Philosophy
voltagegate | June 16, 2007"Mythology is popularly defined as 'other peoples' religions' ...but actually religion is misinterpreted mythology"...
-Joseph Campbell
voltagegate | June 14, 2007Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.
-Louis Pasteur
voltagegate | June 12, 2007"I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programmes a lot, but I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature, to which I reply and say, 'Well, it's funny that the people, when they say that this is evidence of the almighty, always quote beautiful things, they always quote orchids and hummingbirds and butterflies and roses.' But I always have to think too of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in west Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before he's five years old, and I reply and say, 'Well presumably…
voltagegate | June 12, 2007You tell me:
I realize that the guy is trying to boil it down for people by assessing "risk", but by co-opting Pascal's wager to prove a point, he's made an false and unnecessary concession ("maybe we didn't have a hand in it") and drawn out the denialists and all their baggage on the Digg comment thread.
This sort of logic teaser/statistical manipulation smacks of a bit of pseudoscience. Creationists claim to have "scientific" proof of God or Noah's Ark or whatever, whereupon they submit a logic teaser founded on false assumptions. I'm not equating the two here, it just reminds me of that…
clock | June 10, 2007All you need to know about Philosophy of Science (but were too afraid to ask) you can read in John Wilkins' triptych:
Philosophy is to science, as ornithologists are to birds: 1. Introduction
Philosophy is to science, as ornithologists are to birds: 2. Two topics of philosophy of science
Philosophy is to science, as ornithologists are to birds: 3. Science is a Dynamic Process
mixingmemory | June 9, 2007
I just learned that Richard Rorty died Friday. I was a big fan of his work as an undergrad, and at that time both Consequences of Pragmatism and Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity had a big influence on my thinking. I suppose they still do indirectly, though I'm less impressed with them now than I was then. He was one of the (very) few contemporary philosophers whom I found really inspiring, even when he was downright frustrating. So I'm sad to hear he's no longer around. Love him or hate him, English-language philosophy needs many more people writing interesting, far-reaching, and far-…
hrynyshyn | June 4, 2007Few historical events are cloaked in as much confusion and controversy as the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. There's dueling government reports -- one concluded it was the work of a lone gunman, the other fingered an undefined conspiracy. Otherwise respectable researchers and journalists have sunk into the quicksand of wild speculation and bureaucratic obsfucation. Yet another couple of books tackling the question are out, and never was there such a need to recall the value of skepticism.
Ron Rosenbaum's anti-review at Slate magazine is a perfect illustration of just how dangerous…
voltagegate | May 23, 2007Linnaeus on systematics:
"I can not understand anything that is not systematically ordered."
-from a letter to a friend
"There are as many varieties as there are plants produced by the seed of the same species."
-quoted by Gunnar Eriksson
Clashing with theology and human origins:
"I ask you and the whole world for a generic differentia between man and ape which conforms to the principles of natural history. I certainly know of none... If I were to call man ape or vice versa, I should bring down all the theologians on my head. But perhaps I should still do it according to the rules of science…
mixingmemory | May 17, 2007Some of you who are interested in the history of psychology or philosophy of mind might find this paper interesting:
Gentner, D., & Grudin, J. (1985). The evolution of mental metaphors in psychology: A 90-year retrospective. American Psychologist, 40(2), 181-192.
Abstract
It seems plausible that the conception of the mind has evolved over the first hundred years of psychology in America. In this research, we studied this evolution by tracing changes in the kinds of metaphors used by psychologists to describe mental phenomena . A corpus of metaphors from 1894 to the present was collected…
clock | May 15, 2007Google was really no help in finding the exact quote, but everyone in the animal behavior field has heard some version of the Harvard Rule of Animal Behaviour:
"You can have the most beautifully designed experiment with the most carefully controlled variables, and the animal will do what it damn well pleases."
Anyone here knows who actually said that and what were the exact words?
