Recent Responses

Is cybersex a sexual encounter? If you discover that your partner engages in it, is he/she cheating on you?

Louise Antony July 4, 2008 (changed July 4, 2008) Permalink I can't comment on Alan Soble's intriguing suggestion that one can have sex by taking up a philosophical position (can one become a philosopher by taking up a sexual position?), but I would like to suggest that anyone who doubts that "virtual sex" is a kind of having sex view the excellent and hila... Read more

Environment

Is it important to save endangered species?

Oliver Leaman August 9, 2007 (changed August 9, 2007) Permalink Not necessarily. It is only worth saving things that are worth saving. One would need to have a view on whether a particular species was good to have around, serves any useful purpose or is an obstacle to the welfare of what we regard as important species, like us. Otherwise our attitude to nat... Read more

Existence

I was thinking, Is "absolutely nothing" logically possible? And I would just like to know what you would think of this argument. IF it is accepted that 1) "X is true if X corresponds to reality" then it would be logically impossible for "absolutely nothing" to exist. "Absolutely Nothing" implies no reality. If there is no reality then one can never say that "absolutely nothing" can exist, since "absolutely nothing" does not correspond to reality. But I ask you, if "absolutely nothing" is even possible. And if it is not possible, then what logical proofs are there. Thank you!

Allen Stairs August 9, 2007 (changed August 9, 2007) Permalink I'd like to take this question in a slightly different direction. I accept the point made by Prof. George: we don't need to think of the phrase "absolutely nothing" as referring to something; the logic of "There's milk in the fridge" isn't the same as the logic of "There's absolutely nothing in... Read more

Sex

Is cybersex a sexual encounter? If you discover that your partner engages in it, is he/she cheating on you?

Philosophy

Do you ever find the questions of philosophy to be mundane and rather inconsequential to our lives, not just in the daily sense but in totality? What about poverty, inequality, war, and our individual responsibility in these areas? Isn't there so much to learn, and if so, why are we philosophers instead asking about the finer details of whether a hypothetical barber of a hypothetical village shaves the hypothetical beard of hypothetical men??

David Brink August 9, 2007 (changed August 9, 2007) Permalink A couple of points. First, your worry about the irrelevance or unimportance of philosophy applies differently to different areas of philosophy. There are many kinds of philosophical issues. Many ethical issues -- for instance, the sort of issues about poverty, inequality, war, and individual r... Read more

Sex

Is cybersex a sexual encounter? If you discover that your partner engages in it, is he/she cheating on you?

Profession

Dear Philosophers, I am a 34-year old undergraduate (junior level, at a very good liberal arts college), majoring in philosophy and art history. I fully understand that I am already 5-10 years behind those with whom I would potentially compete for positions in higher education. My question is the following: Do you believe I have the same capacity (given the rigorous nature of the discipline) and chance (given that I complete doctoral studies) to make a meaningful contribution to my chosen specialized field (aesthetics)? I know that there are personal variables that make success more or less likely.

David Brink August 8, 2007 (changed August 8, 2007) Permalink There are of course the usual things anyone ought to consider before applying to graduate school in philosophy -- you need to love philosophy and you need to understand that good jobs (at research universities or top liberal arts programs) are scarce and require that you go to a very strong gradu... Read more

Religion

In the debate between theists and atheists/agnostics, which side has the burden of proof? Are believers supposed to prove that God must exist, or must atheists demonstrate that God cannot exist?

Peter Smith February 14, 2008 (changed February 14, 2008) Permalink "Burden tennis", batting the burden of proof to and fro over the net, is rarely a very profitable pastime! But still, maybe this case is an exception. After all, conventional theists when you come down to it are making some pretty exotic claims (claims that make the beliefs, say, of ancient... Read more

Time Truth

Does a proposition about the future have to be true today? If so does this preclude contingency and is every proposition of the future necessary?

Alexander George August 6, 2007 (changed August 6, 2007) Permalink In connection with Professor Stairs' last two paragraphs, you might also read Question 997 and some of the further entries referred to there. Log in to post comments

Justice

I am a Zimbabwean student studying in South Africa and like many, am distressed quite deeply by the events of Zimbabwe's recent past. I am particularly opposed to the blinding lights of patriotism and nationalism-and the inextricable fetters it places upon human thought. However, at the moment I feel that much of my disgust and my desire for change in Zim is motivated by that very patriotism I tend to abhor. Is nationalism ever justified? Or does it always form the pretext for the ideologies of hate that grip the world so voraciously? Also, is the use of force justified in opposition to the government's fierce crackdown on civil protest? Is civil disobedience of Mahatma Gandhi's brand the only justified response to tyranny?

Thomas Pogge August 14, 2007 (changed August 14, 2007) Permalink It's worth distinguishing two very different kinds of nationalism or, more broadly, partiality. The first is well-expressed by "my country right or wrong". Here the agent is a nationalist or patriot by putting the interests (crudely conceived) of a certain group above those of others and above... Read more

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