Bethel Philosophy Blog

interview with Kwame Anthony Appiah

2011-08-12T10:28:00.000-05:00

Quite interesting, lengthy interview with Kwame Anthony Appiah, a philosopher whose writing is engaging and lively:

Some Reflections on Contemporary Church Music

2011-05-14T11:15:00.004-05:00

In a recent philosophy class of mine, discussion somehow turned to contemporary church music. Opinions on the subject were varied, with one student bemoaning the “me”-focused and mindlessly repetitive nature of the songs, and another student defending them as (at least sometimes) promoting heartfelt worship and devotion to God. Everyone seemed agreed on the danger that such music can cross the

More Fuel for the Teleological Argument

2011-03-05T17:14:00.003-06:00

The teleological argument for God's existence points to various features of the natural world and tries to make the case that God (or at any rate a cosmic designer) must be responsible for them and hence must exist. There are of course many versions of the teleological argument, but speaking generally, that's how they work.The features that these arguments point to range from the intricate

Bad Academic Writing

2011-02-20T14:44:00.003-06:00

You may have noticed that Bethel Philosophy blog entries aren’t coming out as regularly as they did in the fall. Blame that on an extremely busy January term and spring semester! But we’ll still post things once in a while.Our topic for today is academic writing. I think it’s fair to say that philosophers are very often models of clear academic writing. They frown on needless complexity and

Philosophy and Dogmatism

2010-12-15T13:39:00.003-06:00

The New York Times columnist David Brooks is a fan of studies of human behavior. In a recent column, called “Social Science Palooza,” he summarizes the findings of a number of recent studies. Some of them are quite amusing.Among my favorites:- More physical contact among teammates on basketball teams correlates with better performance.- Men are less inclined to date women who dumped their last

A little update from the Bethel athletics department

2010-12-06T09:32:00.005-06:00

Bethel alumni out there may be interested to know that the Bethel football team beat St. Thomas this past weekend and now moves on in the NCAA Division III football playoffs. Imagine that: playoffs in college football! Bethel will play in the semi-finals this coming Saturday against the Mount Union Goliaths from Ohio. (They aren't really the "Goliaths"--I don't know what their team name is.

Profitable but Unethical Business Practices

2010-11-28T21:59:00.004-06:00

We’re often told that ethics is good for business. Companies that sell quality products and treat customers fairly thrive because of it, while unethical companies fail. In some ways the internet has helped to promote ethical business behavior. In years past, if you were treated badly by a company you might fire off an angry letter, complain to family and friends, or report the problem to the

Science and the Color Red

2010-11-17T10:56:00.006-06:00

One of the problems physicalists have to deal with is how what are called qualia can be physical. (Qualia are mental states that involve sensations, or "raw feels," like the feeling of pain, an itch, or nausea, or the experience of redness.) The worry for physicalism is that it is unclear how physicalism can account for qualia. How can the feel of pain simply be a state of the brain or an

Steve Martin's Atheist Song

2010-11-13T10:37:00.004-06:00

Everyone admits that religion has spawned brilliant music and art (to say nothing for philosophy!). Atheism, on the other hand, has had little going for it musically. In this video, comedian/actor/musician/author Steve Martin tries to rectify the situation with an amusing tune called, "Atheists Don't Have no Songs."One reason I post this here is that Steve Martin has some connection to

Dwight's Logical Problem

2010-11-11T20:39:00.005-06:00

Fans of "The Office" might enjoy watching Dwight get himself into a little logical trouble. (Thanks to Jeremy for the link!)

Realism, Anti-Realism, and Baseball

2010-11-06T10:07:00.010-05:00

There is an important debate in philosophy between those who say that what is true is made true by the world, and those who say that what is true is made true by us. A realist says that the WORLD makes true statements true; an anti-realist says that WE do. For example, a realist about morality may say that committing adultery is objectively wrong—-it’s wrong because doing so fails some objective

Utilitarianism and Voting

2010-10-29T10:25:00.003-05:00

It’s voting season again, and to celebrate I’m going to pretend I’m a utilitarian and give you a straightforward argument for the conclusion that you shouldn’t bother going to the polls. (Roughly speaking, a utilitarian believes that the right action is the one that produces the most overall happiness. Rightness of action depends purely on the consequences.) Here’s the argument: your vote doesn’t

