that I can not see? Are there any good arguments that refutes the intuitive position that a non-deterministic universe is an absurdity? I suppose that you could argue that certain areas of science such a quantum mechanics refute the idea of a deterministic universe but such scientific theories don't have the simple persuasiveness of the above mentioned thesis.
Allen Stairs
May 14, 2010
(changed May 14, 2010)
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Persuasiveness is pretty clearly a relative matter here! After having spent a few decades thinking about quantum theory, I don't find myself much bothered by the idea of indeterminism. Even if I front that "something can't come from nothing" it's a long way from there to the conclusion that all even... Read more
I was talking to a girl about my opinions on love, and on the topic of polygamy I told her that theoretically (it's hard enough falling in love with one person!) I could see myself with two women that I completely loved. She told me that I confused her because she could not square that statement with a previous statement where I spoke of my want for true love. I told her that I didn't see any contradiction between those two sentiments. Maybe if I understood why people are opposed to polygamy I would have an easier time defending my opinion on the subject. So why is it said by so many people that it is impossible to fall in love with more than one person at the same time? When I ask these people why this is so they can not give me a clear answer. Can you provide a clear explanation for why love must (or allegedly must) be exclusive to only one sexual partner?
Richard Heck
May 16, 2010
(changed May 16, 2010)
Permalink
Without meaning to take a stand on anything, I think it is worth mentioning that, in most actual "polyamorous" relationships, things are not as Eric describes, where one partner "receive[s] 100% of the relational attention from two [others],while they each have to settle for about 50% of" the former... Read more
Which would you recommend to a neophyte of philosophy who has a broad but a very, very superficial understanding (I know a bit about the history and how and why philosophical trends happend since the pre-socratics to contemporary philosophy) of philosophy? A very terse, comprehensive, and detailed book on Kant/Kant's Critique of Pure Reason or the Critique of Pure Reason itself? I hear from many philosophers that Kant is a boring writer with great ideas. Is he boring in the sense that Aristotle is boring to some people in that he is dry and to the point (I do not find that boring at all!)? I would like to read both Pure Reason and an academic's commentary, summary, and analysis of it, but I have time and money for only one. Also, thanks for this website, I've found it very useful!
William Rapaport
May 14, 2010
(changed May 14, 2010)
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Another alternative is to read Kant's very own "Cliff's Notes" version of the Critique, namely, his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Again, there are numerous inexpensive editions, or go to your local library; it's also online at http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20306/kant_mater... Read more
What does a person mean when somebody says they have faith in something but don't know that something to be true? Is this a psychological evasion?
Jennifer Church
May 13, 2010
(changed May 13, 2010)
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It might help to think of such faith as akin to trust. We can trust a hunch about who will win a game without knowing that we are right; and we can trust a stranger to help us without knowing that they will do so.
Some philosophers think that such trust can be reasonable because our unreflecti... Read more
Is the feeling that God exists a sufficient reason to believe in God? Is there anyway of analyzing such a feeling to determine its validity? Can feeling ever give us profound truths about the world?
Jennifer Church
May 13, 2010
(changed May 13, 2010)
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Generally, feeling that something is true is a reason to believe that it is true (since our feelings are frequently based on true observations and ideas), but it is not a sufficient reason (since our feelings may arises from wishes rather than observations, and since there are many observations a... Read more
Which would you recommend to a neophyte of philosophy who has a broad but a very, very superficial understanding (I know a bit about the history and how and why philosophical trends happend since the pre-socratics to contemporary philosophy) of philosophy? A very terse, comprehensive, and detailed book on Kant/Kant's Critique of Pure Reason or the Critique of Pure Reason itself? I hear from many philosophers that Kant is a boring writer with great ideas. Is he boring in the sense that Aristotle is boring to some people in that he is dry and to the point (I do not find that boring at all!)? I would like to read both Pure Reason and an academic's commentary, summary, and analysis of it, but I have time and money for only one. Also, thanks for this website, I've found it very useful!
William Rapaport
May 14, 2010
(changed May 14, 2010)
Permalink
Another alternative is to read Kant's very own "Cliff's Notes" version of the Critique, namely, his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Again, there are numerous inexpensive editions, or go to your local library; it's also online at http://www.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil%20306/kant_mater... Read more
Is it okay to disobey a just law just because you disagree with it? For example, take under-age drinking of alcohol. In various parts of the world there is a general disagreement about when it is a right age to drink alcohol. In the United States, the drinking age is 21. Many choose to begin drinking at an earlier age because they feel they have a right to do so. What philosophical problems are there with disobeying a just law?
Eric Silverman
May 13, 2010
(changed May 13, 2010)
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Of course, it isn't morally acceptable to disobey a law merely because you disagree with it (you seem to be confusing the concept of a 'law' with the concept of a 'suggestion'). Let's suppose I'm an American driving in Europe and I want to drive on the right side of the street simply because I pre... Read more