MetaFilter posts tagged with philosophy

Virtual Thinking

kliuless — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:58:30 -0800

Correlative Analytics -- or as O'Reilly might term the Social Graph -- sort of mirrors the debate on 'brute force' algorithmic proofs (that are "true for no reason," cf.) in which "computers can extract patterns in this ocean of data that no human could ever possibly detect. These patterns are correlations. They may or may not be causative, but we can learn new things. Therefore they accomplish what science does, although not in the traditional manner... In this part of science, we may get answers that work, but which we don't understand. Is this partial understanding? Or a different kind of understanding?" Of course, say some in the scientific community: hogwash; it's just a fabrication of scientifically/statistically illiterate pundits, like whilst new techniques in data analysis are being developed to help keep ahead of the deluge...

Word Nerds

sluglicker — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:07:13 -0800

Silence! It's the opposite of speech. But that doesn't mean it communicates nothing. A show about the English language, And Sometimes Y was broadcast on CBC Radio One through December of 2007. Live internet broadcast for: Radio One (news and features) | Radio 2 (music)

Reality

homunculus — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:40:09 -0800

The Reality Tests. "A team of physicists in Vienna has devised experiments that may answer one of the enduring riddles of science: Do we create the world just by looking at it?"

Dignity and Bioethics

homunculus — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:35:43 -0800

The Stupidity of Dignity: Conservative bioethics' latest, most dangerous ploy. Steven Pinker reviews Human Dignity and Bioethics, the latest report from the President's Council on Bioethics. dgaicun posted Pinker's article in the Leon Kass vs. ice-cream thread, but I think it and the report deserve their own post.

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Kattullus — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:42:40 -0800

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an excellent resource for matters philosophical. There you can be enlightened on such diverse subjects as paradoxes existential or logical, Greek or American philosophers obscure to the wider world, philosophers whose names have resounded through the ages, both well-attested and possibly mythical, Buddhist thought and Western mysticism and definitions of thorny and difficult concepts. And that's just a small sampling of the letter P section. All articles are written by specialists on the subject and the editors of the IEP are all academic philosophers. The encyclopedia is far from complete, so if you think you can help out, they have a list of their 100 most desired articles.

}i~ek!

homunculus — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:00:20 -0800

"}i~ek!" is a feature documentary exploring the eccentric personality and esoteric work of the "wild man of theory": the eminent Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7. Democracy Now! did a two-part interview with Žižek which concluded today: Part 1, Part 2. His latest book is "In Defense of Lost Causes". Žižek was previsouly discussed here and here.

Jerry Fodor, on Why Pigs Don't Have Wings

decoherence — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:08:55 -0800

Rutgers professor of philosophy Jerry Fodor created a bit of a stir last October when he wrote an article for the London Review of Books arguing that natural selection may not be such a great theory after all, and that a "major revision of evolutionary theory... is in the offing." Not many fellow philosophers and academics agree, it seems. Fodor responds to his critics here and here. Six months later, it's still not entirely clear whether his argument is, as Justin E.H. Smith put it, "irresponsible and stupid or so subtle that none of his adversaries, defending a status quo interpretation of the theory of natural selection, have been able to get it yet."

Shakespeare and philosophy

painquale — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:38:38 -0800

Martha Nussbaum reviews three recent books on Shakespeare and philosophy. The essay offers an excellent analysis of love in Antony and Cleopatra and Othello, and an excellent discussion of the interaction between philosophy and literature. From the essay: "To make any contribution worth caring about, a philosopher's study of Shakespeare should do three things. First and most centrally, it should really do philosophy, and not just allude to familiar philosophical ideas and positions. It should pursue tough questions and come up with something interesting and subtle--rather than just connecting Shakespeare to this or that idea from Philosophy 101. A philosopher reading Shakespeare should wonder, and ponder, in a genuinely philosophical way. Second, it should illuminate the world of the plays, attending closely enough to language and to texture that the interpretation changes the way we see the work, rather than just uses the work as grist for some argumentative mill. And finally, such a study should offer some account of why philosophical thinking needs to turn to Shakespeare's plays, or to works like them. Why must the philosopher care about these plays? Do they supply to thought something that a straightforward piece of philosophical prose cannot supply, and if so, what?" There is some discussion of the piece here.

We should seek the truth without hesitation!

carsonb — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:49:07 -0800

Why do we spend so many precious hours of our lives watching films? What is it about cinema that it should occupy a place of such prominence in our lives? And why do we even need movies? It is as though we are trying to fill a gap in our lives - a void, an emptiness within ourselves. So to even begin on the path of our Truth Quest, we have to see the broader picture of how film correlates to life, and life to film. To find this higher perspective, it is helpful to look towards the other arts, as well as philosophy.
Cinema Seekers: Searching for truth in cinema and in life. Above excerpt from Dies Irae.
The site is a little overwhelming. Here's a text only version. If the Web 1.0 design doesn't bother, I recommend starting with
The Honor Roll: 400 of the World's Greatest ART Films (from a spiritual perspective), a nice way to browse the essays on particular films and/or directors.
The Cinema Seekers, Gregory and Maria, are inspired by and draw their philosophy from the wisdom of Abd-ru-shin (Oskar Ernst Bernhardt), distilled in his book In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message. They've interpreted text from the book with a two-part (so far) series From Cinema to Life.

Divine instruments for self learning

generalist — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:59:48 -0800

Mnemonic Arts of Blessed Raymond LULL