I learn everything from Star Trek

2010-10-26T08:55:00.006-05:00

I recently had a fun discussion with some philosophy students about personal identity and the deeply held (but perhaps incorrect) intuition that spatio-temporal continuity is relevant to conditions for persistence. I find that pop culture, especially of the science fiction variety, is such a wonderful cultural-encylopedia of reference for testing our intuition pumps. I mean, what else is pop

Brilliant Christian Professors

2010-10-23T22:44:00.003-05:00

Follow the link below to see a list of "the 20 most brilliant Christian professors." The list seems fairly reasonable to me, though it could certainly use a few more philosophers! Alvin Plantinga is on it, as he should be; but I'd say Nicholas Wolterstorff deserves to be there, too. In any case, it's an impressive collection of scholars! (Thanks to Chris L. for posting this on his facebook

More on Roger Ebert

2010-10-16T08:10:00.003-05:00

Just to supplement Tim's post below, some of you may be unaware of Roger Ebert's current situation. A few years ago, he suffered from cancer and had to have his lower jaw removed. As a result, he permanently lost the ability to eat, drink, or talk. A powerful story about this can be found here. http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310.

Ebert on Miracles

2010-10-15T12:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Roger Ebert questioned the use of the term "miracle" to describe the rescue of the Chilean mine workers. In doing so, he attempted to explain what a miracle is, which for Ebert seems to be something like "a violation of the laws of nature by God."Ebert is a smart guy, working outside his area of expertise (film), so he makes a lot of mistakes in his treatment of miracles, theology, and

The Springfield Film Festival

2010-10-05T14:05:00.005-05:00

Our department sponsors a writing contest for Bethel students, where we pose a question and they submit answers and win fabulous prizes. This month's question: "What is the most philosophically interesting film you've seen, and why?" The following clip from The Simpsons hints at how Homer might answer it. This takes place during the Springfield Film Festival, where Homer serves as a judge.

fun optical experience

2010-10-02T10:19:00.004-05:00

Stare without blinking at the red dot. The grey lines eventually fade from your perception.

give the emotions some love

2010-09-29T08:06:00.002-05:00

I’ve been reading Martha Nussbaum for a number of years now. Among the several books and articles she has written, one recent book stands out to me:Upheavals of Thought: the intelligence of the emotions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).In this incredibly insightful book, Nussbaum is trying to restore balance to the age-old war between “the mind” and “the heart.”Much of the blame for

Plantinga and Dennett

2010-09-27T13:35:00.002-05:00

I love getting free books—it’s one of the perks of being a professor. Last week I received a book called Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? (Oxford, 2010). It’s a debate between philosophical heavyweights Alvin Plantinga and Daniel Dennett. In it, Plantinga argues that science and religion are compatible, and that it’s naturalism (the view that there are no divine beings and the

Cheating and the Soul

2010-09-18T11:12:00.002-05:00

This week in CWC (a team-taught Christianity and Western Culture course at Bethel), I lectured on Plato’s view of the soul. (Only briefly, because I had to cover Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in one lecture!) Roughly speaking, according to Plato the soul has three parts: the intellect, which seeks after truth; the spirited part, which seeks after honor; and the appetites, which seek after

Simpsons' take on graduate student life

2010-09-11T21:59:00.006-05:00

Those of you who were, are, or will be graduate students may enjoy these clips from the Simpsons. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XViCOAu6UC0

Variety is the Spice of Educational Life

2010-09-07T14:06:00.003-05:00

Check out this article from the New York Times, which discusses how new research overturns some old ideas about the best ways to study. Apparently variety doesn't just spice up your life; it also makes your studying much more effective. Quite a fascinating article--and helpful, too, if you're looking for ways to improve your study habits. Professors will also be happy to know that tests which

Stephen Hawking and God

2010-09-04T13:37:00.004-05:00

Perhaps you’ve read that Stephen Hawking claims in a new book that God is not needed to explain the existence of the universe. If you haven’t, here’s a link to an article on the subject. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=11542570. (It’s curious that the story is in the entertainment section of ABC’s website...)From the article, it’s unclear what Hawking’s real view is. He says in

Philosophy of Humor

2010-08-31T14:42:00.002-05:00

I’d never want to write a book on philosophy of humor, partly because I fear that analyzing humor too much could take all the fun out of it. But for me, the best comedy is unpredictable. I hate lazy humor. This is why I don’t like most sit-coms, and why I’d always pick Conan O’Brien over Jay Leno. Leno’s a gifted stand-up comedian, but the jokes in his monologue are usually the sort of generic

