Recent Responses
Dear Philosopher, If I and many others believe in true democracy, where everybody votes, why do we still have war, civil and with other countries? Tate Putnins, 13 yrs, Box Hill (Melbourne), Victoria, Australia
Peter S. Fosl
December 1, 2005
(changed December 1, 2005)
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I might add two bits to Oliver's remarks:1. Democracies actually exhibit a rather militant history.2. Wars of aggression, even if supported by a majority, would still, I think, violate important precepts of democracy. Democracy is not simply, after all, majority rule. It also involves pr... Read more
I'm applying to very competitive doctoral programs in philosophy. Everything in my application package is stellar except for my GRE scores. How much do admissions committees at competitive programs weigh GRE scores? Does Math matter more than Verbal? Is there a general baseline score I should try to aim at getting over?
Richard Heck
December 1, 2005
(changed December 1, 2005)
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As Lynne said, it varies. Most of us have seen enough applications, and known enough students, to know better than to take GREs with anything other than a pound or so of salt. In my own reading of applications, a low verbal score is a red flag, but I'll disregard it if further reading of the... Read more
Are nuclear weapons kosher?
Peter S. Fosl
December 1, 2005
(changed December 1, 2005)
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I hesitate to make an absolute declaration, but for nearly all purposes the answer must be "no." They are simply too indiscriminate in their application, destroy disproportionally on too vast a scale, and cause too much suffering and too much environmental damage. There may well be, howev... Read more
I'm applying to very competitive doctoral programs in philosophy. Everything in my application package is stellar except for my GRE scores. How much do admissions committees at competitive programs weigh GRE scores? Does Math matter more than Verbal? Is there a general baseline score I should try to aim at getting over?
Richard Heck
December 1, 2005
(changed December 1, 2005)
Permalink
As Lynne said, it varies. Most of us have seen enough applications, and known enough students, to know better than to take GREs with anything other than a pound or so of salt. In my own reading of applications, a low verbal score is a red flag, but I'll disregard it if further reading of the... Read more
The best, general definition of love I've come up with is: one's willingness to do what one truly considers best for another without regard for personal desires. There are 2 things I should point out: 1) by "willingness to do" I mean that which will be done unless impossible or prevented by something external -- if I am willing to do X and X is possible then I will do X unless something or someone prevents me from doing it. 2) I say "truly considers best" to draw a distinction between the lazy "this is what I was told is best" or "I don't really know but I think this is best" and the more difficult "best" that is determined by effort, honesty, study, research, etc. Likewise, I disallow a "best" determined according to what the lover desires, or wants. Is this a good (accurate, useful) definition?
Alan Soble
December 1, 2005
(changed December 1, 2005)
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I think this is a plausible statement (and it is stated very well, obviously--are you a philosopher already?) of at least a necessary condition of love. But it is beset with troubles. One is that it putting it into practice may be paternalistic and in some ways will involve denying the autonom... Read more
Are you as Philosophers allowed to say that the rock on my desk is red? For we really don't know. We perceive it as red but what if our eyes are not showing us what is really there? For all we know, everything could be black and white.
Peter Lipton
December 3, 2005
(changed December 3, 2005)
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The popular dispositional theory of colour that Richard mentions has a curious consequence. If being red is just being such as to tend to produce a certain kind of sensation in us, then it isn't even possible that what tends to look red to us isn't really red but is really say some shade of... Read more
How do we tell apart bad science from good science? For example, suppose one textbook says that magnetism demonstrates that the deity is able to make opposite poles attract, while a second textbook says it illustrates a force between electric currents. Defenders of the first book say its description provides the better account because it is more consistent with reality (namely scripture). Defenders of the second book say its description provides the better account because it is more consistent with reality (namely certain other facts about the physical world). On what basis (if any) can we say that the second book’s description is better science than the first book’s?
Peter Lipton
November 30, 2005
(changed November 30, 2005)
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We are a very small part of the universe, and our best shot at figuring out what it is like involves making ourselves as causally sensitive as possible to the rest of it. That is what scientists do, through careful and sophisticated observation and experiment. If we are lucky, this will... Read more
Why are some emotions looked down upon? Why isn't it just as good to be happy as to be sad?
Nalini Bhushan
November 30, 2005
(changed November 30, 2005)
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Interesting question. One answer is that certain parts of our culture associate sadness or sorrow with the possession of a depth of character, and happiness with a certain superficiality, that is, with a character that only sees what is on the surface, or on what is most easily accessib... Read more
Hello, I have long wondered of some of the questions I have seen on this website and I am glad to see them answered after discovering this website. But I too have a question, more personal though. This message was not written with intent to be posted but I just wanted to ask everyone this. I have been following this site for a couple of weeks now. I am a sophomore in high school. My Algebra teacher often tells me things that make me "freak out". He once got so deep in this conversation about reality and the universe he just said "It gets to the point where you have to ask yourself, Is any of this any real?". My mind have been permanently scarred by thoughts of reality and I find myself shaking at night, scared, thinking of all these things especially while reading questions on the website. I have recently been showing my friend this site and he has had the same experiences as me. Now to get to the question. Have any of you almost "Lost your mind"? I mean like has your life been changed forever after thinking of these kind of things for this long? I thought of solipsism long before I knew what the word meant. I read the question and was very pleased with the answer by Peter Lipton. Really the question is, How has philosophy affected your mind and/or life? I know this isn't really a question fit for the site but I would greatly appreciate if you emailed me the answer because I am very curious about you guys! DJ Hamilton,MT
Joseph G. Moore
November 30, 2005
(changed November 30, 2005)
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I agree fully with all that Alex has said, but would add that the dizzying, off-the-rails experience that philosophical speculation can induce even in those of us who are middle-aged is, in my experience, one of the great joys of philosophy--the very reason for engaging in it. That sens... Read more
Hello, I have long wondered of some of the questions I have seen on this website and I am glad to see them answered after discovering this website. But I too have a question, more personal though. This message was not written with intent to be posted but I just wanted to ask everyone this. I have been following this site for a couple of weeks now. I am a sophomore in high school. My Algebra teacher often tells me things that make me "freak out". He once got so deep in this conversation about reality and the universe he just said "It gets to the point where you have to ask yourself, Is any of this any real?". My mind have been permanently scarred by thoughts of reality and I find myself shaking at night, scared, thinking of all these things especially while reading questions on the website. I have recently been showing my friend this site and he has had the same experiences as me. Now to get to the question. Have any of you almost "Lost your mind"? I mean like has your life been changed forever after thinking of these kind of things for this long? I thought of solipsism long before I knew what the word meant. I read the question and was very pleased with the answer by Peter Lipton. Really the question is, How has philosophy affected your mind and/or life? I know this isn't really a question fit for the site but I would greatly appreciate if you emailed me the answer because I am very curious about you guys! DJ Hamilton,MT
Joseph G. Moore
November 30, 2005
(changed November 30, 2005)
Permalink
I agree fully with all that Alex has said, but would add that the dizzying, off-the-rails experience that philosophical speculation can induce even in those of us who are middle-aged is, in my experience, one of the great joys of philosophy--the very reason for engaging in it. That sens... Read more