Hi. As an undergrad I became deeply interested in philosophy two years ago, and am currently on track to graduate next semester. I've enjoyed relative academic success in my studies but am usually unable to translate this into any sort of "philosophical" confidence. My question I suppose is this, did any of you experience extreme dread before considering grad school and lack of confidence as well? I feel that in ways philosophy has opened up so much for me, and that I can either continue to pursue it academically or live out a "philosophical" existence of experience. This is all very vague but I'm looking forward to hearing advice from a diversity of people in the field. Thank you for your time...Jake Claro

Who said "The married philosopher belongs to comedy"? (I think it was a 19th century German philosopher but I'm not sure.) Thanks.

A fish may approach the surface but may never "know" what it is like to live in air. Is there any discussion relating to the limitations of our own knowledge with respect to knowing a "larger" reality or a more "complete" reality. I ask this with particular reference to the search for understanding as it relates to a deity.

This question obviously has a large psychological component, but I think there is a philosophical aspect as well: I have a four year old that is vaguely aware of a death that recently occurred. I do not want him to be afraid that his family will suddenly and permanently vanish, but, as previously discussed on this board, it seems neither moral nor prudent to lie to him. Is there any theory of what happens when someone dies that is at least somewhat plausibly correct but that will not terrify the little guy?

One of the guiding principles of experimental science is the assumption that it's (and I'm stating it bluntly) preferable to have less "explanation" to more "problem". This seems to imply that science prefers its description of the universe to be simple, which makes economic sense. But isn't a general description that "the universe is infinitely complex" simpler than a general description that "the universe is simple", since infinity is simpler to define than any specific "finity" (of which there may be infinitely many)? This would seem to be rather self-defeating.

If quantum indeterminacy is true, it proves that we do not live in a deterministic world. But I seem to have trouble with the notion that indeterminancy give you responsibility for your actions and decisions. For example, I am walking into a store and I open the door. There is someone behind me. I can hold the door open for them or I can keep on walking. If quantum indeterminancy is true, than I have the possibility to do both. But am I truly the author of the decision or was the decision ultimately made by something which I had no control over? And is it intelligible to say that the former is even possible?

If God is omnipotent then surely he can do anything!? My intuition tells me he can defy logic because surely he created it. I know philosophers will then ask me if it is possible for God to create a world where it both doesn't rain and rains at the same time. I am then forced to say that of course this doesn't seem possible. But...this leaves me with two questions: (a) Why do philosophers always have to talk about 'possible worlds'!? (b) Surely a world of contradictions only seems implausible to us because we are reasoning from the knowledge and experience we have in this world. We can't conceive of such ideas as not raining and raining at the same time because we are bound by the logic of this world.

Would you agree with this statement? Being gay is a choice.

I would like to know if someone is interested in philosophy but do not from where should start, how do you guide? Suppose it is not possible to be involved in academic courses and just as a personal life someone is going to study in this field.

A man has murdered someone and has been executed legally in the US. If I could go back in time and kill the killer before he committed his crime, thus saving the life of his intended victim, would this make me a murderer, or his executioner, as I would be killing him before he had committed his crime? This question is from Anthony Roddy-Burns in Rochdale, England.