Welcome back to Bethel Philosophy

2010-08-31T14:37:00.002-05:00

Greetings and welcome to a new school year for the Bethel University Philosophy Blog. This year we'll be posting regularly about stuff that interests us, whether directly related to philosophy or not. (Though we'll post about it philosophically either way.) Have a great school year, everyone!

let the children play

2010-04-28T18:49:00.005-05:00

What makes sense of regret? Obviously, there are the moral kinds of reasons, but that’s not what I have in mind. I can’t speak for anyone else, but when I end up regretting past actions, I do so believing that things could have been different than they in fact were. I could have made a different choice, imagining an alternate version of myself with slightly to vastly different desires,

ode to Alexander Calder

2010-04-26T19:17:00.004-05:00

I attended a lecture by one of my colleagues (an art historian), and I was treated to a discussion of the lovely work by the American artist Alexander Calder (1898-1976).The second work is titled “Two Systems.”I think that all of us will recognize this as a mobile.The mobile has become so common that it’s a cliché hanging over practically every crib in America.Alexander Calder, the inventor of

The virtue of thankfulness

2009-12-03T11:23:00.001-06:00

This is an updated version of a post from my own blog written prior to Thanksgiving: As Aquinas puts it in the Summa Theologiae, "Whether thankfulness is a virtue, distinct from the other virtues?" For Aquinas, the answer is yes, because thankfulness is "a special part of justice." Giving thanks to our benefactors, i.e. those who have given us a particular and personal favor, is an issue of

candy for the brain

2009-10-17T11:42:00.003-05:00

Click on the photo below.

Conceptual Schemes

2009-09-26T15:49:00.002-05:00

I first encountered the thought of Donald Davidson in 1982 in a graduate seminar conducted by Alasdair MacIntyre. The first thing I read was "Actions, Reasons, and Causes." The second thing I read was "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme." I have agreed with almost everything that I have come to understand from the work and thought of Donald Davidson. I agree with his views on truth and

spiritual experiences with Cloud Cult

2009-08-24T10:35:00.006-05:00

The last hurrah before school begins:Cloud Cult @ The Cabooze in Minneapolis on 8/23/09Fan-freakin'-tastic, spiritual experience

a very brief and quick meditation on Aristotle concerning character

2009-07-16T20:12:00.004-05:00

Aristotle was particularly concerned about the virtues of ethical character. It was obvious to him that habituation based on repeated exposure to particular kinds of experiences influenced an ethical agent along two entangled matrices: (a) what one professes to believe about particular ethical propositions such as “Courage is a virtue” and (b) how one actually conducts oneself ethically in the

fearing death

2009-06-22T13:55:00.001-05:00

Instead of posting, I should be relaxing and thinking about fun things while on vacation on the north shore of Lake Superior...Here’s a quick argument about death and fear in the spirit of Epicurus.Epicurus writes in his Letter to Menoeceus, “Accustom yourself to believing that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply the capacity for sensation, and death is the privation of all sentience.

Merely Verbal Disputes and the Origin of Ideas

2009-06-15T13:22:00.006-05:00

Re-reading Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding for the umpteenth time, I am struck (again) by just how many perennial disputes in philosophy are dismissed by Hume as merely verbal disputes. Once we get clear on what we mean by our words, we can swat away pesky problems like the compatibility of liberty and necessity or the nature of causation. Other than Wittgenstein, has any other

end of year lunch

2009-05-23T07:08:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week, the department took our teaching assistants out to an end of year lunch to thank them for their hard work. The food was lovely.Ray and DanDan and Carriegraduating senioryummy breadgraduating seniorsgraduating seniorsEric and some graduating seniorsgraduating senior, Paul, and Gary (colleague from another department)Good times were had by all.

a bit of religious confusion

2009-05-07T16:12:00.001-05:00

Please allow me to share my religious confusion with you.First, the good news: There was a heart-warming story about a 3 year old toddler in Missouri who wandered away from home. He was lost for about three days, and he was found by search and rescue volunteers. He’s a tough kid who survived in the woods for three days. That’s pretty cool.Here’s what the father said: “It’s indescribable how

2009-04-10T09:53:00.002-05:00

Philosophyby Billy CollinsI used to sit in the cafe of existentialism,lost in a blue cloud of cigarette smoke,contemplating the suicide a tiny Frenchmanmight commit by leaping from the rim of my brandyglass.I used to hunger to be engagedas I walked the long shaded boulevards,eyeing women of all nationalities,a difficult paperback riding in my raincoat pocket.But these days I like my ontology in

Can I Enjoy a Good Night's Sleep?

