Recent Responses
What does it mean in mathematics for two things to be equal, or for two things to have the same "identity"? For example, because anything divided by zero is "undefined", can we say that 1/0 = 2/0? What about the relational database concept of "null" which is supposed to stand for "unknown"? In relational algebra, they say NULL is not equal to NULL, but doesn't that violate the law of identity that everything is equal to itself?
Daniel J. Velleman
July 12, 2007
(changed July 12, 2007)
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I think it is important to distinguish here between the meanings of expressions and the things that those expressions denote. Peter is right that the expressions "2+2" and "4" are different expressions, and they are not synonymous. But they both denote the same thing, namely the number 4.... Read more
What does it mean in mathematics for two things to be equal, or for two things to have the same "identity"? For example, because anything divided by zero is "undefined", can we say that 1/0 = 2/0? What about the relational database concept of "null" which is supposed to stand for "unknown"? In relational algebra, they say NULL is not equal to NULL, but doesn't that violate the law of identity that everything is equal to itself?
Daniel J. Velleman
July 12, 2007
(changed July 12, 2007)
Permalink
I think it is important to distinguish here between the meanings of expressions and the things that those expressions denote. Peter is right that the expressions "2+2" and "4" are different expressions, and they are not synonymous. But they both denote the same thing, namely the number 4.... Read more
I am a baseball coach/manager. In my stepson's baseball league, another team has a child (these are pony league players - 13 & 14) who has some arm problems. I know he has had an MRI (know the MRI tech) and also that his doctor instructed him never to pitch again. The coach and parents are aware of this too - yet the coach still pitches him in games. Other parents discuss this problem, yet no one seems willing to step up and do something about this. Since I know the story, would it be ethical if I anonymously informed the league? There may be a potential liability issue at stake here too. This kid is going to ruin his arm before he gets to high school. I am also trying to balance the confidentiality of the medical relationship vs. the kid's welfare. Should I even be considering this?
Peter S. Fosl
July 12, 2007
(changed July 12, 2007)
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I agree with Thomas Pogge's remarks, but I also have a couple of cents to add. First, consider very seriously and act in light of the fact that your information comes to you second hand (from a lab tech and not the child's physician or parent)--unless, of course you are the MRI technician. Seco... Read more
Why do people participate in meaningless activities such as politics, education, mathematics, philosophy and such when either we are all going to die so it won't matter what we have done, or maybe our existence and/or this world is all an illusion so it doesn't matter what happens because it's not real?
Cheryl Chen
July 12, 2007
(changed July 12, 2007)
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I'm not sure I understand what it is for something to "matter", if it isn't shorthand for mattering to someone or other. As Richard Heck points out, something a person does might matter to other people after her death. And certain things I do matter very much to me right now–or will matter to me... Read more
From a moral Christian point of view, I cannot understand the idea that we should punish anyone. In America, which is a highly Christian-dominated society, there is little resistance to capital punishment from the "right wing." My understanding is that Christians are not supposed to judge. God will judge everyone when their time comes. Isn't Christian morality about tolerance and acceptance, and not revenge? "Turning the other cheek?" "Love thy neighbor/enemy as thyself?" Are Christians simply turning a blind eye to this action?
Thomas Pogge
July 22, 2007
(changed July 22, 2007)
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There is indeed a tension between capital punishment and the teachings of Christ. One can ease this tension somewhat by highlighting the contribution of penal institutions to the protection of innocent people, who are safer when criminals are taken off the street and potential criminals deterred.... Read more
What does it mean to "respect" nature? Is there a difference between "respecting" nature and just liking it a whole lot?
Marc Lange
July 8, 2007
(changed July 8, 2007)
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Imagine someone who thinks that wild things ought to be preserved and protected -- that it is humanity's moral duty to do so. She might even be one of those good people who manages to put these "green" moral principles into action. But suppose that she does not especially enjoy being around natural th... Read more
Is it ethical for a depressed person to limit social interaction with friends, based on the idea that the friends might find such interaction unpleasant? Part of the problem is that friends often don't openly admit to not enjoying the depressed presence, but, if the depressed person finds it difficult to live with him-/herself, would it not follow that other people also find his/her company difficult? Increased isolation would undoubtedly have adverse effects on the depressed person. Would it be possible for a philosopher to explain the ethical position of the depressed person as regards to social interaction, please?
Gloria Origgi
July 7, 2007
(changed July 7, 2007)
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When you are going through a depression your social identity is severely undermined. The mirroring effect that others have on your own perception of yourself- the way you "see yourself seen"- is so modified by your emotional states that one can argue that it would be probably safer to avoid too muc... Read more
If we assume that there is no afterlife, what reason do we have to comply with a person's wishes as regards treatment of their corpse? In particular, it is striking to me that we should respect a person's wish not to extract their organs after death; what reason could we possibly have to heed the wishes of someone who no longer exists, especially when the donation of their organs could literally save the lives of several people?
Roger Crisp
July 26, 2007
(changed July 26, 2007)
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A further consideration is that, given that many people have strong wishes -- whether rationally grounded or not -- that their corpses and probably those of their loved ones be treated in certain ways, it would be highly upsetting to many if they were to become aware that such treatment quite poss... Read more
Many of my science professors have remarked that the law of conservation of mass and energy is unprovable (or at least unproven); is this really the case, however? Isn't the problem of the conservation law precisely the problem of induction? (I.e., we observe that the mass and energy of every system we have ever examined has remained constant, but how do we know that this will hold true (1) in the future and (2) of all systems?) But presumably when my professors have said that the conservation law is unproven, they didn't mean that this is so because of the problem of induction (after all, if they took this route then all of science would be "unproven"!). I feel as though they are treating the conservation law as exceptional when in fact it is not. -ace
Marc Lange
July 6, 2007
(changed July 6, 2007)
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I agree with you that observational evidence for the hypothesis that all processes conserve energy (or mass, or mass-energy) inevitably fails to prove that hypothesis (though succeeds in confirming the hypothesis strongly), just as our observational evidence for the hypothesis that (say) "All bolts of... Read more
I have always thought that with the primary colors and black and white, you can create any color that we see. This may sound dumb, but then how do you make neon colors? What else can you add other than the previously mentioned colors (or lack of)?
Jonathan Westphal
November 27, 2008
(changed November 27, 2008)
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Do you think that colours emitted by neon gas have a particular neon quality? I'm not sure. But your question could very well be asked of the metallic colours, such as silver and gold. They are not "made" by any combination of primaries, so how are they made?
Log... Read more