Recent Responses
I'd like to eventually earn a PhD in philosophy. I'm currently choosing between undergraduate programs. Due to personal and complicated reasons I'm unable to even attempt to attend some of the more prestigious universities (Yale, Duke, etc.). I'm worried this will have a strong negative effect on my chances of graduate school, and after graduate school my chances of securing a career in academia (philosophy). I read somewhere that it's nearly impossible to publish in the best journals if you don't come from a big-name university. What is the reality of my situation?
You should try to go to an
Eddy Nahmias
March 31, 2016
(changed March 31, 2016)
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You should try to go to an undergrad program within your constraints that has a strong philosophy department and ideally has had some success placing their majors in strong PhD programs. There are many such programs that are not "prestigious" in that they don't even ha... Read more
Hello, I am a seventeen-year old guy, and recently I've been having some philosophical questions that are really getting me down. There is objectively no answer to them, but I want to feel that I am not alone in asking these questions, or if anyone else has thoughts like these. (This is going to be long so brace yourselves!) Basically, at this stage in my life it feels that anything I do is completely pointless. Not in a suicidal or depressed way, but it just IS pointless - even if I blew up the world and everything on it, so what, that would just be the transfer of energy and breaking apart of atoms. It feels like everything we do in life is for the sole aim of keeping us alive. For example, if I cut my hand off, it wouldn't ACTUALLY hurt (as atoms don't have feelings), but it would just send a message to my brain that I have been wounded in some way, and my brain will make me feel a certain level of pain depending on how severe the injury is, because it could possibly be hindering my survival, and that is all the brain wants. Similarly, we spend our whole lives in the pursuit of happiness, yet happiness is just a pleasing chemical in the brain - so we're basically spending our whole lives chasing a chemical which is pleasing to us. Therefore, morals are based solely on humans trying to please their own brains. Why do morals even exist? For example, if I could drop a bomb on an innocent baby or a table (an extreme example, but hear me out), everyone would say drop it on the table, because the baby can feel pain/it would be painful for all its relatives etc. But why drop it on the table and not the baby? All it would be is a transfer of energy and movement of atoms, and the pain that family members would experience would just be a discomfort of their brains, telling them that the survival of the species is at risk, and so they should be sad. (Thus it seems to me that the only reason we're upset when a human dies is because we worry that our genes will not be passed on to expand the human race). It feels like I am a complete slave to my brain (which is ridiculous to type, as I AM my brain, and it's my brain typing this), and that everything I do is to please my brain, yet I will eventually die, and so I will just be surviving for the sake of surviving. There could exist someone who is cruel, murderous and sadistic but it really wouldn't matter because we're all just trying to survive, and when we die, all we are losing is the life that we lived for the sole purpose of being alive. It is hard to put into words exactly what I'm feeling, but I guess it's just a complete void of any point to life. It amazes me that some people can spend their whole lives without asking these questions (and I'm not trying to sound elitist, as by no means am I a philosopher or even an abnormally intelligent person). We are born into a formula, and a society where we just know that we need to work hard and get a job, or find love etc - but why do we just follow this routine without questioning the whole point? Whenever I ask questions like these, I become very depressed about life, and perhaps that shows that my brain does not want me to ask such questions - does that validate my point that there is no real reason for life? I should further note that I am not in any way anything other than a regular human being - of course, I would not hesitate to destroy a table as opposed to a baby, and I am a naturally empathetic person. These thoughts that I express are not that of 'It is better to not care how anyone else feels', but rather 'WHY do I care about how everyone else feels?' Apologies for the very long question/questions - I just want to be reassured that others ask such questions and may have experienced similar feelings to me. I should also note that I consider myself an atheist, though I am open to spirituality, but do not currently engage in it. Many thanks
I will just respond briefly,
Eddy Nahmias
March 31, 2016
(changed March 31, 2016)
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I will just respond briefly, but first I want to assure you that you are not alone in your existential quandaries--many people face them, perhaps especially adolescents trying to find o make meaning in a difficult and confusing world, as well as philosophers who have... Read more
Is it possible to prove within ZF(C) that the set of all proper infinite subsets of set N has cardinality that is strictly greater than |N|?