2009-04-08T08:38:00.002-05:00

I've been wondering recently whether it is possible to enjoy a good night's sleep, or to enjoy sleeping at all.Here's the problem: It seems that in order to enjoy something, I have to be conscious while it is taking place. I enjoy a film only if I experience a film. I enjoy a good meal only if I experience a meal. If I do not consciously experience these events, it seems I can't enjoy

MacLaurin, Clarke Velocities, and Powers

2009-03-11T13:01:00.008-05:00

I've been reading various obscure sources recently as I investigate early interpretations of Newton and how they might have influenced Hume's understanding of space, time, body, souls, and scientific method. I came across this (to me) rather surprising passage from Colin MacLaurin's A Treatise of Fluxions in Two Books (1742). MacLaurin was a friend of Hume in Edinburgh, a key figure in the "

how to explain the two Euclids

2009-03-04T19:47:00.005-06:00

On occasion, I find myself talking about axioms and the notion of a paradigm-relative axiom.The standard example I use is Euclidean geometry... which usually elicits judgmental stares from my students. (*sigh* Public school isn’t what it used to be, eh? But I digress...)One of the axioms (forgive the loose description) is that if you draw two straight lines diverging from a single point, those

two wacky ideas

2009-03-03T18:07:00.004-06:00

Here are two quick thoughts about Spinoza before dinner.The students find Spinoza both interesting and wacky.I’ve posted a few other items in this blog about what I find interesting in Spinoza.Here’s something I find wacky... Spinoza is a necessitarian, which is to say, he believes that all events that occur are not only necessitated by the past but also necessary.Take any proposition P about an

Spinoza the mystic

2009-03-01T13:03:00.003-06:00

Recently in class (and hopefully again this week), we talked about whether Spinoza should be considered a strange theist (e.g., a pantheist or panenthiest) or an atheist. Either is consistent with his monistic metaphysics.Hard to say...He’s got this great way of referring to his view of reality: “God, or in other words, Nature.”Recall that Descartes was a substance-type dualist and a

Cartesian heresy

2009-02-12T17:17:00.006-06:00

In Descartes’ philosophy, there is a thread that ties together his epistemic concerns in a way that is shockingly similar (in one respect) to the kinds of concerns of those ancient epistemologies adopted by Stoics and Pyrrhonians.Those ancient philosophers were wildly obsessed with ethics and the good life. I say that with tongue-in-cheek, partly in the mode of satire and partly in the mode of (

interesting interview with Gwen Ifill

2009-01-30T16:33:00.001-06:00

Gwen Ifill talks about her book on Obama on Minnesota Public Radio:/*

Descartes and Plato

2009-01-30T10:13:00.001-06:00

In re-reading Descartes’ Meditation Two, I was struck again by how similar he is to Plato. The famous passage about the wax is a nice place where Descartes plays his Platonic hand.Plato famously makes a distinction between the realm of the sensible (Becoming) and the intelligible (Being). The sensible realm is the one whose general determinable attribute is alteration. The intelligible realm is

Buying Less

2009-01-27T09:49:00.004-06:00

It's January, 2009, and the USA is in one of the worst recessions anyone can remember. Comparisons are made to the dot-com crash of the early 2000s, the awfulness of the early 1980s, and all the way back to the Great Depression itself in the 1930s.This all leads to my question for the philosophers: Should you intentionally spend less money in a recession?Of course, if you've lost your job or some

Locke and the idea of the void

2009-01-26T09:35:00.003-06:00

In the seventeenth century, the two dominant forms of mechanistic philosophy were Cartesianism and corpuscularianism. The former denied the possibility and hence existence of the void, and the latter affirmed the existence of the void, since matter was ultimately discrete.Locke, being much in favor of corpuscularianism over Cartesianism (though withholding belief about whether corpuscularianism

alchemy...

2008-12-20T11:25:00.003-06:00

Well, not quite, but still pretty cool...small pot of boiling water + very cold day = Source

not even God...

