Sometimes, philosophers like to construct highly exaggerated imaginary scenarios in order to test the validity of theories – conjuring up, for example, human bodies with a pair of spare eyes in their shoulders. Since there’s no very little limit on how exaggerated such propositions might be, some take on outlandish proportions. Such ideas can push […]
Tag: philosophy
20th Nov. Today is World Philosophy Day
To mark the event of World Philosophy Day 2014, Oxford University Press is making available a selection of free downloads of notable philosophical works. May we recommend ‘Just go ahead and lie’ Analysis (2012) 72 (1): 3-9, by Jennifer Saul, who is head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Sheffield. “The view that […]
‘WIILTBA’ (bat! rat! rock!) questions – a partial listing
This month it’s (roughly) the 40th anniversary of the publication of Professor Emeritus Thomas Nagel‘s now-famous philosophical essay entitled : What Is It Like To Be a Bat? ( Philosophical Review, 83, no. 4 ) Since then, a considerable number of other academic writers, researchers and philosophers have paid tribute to professor Nagel’s bat paper […]
Life – the mystery continues
Over the millennia, many have asked themselves (and others) ‘Life – What exactly is it?’ But (definitive) answers came there none. As is confirmed in a 2012 paper by Edouard Machery, who is Associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh, US. ‘Why I Stopped Worrying about the Definition of […]