Recent Responses
Does the expression "Lose your life" imply dualism? Consider the expression "to lose your life" and related ones, "to be robbed of your life", "to have the rest of your life stolen from you". To lose something makes a division of time into a 'before' and an 'after' the loss. The effects in terms of dismay, grief and pain obviously belong to the after. Experiencing this loss requires the presence of an affected subject. This is all quite clear for the loss of everything, from a key to a beloved spouse. Everything, except if the lost object is your own life. Because if you are a materialist, there is no experiencing subject in the after when life has ceased. This means that expressions like "losing your life", "being deprived of the rest of your life" etc, all seem to presuppose a dualistic attitude, creating images of an after-life spirit sitting on a cloud mourning its lost earthly life.
Oliver Leaman
September 6, 2013
(changed September 6, 2013)
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I think you are right, and Freud says that we can never really think of ourselves as completely dead in the sense that there is nothing of us left. I suppose the good thing about the losing life idiom is that it leaves open the possibility that there is more to us than just this body, and... Read more
Does the expression "Lose your life" imply dualism? Consider the expression "to lose your life" and related ones, "to be robbed of your life", "to have the rest of your life stolen from you". To lose something makes a division of time into a 'before' and an 'after' the loss. The effects in terms of dismay, grief and pain obviously belong to the after. Experiencing this loss requires the presence of an affected subject. This is all quite clear for the loss of everything, from a key to a beloved spouse. Everything, except if the lost object is your own life. Because if you are a materialist, there is no experiencing subject in the after when life has ceased. This means that expressions like "losing your life", "being deprived of the rest of your life" etc, all seem to presuppose a dualistic attitude, creating images of an after-life spirit sitting on a cloud mourning its lost earthly life.
Oliver Leaman
September 6, 2013
(changed September 6, 2013)
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I think you are right, and Freud says that we can never really think of ourselves as completely dead in the sense that there is nothing of us left. I suppose the good thing about the losing life idiom is that it leaves open the possibility that there is more to us than just this body, and... Read more
Suppose someone asked me the timeless question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?", is it reasonable for me to answer,"because if there is nothing, the question would still arise as to, why is there nothing rather than something?" Does the second question make sense in itself, and as a response to the first?
Stephen Maitzen
September 5, 2013
(changed September 5, 2013)
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Hmm. I can't tell whether your answer engages the timeless question. But I think the timeless question is deeply problematic anyway, as I explain in my contribution to Tyron Goldschmidt's new edited collection of essays on the topic.
You seem to be saying that if there were nothing, the... Read more
hello i would like to know at what point does something come into existence, for an example take a painting does it come into existence the second the painter thinks of it and can see it in their minds eye(because can you think of something that doesn't exist)or is it when the painter first makes the first brush stroke on the canvas or is it only when the painting is completed and others can see it. It could also be said that the painting always existed because all the materials the painting is made out of was already here in one form or another, they were just never put together in that certain way before. What i really want to know is does something exist simply because someone can think of it and see it in there mind or does it have to be seen touched or smelled in the physical world.For another example, the computer you are reading this on definitely exists because you can see it and touch it and so can others but the programs on it like Microsoft word or excel do not physically exist, you can not touch them or weigh them or smell them but we know they exist, so back to my question at what point does something go from nothingness/non-being to existing in the universe.
Stephen Maitzen
September 5, 2013
(changed September 5, 2013)
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You asked, "What I really want to know is does something exist simply because someone can think of it and see it in their mind, or does it have to be seen, touched or smelled in the physical world?" I'd say neither.
There's a sense in which I can think of a unicorn and see it in my mind... Read more
who decides what is "true"? What if I believe that it's TRUE that Santa Claus exists? Wouldn't it be "true for me"?