2008-11-11T08:52:00.003-06:00

... could bring about the satisfaction of this condition:

Socratic ignorance

2008-10-30T20:24:00.005-05:00

Okay, I’m going out on a limb here...I’m not an Ancient Philosophy scholar, nor do I claim to have any special insight on Socrates/Plato.But I can’t resist musing about Socrates on this fine, unseasonably warm Fall evening in late October, especially inspired by some thought-provoking conversations with my colleague Eric Snider (our local ancient philosophy aficionado).Socratic DuplicitySocrates

musing on "disagreement"

2008-10-23T09:53:00.003-05:00

A brief musing about the concept of “disagreement”...There is an obvious difference between the confidence we have (both psychologically and epistemically) when we assert that “2 and 2 makes 4” versus when we assert that “it is wrong to lie no matter what” (assuming we think it is).It’s hard to disagree with the first assertion, but it’s not that hard to disagree with the second (personal note: I

a brief meditation about open-theism

2008-10-21T09:02:00.002-05:00

A quick and easy route to open-theism or something near enough...A few years ago, Hilary Bok wrote a really fun book titled Freedom and Responsibility. Essentially, she articulates a compatibilism that is deeply Kantian in spirit. The book is definitely worth reading.In her book, she uses a marvelously fictive device called “the pocket oracle.” The pocket oracle is a perfect predictor of your own

understanding others

2008-10-05T21:27:00.002-05:00

Some philosophers (maybe Quine; Fodor seems to accuse him of this) hold that in order to understand what another is saying, you need to understand all the other's beliefs and concepts. For to understand what another is saying or believing, you need to understand what they mean, what their whole set of concepts and beliefs are, so you can accurately place their currently expressed belief in the

great question

2008-09-23T21:54:00.005-05:00

I was asked recently whether the study of philosophy makes one more skeptical.I didn't know how to answer for at least a couple of reasons.First, I really don't know how to answer questions at that level of generality.Second, I still haven't figured out what the study of philosophy has done to me.Thoughts from those who've been made skeptical or otherwise by philosophy?

strange bedfellows

2008-08-26T05:57:00.001-05:00

I can’t speak for everyone, but for myself I do not believe in substantial forms and hence find myself rejecting all types of hylomorphism in ontology.Many of my friends share this rejection of hylomorphism as either a description or an explanation of phenomena.What I find interesting and puzzling is that many of my religiously serious friends (and I count myself as religiously serious) who

why Descartes' criterion of doubt is awesome

2008-08-15T14:22:00.002-05:00

I don’t know how many times I’ve read Descartes’ Meditations. I’ve definitely read it more than any other philosophical text so far, and I love it (and hate it) every time. It’s amazing to think about how much of an impact that short treatise has made on academic philosophy in particular and on intellectual culture in general.The criterion of doubt continues to capture my interest, as well as I

from the "This, I Believe" Series on NPR

2008-08-08T08:07:00.001-05:00

Finding Equality Through LogicWeekend Edition Sunday, August 3, 2008“This, I Believe” Seriesby Yvette Doss[Yvette Doss works in fundraising for Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Ind. A native of Los Angeles, she was founding editor of an alternative paper and a Latino zine. Doss has written for the Los Angeles Times, Ms. Magazine and NPR.]I believe that you can take control of your destiny

academic philosophy

2008-07-28T19:25:00.005-05:00

We've had family visiting us from Los Angeles for the past month or so. The latest visitors are my brother, his wife, and his daughter.Having my 18 month old niece here for the past several days has temporarily put much of my abstract thinking on the back burner.And in fact I have absolutely no complaints. I'm not saying that academic philosophy is not important... not by any stretch... I'm just

here and now

2008-07-16T10:22:00.006-05:00

There are many analogies between space and time.I’d like to point out an alleged disanalogy between the import of two essential indexicals: “here” and “now.”One way to display the (alleged) difference is to ask of “here” whether it is privileged or unique. Of course, there is an obvious sense in which it is unique or privileged. It is both to the one who uses the indexical in the context of

Jonathan Edwards on original sin

2008-07-06T10:04:00.003-05:00

Well, I just sat down to re-read Jonathan Edwards’ defense of the doctrine of original sin. [Philosophical aside: Personally, I think the doctrine of original sin is philosophically confusing. I don’t quite understand it.]His treatment is even more radical than I had remembered. His project is to answer objections about the alleged injustice of imputing Adam and Eve’s sin/guilt to their posterity

