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I've been thinking about derogatory words for people who belong to specific groups. These words, I think, not only identify these persons, but they also kind of "state" that those persons are bad, inferior, or something like that. For instance, if you would call someone a "boche" (e.g. "She is a boche!"), you would not only be saying that that person is a German citizen, but also that ALL Germans are, say, despicable. Do you think this is a plausible view? And, if it is, don't you think that it is strange that a single word, as apllied to only one person, somehow contains a statement about a whole group of people?
Mitch Green
April 19, 2010
(changed April 19, 2010)
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Thanks for your perceptive comment/question. Derogatory words do identify groups. So both 'Wop' and 'Italian' apply to all and only Italians. However, the derogatory words convey more than this. You describe this further things by saying they kind of state that the persons are bad, etc. Phi... Read more
Is it possible for any legitimate science to prove, if not now at least someday, that God indeed exists? Or is Richard Dawkins more intuitively right in saying that "someday we would have to understand the whole of the universe without anymore referring to a supernatural being"?
Richard Heck
April 17, 2010
(changed April 17, 2010)
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I can only think of one thing to say in response to Allen's remarks, and that would be "Amen!"
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Is it possible for any legitimate science to prove, if not now at least someday, that God indeed exists? Or is Richard Dawkins more intuitively right in saying that "someday we would have to understand the whole of the universe without anymore referring to a supernatural being"?
Richard Heck
April 17, 2010
(changed April 17, 2010)
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I can only think of one thing to say in response to Allen's remarks, and that would be "Amen!"
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Is there really a fundamental moral difference between "killing" and "letting someone die"?
Oliver Leaman
April 9, 2010
(changed April 9, 2010)
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Yes, there is. As I sit here typing this someone at my house might be requiring my help, and they do not receive it so they suffer. But that is typically hardly my fault, and I am not to blame. If though I knew that they would require my help and chose to abandon them, then it would be a differen... Read more
Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorems represent one of the foremost achievements in mathematical logic's proud history. AskPhilosopher's very own panelist Peter Smith obviously is greatly intrigued by these theorems. Suppose out of jealously -- though I doubt he would succumb to such a vice! -- he decided to build a time machine. Imagine, moreover, that he went to a time before Gödel had proven the theorems and gave the great logician, say, the idea of Gödel numbering, the key to proving the incompleteness theorems. My question thus is as follows: Who would deserve credit for proving the incompleteness theorems? Gödel seems to have gotten the idea from Peter; Peter seems to have gotten the idea from Gödel. Is it possible that neither would deserve credit?
Allen Stairs
April 9, 2010
(changed April 9, 2010)
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What a lovely question!
The first thing to ask is whether the story is internally consistent -- unlike a story in which John kills his grandfather before Grandfather fathers John's mother. That appears not to be a problem here; there's no obvious hint of an event having to have happened and not h... Read more
Why does it always seem that inner beauty, or beauty in personality and character is more often believed to be more beautiful than just outer beauty? As such, you will hear people saying, "I'd rather have an ugly wife with a beautiful soul than a gorgeous woman with an ugly soul?" Should this kind of attitude towards beauty be followed?
Nicholas D. Smith
April 8, 2010
(changed April 8, 2010)
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It doesn't look that way to me!
OK, seriously, then...
I think we are doing just a little bit of apples and oranges here. I would certainly rather spend the rest of my life with someone who was decent and kind and patient and nururing and... (we can see where this is going), than someone who... Read more
Is time-wasting immoral? The books I read tell me many times not to waste my life doing nothing, but if I choose to do it by the way, would it be immoral?
Nicholas D. Smith
April 8, 2010
(changed April 8, 2010)
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Like so many questions in ethics, this one seems to me to depend on which actual ethical theory we apply.
If we take a very strict kind of consequentialist theory (according to which the goodness or badness of an action is to be measured by the value of the consequences of that action, "was... Read more
What does a person do when his or her co-workers do not do their job and he or she is always doing their job?
Eddy Nahmias
April 8, 2010
(changed April 8, 2010)
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Stop.
Let their ineptitude and laziness shine forth in all it's glory.
Hope they will be replaced by people who do their own work as effectively as you do.
If this fails, try to ensure that higher-ups know what you are doing so you are compensated more appropriately.
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After researching on what it's like to be a budding PHD hopeful, I'm a little scared at the thought of going for a PHD. Being in debt, along with the high drop rate, is a little intimidating. Combine that with the fact that I might be a nomad if I graduate. What I want is to be able to read cutting edge journals with some ease, and contribute to the discipline by writing in them too. I am aware that I'm able to do this without the paper, but how exactly would I know I'm not a crank? This is why I want the education. Would going for a master's give me the skills to read and write for journals? Is it much harder to read journals or write in journals with just a master's degree? Is that an area that is totally reserved for someone with a PHD (skill wise anyways)? As I've stated before, the road towards a PHD is very intimidating, and it seems there is a lot less to lose if i go for the MA.
Eddy Nahmias
April 8, 2010
(changed April 8, 2010)
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You sound like you have a clear picture of the costs and benefits of getting a PhD in philosophy. You should continue to talk about it with your mentors in the field. You also sound like you might benefit from getting an MA (full disclosure: I teach at Georgia State in Atlanta, a terminal MA pro... Read more
How much do I need to give to charity before I can splurge on a new iPod and not feel guilty?
Andrew N. Carpenter
April 5, 2010
(changed April 5, 2010)
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With respect to your feeling guilty or not, my first response is that you need to find a way to evaluate the regard that you show or don't show for others in a more holistic and comprehensive way -- all things considered, and in light of whatever obligations you think you have to assist tho... Read more