Recent Responses
I am a psychology undergraduate considering doing my M.A. in Philosophy. How competitive do you think the job market is for getting a job as a community college philosophy professor right now? Would I better off (as far as a getting a professorship) by going into a Ph.D. program? Thanks!
Eric Silverman
July 17, 2009
(changed July 17, 2009)
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The academic job market in philosophy has been challenging for a long time. With the recent downturn in the economy, some people are describing it as the worst market in decades. Even before the downturn, you would have been very unlikely to land any long term job in philosophy with an M.A. In t... Read more
Is it better to marry someone you like and get along with or to marry someone with whom you are passionately in love? I am married to a man who I get along with and have some affection for but I do not love him and now realise that I never did. However, I get on fine with him. The fact that I am largely indifferent to him means that I am not really affected by his lack of love, affection or regard for me - nor do I generally want his company. The same applies for him - as he feels more or less similarly for me. We have not discussed our feelings with each other - but it is obvious. We have children and we stick together for their sakes and for convenience. I do not see our marriage breaking up. Some years ago I fell deeply in love with another man. I am still in love with him and I think that he feels the same. However, nothing happened between us nor will it ever happen - nor do I want anything to happen as I know that I would not be able to cope with any form of rejection from him. If I was married to him I would be insecure because I would always fear that he would stop loving me. I would love to think that deep passionate love would work but I doubt it. Am I right?
Lisa Cassidy
July 16, 2009
(changed July 16, 2009)
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I like Nicholas's response as-is, but will chime in here with a book recommendation: Robert Solomon's book About Love is an absolutely fantastic work. It is written to be accessed by anyone interested in love, marriage, or relationships. It is wonderfully clear and has been the intellectual hig... Read more
The other day I overheard a discussion over immigration, one man obviously to the right of the political spectrum said "we should not let foreigners in the country", the second, obviously on the left said that "we owe them, that as britain managed to control over a quarter of the world at one time and we subjicated and abused the people for financial gains and power it's about time that we made up for acting like bullies". The first replied "we owe them nothing, that we never treated them like this it was people who have now all died". Leaving out the political factors of immigration the question is, can a country morally owe someone? If it can, does it only stand as long as the generation responsible are alive or can the next generation (that disagrees with imperial ideas) be held responsible for the actions of a previous, and what if the subjugated people are also dead, are their descendants owed? Where does responsibility end?
Lisa Cassidy
July 16, 2009
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The immigration debate you mention reminds me of the reparations for slavery debate that happens on my side 'of the pond.' These are wonderfully interesting issue, but you are right: let's put aside the particulars of those debates to talk about justice, then pizza, and then I’ll swing back around... Read more
Is it possible for somebody to know nothing?
Nicholas D. Smith
July 16, 2009
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It depends on your theory of knowledge, but several theories would support the idea that someone with ordinary cognitive capacities could actually know nothing. Obviously the most important such theory is the one known as "global skepticism," which holds that absolutely everyone knows nothin... Read more
Can love happen more than once in life? Aman India Bangalore
Nicholas D. Smith
July 16, 2009
(changed July 16, 2009)
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Of course it can! Each loving relationship is different, I think, and so the sense of complete uniqueness in love, though accurate, does not show that there could not be another relationship that qualified as a loving one. Best wishes to you!
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Hello, I have a practical question. I have started reading Hegel. Maybe you could recomend some guides to Hegel's philosophy? Thank you.
Nicholas D. Smith
July 16, 2009
(changed July 16, 2009)
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I am not a Hegel scholar, but my colleague, who is one, recommends:
Tom Rockmore, Before & After Hegel: A Historical Introduction to Hegel's Thought (University of California Press, 1993), and
Frederick Beiser, Hegel (Routledge, 2005)
Happy hunting!
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What's the difference between wants and needs? Or is a need just something that I want really bad?
Peter Smith
July 15, 2009
(changed July 15, 2009)
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There are things that I want (badly) that I certainly don't need. I might very much desire to get an iPhone (say), but by no stretch of the imagination do I need one -- nothing is going to go wrong with me and my life if I don't get one.
Equally, there can be things that I need (badly) that I don't... Read more
I hope no one is offended by this question: if you like doing philosophy much in college but are not particularly good at it (in the sense that he/she only gets average grades at it) and if you aren't quite well off economically to be reading philosophy every day, would you say that philosophy is low at the priority list? On another note: do you really need college philosophy education to understand complex philosophical books?
Eric Silverman
July 14, 2009
(changed July 14, 2009)
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Whether we realize it or not, philosophy is something that is 'important, but never urgent'. Everyone lives by a philosophy, which is a set of assumptions concerning the ultimate nature of reality, ethics, knowledge, and what is important in life. However, not everyone has reflected upon these i... Read more
Why do people make fun about the theory that philosophers should be the rulers of the state? Did Plato or Aristotle or Epicurus govern their "Universities" badly?
Peter Smith
July 13, 2009
(changed July 13, 2009)
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Anyone who has sat through a life time of philosophy department meetings as we muddle through making another hash of things will smile wryly at the idea that your average philosopher would be any good at running a cake shop let alone something important.
Fortunately, in any sizeable group of phi... Read more
I've seen some people romanticize about philosophy in melancholic terms, as if it's a "symptom" of the depressed and sensitive minds to do philosophy. Is this generally true? Does the intricacy of philosophy require to some level quiet reserve and conscientiousness rather than an outgoing personality?
Peter Smith
July 13, 2009
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In my experience, philosophers -- I mean, at least, those earning a crust as professionals in universities -- are a pretty cheery bunch. And why not? We are actually being paid good money to have intellectual fun. We like talking and arguing. A lot. Preferably, in the excellent tradition of The Sym... Read more