Cartesian voluntarism

2008-06-30T19:22:00.004-05:00

I'm back from a short trip to Los Angeles, and now for a quick blog entry...Descartes is delightfully notorious for so many things.One of those things is a deep, divine voluntarism not just about the good but also about the true. In particular, he is a voluntarist about modal truths.One way to make this sound less crazy (and perhaps even be less crazy, if true) is to domesticate what is happening

Ethical Dilemmas at work

2008-06-23T21:42:00.003-05:00

The health care profession seems to be in a conflicting situation, if not an ethical dilemma. Companies in the health care profession often say in their mission statement that their mission is to provide health care, short and long term, to their patients and families. But as companies, they are in the business of business--making money. And in order to make money, they need a constant supply

early modern direct realist perception... maybe

2008-06-18T15:42:00.003-05:00

There’s a fun discussion in the secondary literature on whether or not early modern philosophers really should be saddled with this “veil of perceptions” doctrine, where their realism is one of representationalism (i.e., indirect realism).One step towards getting rid of the lingering notion that all the early modern philosophers were representationalists is to find a way of talking about mental

would be awesome...

2008-06-18T09:54:00.004-05:00

Sign me up if this were ever to become a reality...

In Defense of Omnivores

2008-06-17T12:43:00.003-05:00

I originally posted this article here, but thought it might be of interest to readers of this blog as well.I grew up on a meat and potatoes diet. Every dinner, there would be a meat (most often chicken, but also pork or beef), either rice or potato, and a veggie. Lunches would be similar, perhaps with a fruit instead of a veggie or bread instead of rice or potato. Vegetarianism wasn’t really on

a little phenomenology and ontology today...

2008-06-17T11:05:00.003-05:00

A little phenomenology and ontology today...A condition of thinking is the ability to have thoughts that represent. That’s a trivial enough insight.A not so trivial question: how are thoughts representative of kinds or properties? This isn’t asking about how thoughts represent particulars (though that too is a philosophical question that is tough as nails). It’s about how they represent

Socrates and belief holism

2008-06-14T23:01:00.002-05:00

In a post Thursday, Dan wrote about Leibniz:"Leibniz writes, “In every true affirmative proposition, whether necessary or contingent, universal or particular, the notion of the predicate is in some way included in that of the subject (FW 111-2).”"As he develops this line of thought, he ends up meaning something much stronger and controversial: (a) the complete concept of any substance S includes

yet another surprise from Leibniz

2008-06-12T12:43:00.008-05:00

There is a funny route from Leibniz’s doctrine about subject-predicate containment to anti-essentialism (that sounds ludicrous at first, but it gets clearer when I explain what kind of anti-essentialism I mean).Leibniz writes, “In every true affirmative proposition, whether necessary or contingent, universal or particular, the notion of the predicate is in some way included in that of the subject

more delightful surprises from Leibniz

2008-06-11T13:25:00.005-05:00

About ten years ago, William Lyons wrote an informative book on intentionality (Approaches to Intentionality). One of the views he discussed was one in which intentionality was a biological function of informational covariance, where representational contents are analyzed by relations of causation and “signals.” The important point of that theory is that intentionality is NOT basic (and neither

a hard saying from Leibniz

2008-06-11T11:32:00.004-05:00

I don’t quite understand the following from Leibniz.“If we pretend that there is a machine whose structure makes it think, sense, and have perception, then we can conceive it enlarged, but keeping to the same proportions, so that we might go inside it as into a mill. Suppose that we do: then if we inspect the interior we shall find there nothing but parts that push one another, and never anything

the "will" of God

2008-06-07T12:46:00.012-05:00

When Socrates quizzed Euthyphro on the nature of piety, he bequeathed to us an interesting and seemingly perennial philosophical puzzle about how to speak of God (which, for me at least, is equivalent to how to think of God).It seems that one’s answer to Socrates either limits the scope of God’s power or makes equivocal the sense of “good” that is used to speak of God. Either way, the results

