Recent Responses
If a team of monkeys with typewriters accidentally typed a coherent and beautiful sonnet (one that appeared to be written by a talented author, despite being written by a shiftless monkey), would that qualify as art (or at least worthwhile literature)?
Allen Stairs
November 18, 2008
(changed November 18, 2008)
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If Olla Fritzharold were to give a scat-singing performance whose syllables accidentally added up to something that sounded just like calling one of the audience members a shiftless monkey in his own native language, would that qualify as an insult?
No. There's nothing like the relevant in... Read more
Is it possible for the constituent parts of a conscious being to be conscious themselves? Can I infer from the fact that I am conscious that the cells which make up my body are not conscious?
Jonathan Westphal
November 21, 2008
(changed November 21, 2008)
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My little toe is conscious, and it is a part of me, perhaps even a "constituent" part. I put in the scare quotes because I am wondering whether "constituent" means "essential"; if it does my big toe is not a constituent part of me. But if "A is a constituent of B" means "A is part of... Read more
I would appreciate some recommendations on texts (for a layperson -- a nonprofessional philosopher) whose subject is the philosophy of science.
William Rapaport
November 17, 2008
(changed November 17, 2008)
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And I'll chime in with my favorite: Okasha, Samir (2002), Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press), which I think is a terrific survey and lives up to its title of being "very short". I'd also agree that it's probably best to look at a survey such a... Read more
I have been doing a lot of research lately, and have started to think that perhaps there is not enough evidence to support a belief in G-d. One of the biggest things stopping me from taking the next step and declaring myself an atheist is that I believe I have felt G-d's presence in the past. Would this alone be justification for believing in G-d? Could the feelings I felt all be imagined?
Peter Smith
November 17, 2008
(changed November 17, 2008)
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It might very well be that you have had feelings that you have interpreted as feelings of the presence of God (you didn't imagine having the feelings that you interpreted that way). But the question, presumably, is whether you were right in so interpreting them.
The fact that, given your c... Read more
I would appreciate some recommendations on texts (for a layperson -- a nonprofessional philosopher) whose subject is the philosophy of science.
William Rapaport
November 17, 2008
(changed November 17, 2008)
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And I'll chime in with my favorite: Okasha, Samir (2002), Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press), which I think is a terrific survey and lives up to its title of being "very short". I'd also agree that it's probably best to look at a survey such a... Read more
Can determinism be proven by reason alone? Or was it only discovered empirically?
Peter Smith
November 17, 2008
(changed November 17, 2008)
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It is not entirely straightforward to come up with a cogent statement of determinism. But perhaps something along the following lines will do: our world is a deterministic one if the laws of nature are such that, given the past and current state of the world, there is only one possible way... Read more
Do graduate students really make contributions to philosophy? Or is philosophy only advanced by an elite few?
Peter Smith
November 17, 2008
(changed November 17, 2008)
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Oh, good graduate students most certainly make contributions: they get good papers published in good journals. And if that doesn't count as "making a contribution", then very few of us make contributions. (Our students make contributions in another important way too: they teach their teache... Read more
Parallel Lines: 1) I've been told that parallel lines never meet - except at infinity. 2) Also that a straight line is a circle of infinite radius. 3) Surely if you get two infinitely large circles such that they don't overlap, at their closest point they are straight (as per 2) and parallel yet must both meet (by 1) and not as per 3) - not overlapping. Any suggestions? (I'm confused!)
Thomas Pogge
November 16, 2008
(changed November 16, 2008)
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I think your #1 should go. If you drive a sled through the snow, the two lines you draw in the snow will never meet, never get closer to each other, even if you drive on forever. If you have two intersecting lines and close the angle toward zero, then at the limit the lines will have the s... Read more
Asymmetrical Morality Hello, I would like to know if there are ethical frameworks that can at the same time consider “good” performing action X, and not consider “bad” not performing it. The above does not seem possible with utilitarian frameworks. To give one example, it strikes me as odd that while many people would consider devolving a part of one’s salary to help the poor a “good” thing, they wouldn’t say that not devolving it is “bad”. Good if you do, OK if you don’t ... Thanks in advance.
Thomas Pogge
November 16, 2008
(changed November 16, 2008)
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Yes, there are such views. Some ethicists deploy the controversial notion of the supererogatory: of conduct beyond the call of duty. They might give an example such as this. If you risk your life to save a child from a burning building, you have done something very good. But if you decide... Read more
Hi, I'm writing about the Act-Omission idea within consequentialism. Is it the case that consequentialists would argue that there is no moral significance between an act or an omission if they cause the same consequences??? Therefore, one who carries out an action and causes a set of consequences is no different to one who causes the same set of consequences by omitting to perform an action?
Thomas Pogge
November 16, 2008
(changed November 16, 2008)
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Yes, this is the view of those who bring their consequentialism to bear upon conduct directly -- though they may also hold that there is reason to blame and punish omissions less because here blame and punishment are less effective.
There are also indirect consequentialists. They bring t... Read more