Stephen Maitzen
September 5, 2013
(changed September 5, 2013)
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I'm not sure how to interpret the quotation marks in your first question; I'll assume they're inessential. Who decides what's true? No one, as far as I can see. One can recognize what's true, discover what's true, conclude that such-and-such is true, etc. But I don't think any of that a... Read more
How do (many) philosophers respond to the logical fallacy "the enemy of my enemy must be my friend"? It is not uncommon if I am having a conversation with someone about a public policy proposal, in which I criticize an idea advanced by one political party, for the other person to respond "how can you possibly favor the idea advanced by the OTHER political party?" when in fact I favor NEITHER party's idea? I'm actually a bit surprised at how widespread this kind of fallacious thinking is. Many times neither "side" of a public policy debate has useful ideas (in my opinion) and I would prefer a third alternative very much over either "side's" position. Any suggestions about how to escape this enforced box would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. PS does this fallacy have a formal name? if it does, then at least in on-line debates I can merely link to the Wikipedia article about the fallacy. Thanks again.
Edward Witherspoon
September 5, 2013
(changed September 5, 2013)
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If two political parties A and B have competing public policy proposals, and you criticize party A's proposal, it is typically a fallacy for your listener to assume that you therefore favor B's proposal. (The only exceptions are those simplistic cases in which Party B is simply oppo... Read more
I saw a quote once by Nietzsche that was something like "When we try to examine the essence of a reflection in a mirror we see only the mirror, but when examining the mirror we see only the reflection." I would like to find the exact wording but have not been able to find a match with Google. Could you help me?
Douglas Burnham
August 31, 2013
(changed August 31, 2013)
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You are looking for aphorism 243 from Daybreak.Roughly, the mirror is the intellect, the 'things' the world. Nietzsche is making a double point. First, the neo-Kantian idea that all knowledge is mediated, including knowledge of the mediating activity itself. Second, a historical point about... Read more
Is freedom of speech distinct from freedom of behavior? For example, is burning the Bill of Rights distinct from calling for the revocation of the freedom from unjust imprisonment?
Charles Taliaferro
August 30, 2013
(changed August 30, 2013)
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Excellent question. The right to freedom of speech has been used to defend what used to be illegal acts (burning an American flag). But the two are certainly distinguishable. So, burning a copy of the Bill of Rights may be highly dangerous in a building full of petroleum containers or... Read more
I'm currently reading Simon Blackburn's "Think", in which he claims to use metaphysics to all but explain away the idea of Cartesian dualism. He claims that if it were true that the mind is distinct from the body, that it would create the possibility for "zombies" to exist who function just like us, but without a consciousness, and for "mutants" to exist, who have different mental responses to stimuli than most people. Because he believes that both of these conclusions are ridiculous, he rules out substance dualism. However, I don't see how the idea that the mind is not contained inside of the brain necessarily makes either of those options possible. As to the zombie theory, just because the two components of mind and body lie in different realms, it doesn't seem to make it necessarily true that the body would be able to function without the mind. The two could be separate but still rely upon each other in order to function. For the mutant idea, I don't see how that would be any less possible if the mind occupied the brain, all it requires is that some peoples' brains be wired differently; the separation of the two does not seem necessary at all for this to be possible, and thereby it seems totally irrelevant to this discussion. Thus far I've had no problem with the book and while it could be a simple matter of us disagreeing on the topic, I feel like I may be missing some part of his argument that would make his conclusions clear to me. Any help elucidating this argument would be much appreciated.
Charles Taliaferro
August 30, 2013
(changed August 30, 2013)
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You raise excellent points. Blackburn is probably assuming Descartes' concept of what it is to be an individual substance which is, roughly, if S is a substance it may exist without other substances --or, as Descartes adjusted this concept, S is a substance if God can create and sustain... Read more
Suppose you have been wrongly accused of murder. You know you are innocent but you also know that the states attorney believes you are guilty. The attorney offers you 25 years if you plead guilty but If you go to trial you will be executed if you are found guilty. You are unsure of your chances of winning the case so to prevent the possibility of death you accept the plea. Does the fact that you chose the plea bargain mean that you acknowledge that it is better to have a plea bargain than not have a plea bargain? If it is better for you to have it than not have it then does that mean that someone who would consider such a plea bargain to be coercion is wrong?
Allen Stairs
August 29, 2013
(changed August 29, 2013)
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Given that I'm in the rotten situation of being charged with a murder I didn't commit, it may be a good thing for me that I can avoid being executed. But I'm in a rotten situation; all things considered, my situation is bad. It's bad even if I would be a fool not to accept the plea deal. It's... Read more