Recent Responses
Why we punish a person who doesn't wear the safety belt or hat when driving a car or a motorcycle? Is s/he impose any harm to other people but him/herself? Along with the same chain of arguments, there are some people who think that drug abuse should be a legal choice for those who want it; they don't impose any harm to nobody else themselves. Why is it wrong? or right?
Richard Heck
November 24, 2005
(changed November 24, 2005)
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On the former question, how much I pay for car insurance is a function of how much accident claims cost insurance companies. People who do not wear seatbelts cause themselves greater injuiries, which lead to higher insurance claims, which lead to higher rates for me. So it's far from clear... Read more
Do truth and morality affect beauty? We hear of immoral beliefs being 'ugly'. All other things being equal, would a piece of art that supported falsity and immorality be any less beautiful? (For example, art that supported the Nazi party?)
Aaron Meskin
November 24, 2005
(changed November 24, 2005)
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This questions raises all sorts of interesting issues. I'm going tolimit my focus to the question of the relationship between morality andbeauty and avoid any discussion of more general questions relating totruth and the value of art. But there's a wealth of good literature onthe relation... Read more
If every life results in death, then what is the meaning of life?
Peter S. Fosl
December 30, 2005
(changed December 30, 2005)
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This is a compelling question. I remember encountering it in a powerful way reading Albert Camus’s essay, “Absurd Reasoning.” Recently, a student of mine broached it during a discussion we were having about the condition the universe seems to be heading towards. It seems, I’m told, that... Read more
Ok what do you think about the war in Iraq?
Alexander George
November 23, 2005
(changed November 23, 2005)
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Why don't you check out the response to Question 401. How many of the necessary conditions for a just war (according to some traditions) do you think were satisfied?
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I'm a high school student and the question I may be asking might seem dumb to others, but nevertheless. If matter cannot be created or destroyed then how could God create our world and everything surrounding it?
Alexander George
November 23, 2005
(changed November 23, 2005)
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Well, if it's true that matter can't be created, then it follows that it can't be created by God. Presumably those who believe that God did create the universe also believe that matter can be created. Perhaps your central worry is how that's possible, how matter can arise from nothin... Read more
Is the use of animals in scientific research justified?
Peter Lipton
November 23, 2005
(changed November 23, 2005)
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This is a difficult question that understandably raises strong emotions. Some animal research has yielded significant benefit to humans, in drug development and in many other areas. But these human benefits have been purchased at the cost of animal harms, and it is natural to worry whether... Read more
If every life results in death, then what is the meaning of life?
Peter S. Fosl
December 30, 2005
(changed December 30, 2005)
Permalink
This is a compelling question. I remember encountering it in a powerful way reading Albert Camus’s essay, “Absurd Reasoning.” Recently, a student of mine broached it during a discussion we were having about the condition the universe seems to be heading towards. It seems, I’m told, that... Read more
I am a liar. It's difficult because all lies are misrepresentations of the past (you can't really lie about the future), but at the same time, since the past only exists within our minds and can only be represented with words, the second I tell a lie, it becomes truth. I guess I'm wondering how a lie is ever a lie given that it is dependent on something that we can't know for certain (the past)?
Aaron Meskin
November 23, 2005
(changed November 23, 2005)
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What about the present? I can lie about the present can't I? Forexample, I could lie to you about what I am doing right now. I won't.
Andyou're mistaken to think that we cannot lie about the future. If I wereto sincerely tell you that I will be eating excellent barbecue tomorrow(I wish!) w... Read more
It is often said that the the phrase "before the BIG BANG" is meaningless because the BB is the beginning of things, time included. My question is "Is the phrase truly meaningless?" I take it as axiomatic that a real event occurs only if it were already a possible event. If the BB did indeed happen then it must have been the fruition of an antecedent possibility - some entity 'before the BB'. ERIC STOCKTON, ORKNEY UK
Marc Lange
November 23, 2005
(changed November 23, 2005)
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I, too, have heard it said that the phrase "before the Big Bang" is meaningless. One analogy I have heard drawn is between the phrase "before the Big Bang" and the phrase "more northerly than 90 degrees north latitude". Just as the latter phrase refers to no real location on Earth, so the fo... Read more
Is time stationary, and we move along it? Or are we stationary, and time moves past us?
Peter Lipton
November 22, 2005
(changed November 22, 2005)
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On one view, time is a lot like another dimension lying alonside the three dimensions of space. On this view time doesn't move: all times are equally real at all times, just as all parts of space are equally real from all places. But do we move along time? Well, we are in different plac... Read more