Recent Responses
When we write "one and a half" in decimal notation as 1.5 .. do we really mean 1.5000... (with an infinity of zeros?) If so, how do we know there's no "3" lurking at the 10 millionth decimal place? Is this a problem of converting an analogue world into digital mathematics?
Daniel J. Velleman
November 3, 2005
(changed November 3, 2005)
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Yes, "one and a half" means 1.5000..., with infinitely many zeros. How do we know there's no "3" lurking at the 10 millionth decimal place? Well, it depends on how the number is being specified. If you are the one specifying the number, and you say that the number you have in mind i... Read more
When I read a philosopher (particularly someone like Schopenhauer or Kiergegaard) how would I be able to tell if I was engaged philosophically rather than aesthetically?
Tamar Szabo Gendler
November 3, 2005
(changed November 3, 2005)
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On one widely-accepted picture, philosophical engagement is marked by a particular sensitivity to the truth or falsity of claims made, and to the structure and strength of arguments presented, whereas aesthetic engagment is marked by a particular sensitivity to the ways in which the c... Read more
Is one responsible for one's feelings and emotions (considering the fact that they have nothing to do with a decision)?
Sean Greenberg
November 3, 2005
(changed November 3, 2005)
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This question points to a tension in our pre-theoretical views aboutemotions. On the one hand, they seem to be mental states with respectto which we are passive, and over which we have no control. Thisreflects the phenomenology of emotional experience. On the other hand,we sometimes expect... Read more
Why should I care about life at all? I am on track to achieve financial and intellectual success. I will have the opportunity to serve humanity as well. I have a loving family. I am healthy and handsome. But if consciousness dissolves with annihilation; if the earth will ultimately become a cold, dead rock; if all of the science, wisdom, and art eventually cease to have meaning because no one will exist to apprehend them; why should I care about life at all? The only reasons I can think of are momentum, an ineffable sense of obligation to my friends and family, and fear of the undiscovered country. There have to be more and better reasons to care about life.
Alexander George
November 3, 2005
(changed November 3, 2005)
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Usually, the question "Why should I care about X?" is asked against the backdrop of many cares that are taken for granted. Often we convince ourselves to care about something by showing that it's a means to getting or sustaining something we antecedently care about. I'd like to hold (b... Read more
If there was to be a theory of everything, like all theories it should be able to predict certain events, would it predict human action and behavior? Then wouldn't this theory destroy our ideas on free will? -Rafael Gomez, 15
Peter Lipton
November 3, 2005
(changed November 3, 2005)
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Rafael, this is an excellent question, and philosophers do not all answer it in the same way. My own view is that predictability in itself is not a special threat to free will. Suppose that I have free will. Now suppose that you know me so well that you can predict every move I will make.... Read more
Do you think it is ethical to have romantic desires for people with good looks? I know the obvious (pop culture) answer is yes. One may even assert further that it is natural to do so. However, my point then is that some desires, albeit natural, are unethical. (If I don't have money on me and I am hungry, I may feel the urge to steal some food.) And even though most people may feel that it is okay, the general public may be very often wrong. My reasoning is: (1) We should evaluate people only on their choices and not on conditions they haven't achieved by making choices. (2) People don't choose to look good or bad. Conclusion: Therefore, it is unethical to grant people ANY advantage based on their looks. A friend of mine, against this argument, tells me that for instance, a mathematician has not chosen to be born with her talent, so we shouldn't also value her mathematical works. This seems like an inextricable tangle! Thanks.
Alan Soble
December 9, 2005
(changed December 9, 2005)
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The question begins: "Do you think it is ethical to have romantic desires for people with good looks?" The questioner then constructs a syllogism that concludes: "it is unethical to grant people ANY advantage based on their looks." Perhaps this particular conclusion is right, i.e., the syllogi... Read more
If one is upset that the places they visit are too populated, such as coffee shops, beaches, museums, etc., is that frustration a sign of hypocrisy? To put it another way, if I resent crowds and wish that people would leave, but I don't leave, am I being a hypocrite?
Peter Lipton
November 2, 2005
(changed November 2, 2005)
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There is nothing hypocritical about wishing that one was, say, the only person on a beach. On the other hand, if you don't just wish that other people went away, but you think they have an obligation to leave, then you are probably entering the hypocrisy zone.
Log in to... Read more
I read an article in <i>Scientific American</i> magazine discussing the existence of parts of the brain that regulate awareness of the self. Part of the article examined the damage or destruction of these neurological pathways through diseases like Alzheimer's. If it can be scientifically shown that the self ceases to exist in some Alzheimer's patients, what is left that walks, talks, thinks, and remembers? Is it a new self or a non-self or something totally different?
Joseph G. Moore
November 2, 2005
(changed November 2, 2005)
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This is a good but difficult question. The answer, I think, depends upon what you mean by a "self". (Many people, including those who believe in immaterial, unified, and potentially disembodied "souls" would not agree that the notion of a "self" is open to several different, but equally u... Read more
Is there such thing as true freedom? (My thought is that only in an anarchist society there would be-meaning that even the slightest rule or law would detain one's freedom to do as one pleases...)
Alexander George
November 2, 2005
(changed November 2, 2005)
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It's worth distinguishing between what one is free to do and what valueto one that freedom has. Perhaps you're right that in a world in whichthere was no political society (a State of Nature, as some politicalphilosophers call it) we would be free to do many more things than weare now (s... Read more
Is there such thing as true freedom? (My thought is that only in an anarchist society there would be-meaning that even the slightest rule or law would detain one's freedom to do as one pleases...)
Alexander George
November 2, 2005
(changed November 2, 2005)
Permalink
It's worth distinguishing between what one is free to do and what valueto one that freedom has. Perhaps you're right that in a world in whichthere was no political society (a State of Nature, as some politicalphilosophers call it) we would be free to do many more things than weare now (s... Read more