Anyway, one way to re-word the "whatever they damned please" is to call it "free will". Björn Brembs says so but apparently not everyone agrees. The discussion in the media and on blogs is just about to start…
mixingmemory | May 14, 2007The second Online Philosophy Conference has begun, and the first week's presentations are up. If you didn't participate in last year's OPC, here's how it works: a presentation and one or two responses are posted for you to read, and comments are open to everyone for discussion. This year, they've also included two keynote addresses, one for each week. This week's keynote address is by Ernest Sosa. Stop by and check it all out.
mixingmemory | April 24, 2007As Trinifar says, we're witnessing a great atheist schism. While there are actually several different types of atheists participating (I wonder if we're just playing into the hands of anti-atheist rhetoric by pretending we are, or should be, a homogenous group), the tendency is to classify the participants into one of two groups. I'm not really sure, at this point, what we should call these groups. Those on one side of the schism have been called Churchill school atheist, skeptical atheists, new atheists (new to what, I'm not sure), "meanie" atheists, and several less flattering names (anti-…
purepedantry | April 24, 2007Here is your philosophical conversation to ponder over for the day. (I am cleaning out links, and this is the sort of stuff you get when I am cleaning out links.)
I recently read an interesting interchange on about Weber's idea that a state is defined by a monolopy on the legitimate use of force in reference to the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech.
Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy argued that no Western state actually possesses a monopoly on force making this definition largely irrelevant:
I want to claim that this echo of Weber (who said "Today ... we have to say that a state is a…
hrynyshyn | April 12, 2007There's an essay in the latest issue of Science & Spirit on the history and value of doubt called "Redeeming Saint Thomas." It carries my byline and I'm quite proud of it. Science & Spirit is a curious and evolving publication that explores "things that matter."
If that's not reason enough to buy a copy, the cover package of this issue is a series of pieces on stem cells research by veteran science writer Rick Weiss and Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology, among others. Which makes it quite timely, considering what's going on in the halls of Congress at the moment. Other writers…
voltagegate | April 11, 2007Nine times seven, thought Shuman with deep satisfaction, is sixty-three, and I don't need a computer to tell me so. The computer is in my own head.
And it was amazing the feeling of power that gave him.
-from "The Feeling of Power" by Isaac Asimov
Before spring break, I received a packet in the mail from one of my readers--a member of the faculty. Inside I found a photocopy of "Superiority", a science fiction short by Arthur C. Clark, a memo from the FSU bookstore to the faculty addressing textbook ordering protocols and a note from the professor, believe it or not, that tied it all together…
jstemwedel | April 7, 2007PRESS CENTER | UPDATED BRACKET
Janet: Welcome to team coverage of the much anticipated Chair Bracket match between Kuhn and Theory!
Ben: Yes, I think we can agree on our assumptions that this will be quite a battle.
Janet: I certainly hope so, Ben. Otherwise, we're going to spend the whole game talking past each other!
Ben: Before the gladiators take the field, let's take a quick look at how they got here. In first round play, Kuhn surprised the crowd by trouncing Popper, while Theory squeaked by Experiment by a single point.
Janet: The second round saw another trouncing at the hands of…
evolvingthoughts | April 1, 2007
Here is a list of Basic Concept posts in Philosophy.
Recently Added: N/A
The Feminist Theory of Science by Zuska, at Thus Spake Zuska
Falsifiable Claims by Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science
Epistemology by Benjamin Cohen at The Worlds Fair
Theory by John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts
Introductory texts for philosophy of biology by John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts
Scientific Method by Rob Knop at Galactic Interactions
Laws and theories by Rob Knop at Galactic Interactions
Likelihood Theory by Mike the Mad Biologist
hrynyshyn | March 30, 2007I have only read the first few paragraphs, but know the rest of "Scientific reticence and sea level rise" will be fascinating. Jim Hansen bemoans the conservatism of science. Hmmm. I shall offer my thoughts this weekend, but wanted to point it out now so everyone can chime in as soon as possible.
jstemwedel | March 29, 2007You've been waiting patiently. It's almost here!
PRESS CENTER | UPDATED BRACKET
GAMES TO BE PLAYED NEXT WEEK (April 2nd to 6th, 2007)
While the first two rounds of chemistry play were hosted here, Acid vs. d-orbitals will be hosted by The World's Fair and Fossil fuels vs. Erlenmeyer flask will be hosted by Page 3.14. (If you haven't already, check out the pre-game prognostication here and here. I heard a rumor that more is on the way.)
Next week, it's time for me to put on my philosophy of science hat and cover (with Ben Cohen) the Kuhn vs. Theory game, to be hosted right here.
Other…