MetaFilter posts tagged with philosophy and philosophers

What philosophers believe

leibniz — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:39:31 -0800

Want to know what philosophers, those people you pay to think on your behalf, actually believe? David Chalmers and David Bourget recently canvassed several thousand professional philosophers for their views on a range of central philosophical issues. The authors call this an exercise in the sociology of philosophy, rather than providing reason for anyone to change what they think. Some results are unsurprising (81.6% are non-skeptical realists about the external world) where others are more curious (41% think aesthetic value is objective). (Mostly) wikipedia pages on the philosophical problems surveyed: a priori knowledge; abstract objects; aesthetic value; analytic-synthetic distinction; epistemic justification; external world skepticism; free will; god; knowledge claims contextualism v relativism v invariantism; knowledge rationalism v empiricism; laws of nature Humean v non-Humean; logic classical v non-classical; mental content internalism v externalism; meta-ethical realism v antirealism; metaphilosophical naturalism v non-naturalism; mind physicalism v non-physicalism; moral judgement cognitivism v non-cognitivism; moral motivation internalism v externalism; Newcomb's problem; normative ethical positions; perceptual experience; personal identity; proper names; scientific realism; political positions; teletransporter thought experiment; time; trolley problem; truth; zombies.

Why is Cornell West being interviewed in a cab?

cal71 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:57:42 -0800

"Courage is the ennabling virtue for any philosopher," says Cornel West in this clip from The Examined Life, a film by Astra Taylor. Peter Singer talks about the morality of consumption and how we should spend our money, as he did in this NY Times Magazine essay published two years ago today. Given the internecine violence in the Congo, for example, Singer's 1971 essay, Famine, Affluence, and Morality is worth a second (or first) look. The film features several other contemporary philosophers, including Judith Butler, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Slavoj Zizek. Of course, people looking for a more musical version of philosophy, could forgo the film and just watch this Monty Python bit.

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

painquale — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 23:56:43 -0800

AskPhilosophers what they think about philosophical problems! A philosophical version of Ask MetaFilter. Not much is up yet, but the lineup of panelists is brimming with top-notch academics. Hopefully the site will take off.

Bam! Kapow! Splat!

The Thnikkaman — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 15:46:56 -0800

Philosophical Powers! The greatest minds of all time now have great bodies to match! Philosophy's (and theology's) greatest superheroes now in action figure form! Thrill to Arrogant Aristotle, Angry Anselm, Dangerous Descartes, Nefarious Nietzsche and more!

Life

semmi — Sat, 09 Oct 2004 10:15:36 -0800

Jacques Derrida is not.

Meaning of Life

andrew cooke — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 17:29:27 -0800

The Meaning of Life according to various rather famous people (Dennett, Fukuyama, etc). I'm watching the Dennett video at the moment and it starts rather weakly, but, by midway through, is rolling along nicely. With topics like "being good without god" and "the anthropic principle" it struck me as relevant to a couple of recent askmefi threads.
Dennett: [pause] i guess i'll say it again, more slowly...
(oh, and the player interface is rather delicate - give it time to load and click play a few times...)

Familiar Faces?

KF — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 13:37:34 -0800

The Qualifying Exam Meets the Cult of Personality. I did abysmally on Marcel's People test. How 'bout you?

Presents of Mind

ewagoner — Mon, 11 Aug 2003 07:39:29 -0800

The Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild began in 1992 when two students of philosophy found their inner creativity in the midst of a dwindling academic job market. As it turned out, fulfilling gift giving needs proved to be almost as satisfying as probing eternal questions. They offer such items as "Freudian Slippers", "Nietzsche's Will to Power Bars", "Brainy Beanies", and "Dorothy Parker Martini Glasses".

Guide for Becoming a Philosopher

Voyageman — Sat, 04 Jan 2003 00:05:21 -0800

Guide for Becoming a Modern Day Philosopher 12 essential techniques.

MiguelCardoso — Sat, 09 Feb 2002 04:42:32 -0800

Enough Already With The Journalists - What Do The Finest Political Philosophers Think About Terrorism? There aren't many of them. On the liberal side of things, apart from John Rawls, Michael Walzer [here's a fascinating interview with him]is probably the most original and intelligent pluralist alive. In the above-linked article in Dissent he sets out the questions that we should be asking ourselves right now about terrorism. Something tells me we should be paying attention. But what would our answers be? Or are we too caught up with the banality of columnists and pundits to actually face up to the thoughts of a real political thinker?

tweebiscuit — Thu, 14 Jun 2001 08:09:46 -0800

The philosopher's first visit to the web might be a bit distressing: witness aesthetics.com, ontology.com, and epistemology.com...

prototype_octavius — Tue, 08 May 2001 13:38:18 -0800

Very thought provoking I would say, but you might want to think about the choices for a minute before you answer. It matches you as closely as it can with famous philosophers. Not perfect, but definitely an interesting site. Has anybody seen others like it?