Recent Responses
As a veggie, I am continually conscious that I have made a moral choice which does not fit with society's morals on the issue (in general). I believe that in this world of choice, I can have an adequate diet without the need to kill animals. What does the panel feel about this issue?
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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There is a story about someone who came up to a well-known moral philosopher in a restaurant and asked him what he thought about the arguments for vegetarianism. "I've actually thought quite a bit about some of those arguments, and I'm half-convinced by them", he replied. "So I don't eat... Read more
Can the necessity/contingency paradox be dissolved? If God is thought to be a necessary being, how can He be the creator of a contingent world or have an ongoing involvement with it?
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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It is not immediately obvious why there should be a paradox here. Not to encourage any invidious comparisons, but I am a contingent being who has an ongoing involvement with the world. To say I am contingent is to to say that I might not have existed; but that is no problem so far as my... Read more
If a certain concept is seen as indefinable, such as the concept of infinity, how can it be said to exist?
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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I'm not going to comment on infinity, but on the general point. First of all, which existence is in question: a concept or a thing? If a thing, it would seem possible that there could be something that exists but that we cannot conceptualise. So here there would be no question of a def... Read more
Is it true that the professional academic philosopher is a relatively new phenomenon? If so, what have been the benefits and shortcomings of professionalising philosophy? I ask this because someone told me recently that the most significant contributions to philosophy have been made by people who never considered themselves to be philosophers as such, but who got philosophical about their primary area of interest - mathematics, science, politics or whatever.
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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I think that almost all of the central figure in the western philosophical canon would have considered themselves philosophers, though not necessarily academic. Some of them were also notable for other things -- for example Aristotle for biology and Descartes and Leibniz for mathematics... Read more
In first year philosophy, I posed a thought experiment involving breakfast cereal that challenges concepts of God. I have since come across it in other forms, but this was the form in which I posed it. It is this: If God is omniscient, and omnipotent then man cannot have free will. The reason is this: If I have a choice of breakfast cereals to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning then God cannot tell me today which breakfast cereal I will eat, because then I may choose to eat the other breakfast cereal just to make a point. Either God does not know, and so is not omniscient; God cannot tell me, and so is not omnipotent; or I do not have the freedom to choose! I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Alexander George
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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(Perhaps this is related to one of Nick's points.) God's knowing what I will choose is compatible with my choice being free. What God might know is what I will freely choose. Perhaps your thought is that if God knows this ahead of time, then I don't have the freedom to choose otherw... Read more
Many people take the saying 'Know thyself' as something we should all aim at, however isn't a degree of self-deception a good thing? Wouldn't it make our lives harder if we knew all our little faults. Is self-knowledge good for its own sake, or only if it can benefit us in some way?
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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Knowledge often has practical value, and I would go along with the idea that it sometimes has intrinsic value too: it is good in itself. But I'm not convinced that all knowledge has intrinsic value. For example, I'm not sure that there is even a little intrinsic value to knowing exactly... Read more
The color of something is the color of the spectrum that isn't taken in by an object. However when I look at the color "green", do I see the same tint someone sees when they see "blue"? The identification of a color is what we've been told, and we've essentially been told what colors don't go good together. So how do we know that all of our eyes see the same thing? -Samantha B.
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
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This is a classic pr0blem in philosophy, the problem of 'spectrum inversion'. Even if you see blue like I see red, and vice versa, it is very difficult to see how we could ever tell. I cannot see your experiences, and you would use the words 'blue' and 'red' the same way I do, since you... Read more
Does water float? Since I came up with this question, it has created quite a lot of debate as it's not as simple as it at first appears. If water doesn't float, then what is the water on the surface moving on, surely it floats as one bit of water on the top can be moving in the opposite direction to the water lower down. However, maybe water is an entity in its own right - something can't float upon itself can it? Help! From Huw Roberts, Wales, UK.
Peter Lipton
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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In philosophy it's often a good idea to begin with a clear case where we are particularly confident about what the right answer is, then move to subtler cases. If the question is whether water ever floats, the clear case is ice.
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I would like to study the impact of entertainment and marketing on people. How would studying philosophy help me to that end? Are there particular types of philosophy courses that would help? Particular philosophers?
Aaron Meskin
November 19, 2005
(changed November 19, 2005)
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I thinkAlex was a bit quick to dismiss the relevance of philosophy to theissue you're interested in. There is a long tradition of philosophicalinterest in entertainment/mass culture/mass art. For example, Plato wasconcerned in The Republic about the negative effects of tragedy and poetry... Read more
Beneficent person (-A-) brings two people (-B- and -C-) together for the sake of helping each of them. Years later, -A- discovers that -B- caused harm to -C- at the time when -A- initiated the help. Does -A- have any responsibility for -C-'s being harmed?
Joseph G. Moore
November 18, 2005
(changed November 18, 2005)
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Dear C,Causal responsibility or moral responsibility?Causal: Yes, A's actions were crucial in the causal-chain that brought about C's harm; were it not for A's actions, C (probably) would not have been harmed by B in that way.Moral: No, at least not as you've described things. A didn't... Read more