Recent Responses
What is the definition of love? Can you define love without listing characteristics of love?
Alan Soble
October 30, 2005
(changed October 30, 2005)
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What a relief! Others have decided to add to this thread. The search for the fine gold thread of love -- the property "common to" and possessed by all types or forms of love -- has gone on for centuries. Another problem with Gert's succinct account is that it doesn't apply to our love for thin... Read more
If an infinite number of monkeys were at an infinite number of typewriters, would the work of Shakespeare eventually come out?
Aaron Meskin
November 28, 2005
(changed November 28, 2005)
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They couldn't produce the work of Shakespeare. Only Shakespearecould. In fact, there's good reason to think that they couldn't produceany work of literature at all. Doing that would require sorts ofintentions that those infinite monkeys would not have.
ProfessorVelleman's reasoning shows... Read more
Utilitarianism and similar moral theories often tell us to evaluate an action based on its expected consequences. Usually, this is assumed to be equivalent to the mathematical expectation of some function or other. Isn't this quite a specific probabilistic assumption to be making about the consequences of an action? What would utilitarians do if they had to make a choice over actions where the consequences depended on a random variable with no measure?
Thomas Pogge
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
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The standard ("expected consequences") idea is indeed to compare conduct options in terms of their expected pay-off. Conduct options with a certain, known outcome are valued by the utility of this outcome. Conduct options with several possible outcomes are by the probability-weighted mean u... Read more
Philosophically (and perhaps linguistically, what is the difference between the question, "who are you?" and "what are you?". To answer the former, I often describe something about myself like my name or that I'm a student. The latter is often posed to me when people ask about my ethnicity or national origin. And perhaps more broadly, how do we "know" which sorts of identifying information is pertinent in answering either? Thanks, and great site.
Richard Heck
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
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You've really answered your own question: The difference between the two questions you mention is demonstrated by the difference between the possible answers to them.
Linguistically, wh-questions, as these are known, are derived from underlying structures that are more like declarative sente... Read more
Philosophically (and perhaps linguistically, what is the difference between the question, "who are you?" and "what are you?". To answer the former, I often describe something about myself like my name or that I'm a student. The latter is often posed to me when people ask about my ethnicity or national origin. And perhaps more broadly, how do we "know" which sorts of identifying information is pertinent in answering either? Thanks, and great site.
Richard Heck
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
Permalink
You've really answered your own question: The difference between the two questions you mention is demonstrated by the difference between the possible answers to them.
Linguistically, wh-questions, as these are known, are derived from underlying structures that are more like declarative sente... Read more
What is a miracle?
Alexander George
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
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In this connection, you might also be interested in reading the responses to Question 59.
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How does one know that love is real, and if it is that one's in love? ?Ai? (14)
Oliver Leaman
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
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One doesn't, and that is perhaps what makes being in love such fun. It is such an improbable notion that two people will have this special relationship and not confuse it with something else like lust, power, coping with boredom and so on. Perhaps an implication is that if one thinks one is... Read more
What is the definition of love? Can you define love without listing characteristics of love?
Alan Soble
October 30, 2005
(changed October 30, 2005)
Permalink
What a relief! Others have decided to add to this thread. The search for the fine gold thread of love -- the property "common to" and possessed by all types or forms of love -- has gone on for centuries. Another problem with Gert's succinct account is that it doesn't apply to our love for thin... Read more
If philosophy is engaged in a hunt for eternal verities, why does it so often seem as faddish as a clique-obsessed 13 year-old? For instance, in the 1920s logical positivism ruled and their answers seemed on the mark -- until, of course, everybody realized the Vienna Circle was engaged in narrow-minded bilge. Then it was Ordinary Language philosophy -- good on J. L. Austin and Gilbert Ryle -- until of course folks realized that close study of ordinary language revealed little of interest and certainly no grand metaphysical truths. Then it was the Gang of Quine (to be is to be the value of a bound variable) which seemed to have the handle on reality in the 1960s and 1970s -- but does anyone today still recall why anyone thought Quine's work mattered? Where are the eternal truths? Does no one in today's philosophy pursue work designed to last?
Sean Greenberg
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
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I'm inclined to think that what leads the questioner to worry about the changing estimation of particular philosophical approaches in the twentieth century is that s/he seems to think that the fact that philosophy is engaged in the hunt for eternal verities should imply that philosophical... Read more
What is a miracle?
Alexander George
October 27, 2005
(changed October 27, 2005)
Permalink
In this connection, you might also be interested in reading the responses to Question 59.
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