I assume that N here denotes
Daniel J. Velleman
March 31, 2016
(changed March 31, 2016)
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I assume that N here denotes the set of natural numbers: N = {0, 1, 2, 3, ...}.
Yes, it is possible to prove this. And the axiom of choice isn't needed, so you can prove it in ZF. Here's one way to do it: Let E = {2, 4, 6, ...} and O = {1, 3, 5, ...}. Thus,... Read more
What about people that are not working hard enough but gets a good job, more successfull than us who works harder? For example : Some people make more money without work hard, and some people work really hard but earn small money. How philosophy see it?
This sounds like a question
Michael Lacewing
March 29, 2016
(changed March 29, 2016)
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This sounds like a question about justice. Should people receive a reward, e.g. money, on the basis of their effort, e.g. hard work, or on some other basis?
Justice is the principle that everyone receives their ‘due’. But philosophers disagree what people are owed.... Read more
Is it right to value the life of a family member over a random person of equal moral values?
It depends on what you mean.
Allen Stairs
March 25, 2016
(changed March 25, 2016)
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It depends on what you mean. I'd be mistaken if I thought that members of my family were more valuable or worthy than other people just because they're my family. In the general scheme of things, my children's well-being is not a bit more important than the well-being... Read more
How does a study of Philosophy assist your understanding of the activity of helping and of the relationship between self and other that is involved in this undertaking?
That depends on what one is
Charles Taliaferro
March 24, 2016
(changed March 24, 2016)
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That depends on what one is studying philosophically. This term I am conducting a seminar with senior undergraduates in which we are reading the work of Cornel West and Iris Murdoch. They both compel us to think critically about matters of race and our individu... Read more
Hej. I have a question of how to explain as good as possible to my girlfriend that I'm agnostic. She sais that if i follow the way of god that I will have ot better. Thats not right isnt it? Please help me. She also sais that she's convinced that she will marry a christian man. We're 8 months together now and I dont know what to say or do. This could end our relationship and I dont want that.
Philosophers have differed on
Charles Taliaferro
March 18, 2016
(changed March 18, 2016)
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Philosophers have differed on whether belief in an all good, just, powerful, loving God has an important role in living morally --Kant, famously, contended that a practical faith in a just, powerful God was essential in making sense of the moral law, but there... Read more
Is it morally wrong for a person (X) involved in a romantic relationship with a person (Y) to leave Y to pursue her romantic interests towards Z who happen to be a teacher of both X and Y? In general, is it okay for teachers and students to date each other?
There are two, independent
Peter S. Fosl
March 18, 2016
(changed March 18, 2016)
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There are two, independent questions here: (1) is it morally permissible for X to leave Y to pursue another relationship and (2) is it permissible to pursue a romantic relationship with a teacher. At least, I don't see how answering (2) is relevant to (1). If X's relat... Read more
What does a philosopher use in order to reach conclusion?
There are many methods proper
Peter S. Fosl
March 18, 2016
(changed March 18, 2016)
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There are many methods proper to philosophers' reaching a conclusion. Together with Julian Baggini, I set out many of them in our Philosopher's Toolkits. Briefly, however, I might say that to reach conclusions philosophers variously use the following (and there may... Read more
Does a book reviewer (whose review will be published) have an ethical responsibility to give a fair and just book review? Does that responsibility just extend to the author, or to readers of the review as well?
Yes, a reviewer has an
Peter S. Fosl
March 18, 2016
(changed March 18, 2016)
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Yes, a reviewer has an ethical responsibility to authors to give a fair and just review, and a similar obligation to the readers as well. The author may have money, a job, happiness, and reputation at stake in the review, and so an unfair and inaccurate review can wrongly... Read more