Spinoza is not so strange... maybe

2008-06-06T10:28:00.004-05:00

I’m getting more and more intrigued by Spinoza these days. I still can’t make sense of the ways that he connects his propositions in the early (and in my view the most interesting) parts of Ethics, but nevertheless I think I’m beginning to get a picture of what he’s really saying.What strikes me about him is that on the one hand his philosophy is initially so bizarre as to make it hard to take

how to stumble into Spinoza, or maybe Berkeley

2008-06-05T12:59:00.003-05:00

Religious piety, combined with some traditional theses about the nature of (the Christian) God, can result in some surprises.Christians believe that there is only one God. They might argue further that there can be only one God.How could one argue for this? Here’s one way to argue for it by reductio that combines (a) a plain-vanilla thesis about omniscience and (b) a traditional, pious

Descartes on indivisibility

2008-06-04T10:06:00.002-05:00

Descartes gives a strange argument for the real distinction between mind and body. [Philosophical aside: he specifies “real” as in “res,” as opposed to a modal (as in “mode” of substance) distinction, since he recognizes the former as relevant to his substance dualism.]The argument is one from divisibility.(1) All extended things are divisible.(2) No minds are divisible.(3) No minds are extended

musing on Cartesian causation

2008-06-02T11:20:00.004-05:00

Here’s a brief meditation on Descartes’ views of causation.For Descartes’ teachers, the causal alterations of the material world were to be explained by reference to substantial forms. These were the entities that were the causal relata invoked to explain alteration, generation, and corruption.For many reasons, Descartes came to reject the explanatory value of substantial forms (chief among the

a plea for the obvious

2008-05-30T06:24:00.001-05:00

This is a very brief plea for what should be obvious...In the early modern period, there were very strange theories of causation that systematically attempted to link together the new mechanistic principles of explanation, theories of material substance, and theologically pious convictions about the nature of God’s governance over the created world.None of these theories of causation were

is Boyle a mechanist?

2008-05-15T07:37:00.002-05:00

In the famous passage in OFQ concerning the lock and key, Boyle says that when Tubal Cain had fashioned the first lock and key, both things “obtained a new capacity.” [“The Origin of Forms and Qualities,” 310.] What does Boyle mean by this? This question is a tricky affair. Any positive proposal goes far beyond what Boyle explicitly says. So, with the risks inherent in conjecture, perhaps he is

MPS student conference

2008-04-27T07:24:00.004-05:00

Eric Snider and I took a group of students to the Minnesota Philosophical Society Student Conference held this year in Saint Peter, MN (at Gustavus Adolphus College) where each presented a paper.It was a fun trip for me partly because I was able to see parts of the state I've not yet experienced. I also had a good time getting to know everyone a little better. It was a fantastic group of

Genetics and Sexual Orientation

2008-03-28T13:29:00.005-05:00

It will be very interesting to see what comes of this study.Official research website here.First off, I’m not exactly sure what it means to say one’s sexual orientation is a “choice.” I’ve always been somewhat puzzled by this. After all, one usually does not say that one’s heterosexual orientation is a choice. Rather, this seems strongly connected to our biological endowment — “nature” if you

Ad hominem

2008-03-13T09:49:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking recently about what constitutes an ad hominem. Generally speaking, an ad hominem dismisses an argument or a position because of the person who holds it. And being a fallacy, it is best avoided.But it seems like there are times when it is okay to ignore what is said because of who says it. If a person has consistently shown herself to be a liar, it is fine to say "don't trust

A Problem for Postmodernism

2007-12-14T06:41:00.000-06:00

Consider the following dilemma discussed by David Detmer, in his Challenging Postmodernism: Philosophy and the Politics of Truth. Those who call for a rejection of rational inquiry must either do so in conformity to the principles of rationality or not. These principles include consistency, commitment to fact, and the basic tenets of logic. If they call for this rejection in conformity with

Locke's "support" for corpuscularian mechanism

2007-12-06T20:35:00.002-06:00

The philosophy of body was one of the most controversial issues in the seventeenth-century. It defined who was and was not party to the scientific revolution of the “new sciences.”In Locke’s context, there are five competing theories about matter. First, there is the Scholastic-Aristotelian doctrine of four elements (earth, fire, air, and water), part of a larger metaphysical theory of substance.

a recipe for becoming a moral anti-realist

2007-12-04T10:30:00.001-06:00

J.L. Mackie is a moral anti-realist who combines the insights of Nietzsche and Darwin. He denies the existence of objective moral values. He recognizes a puzzle, however. Agents participating in a moral kind of life from a moral point of view think they make real judgments, over and above the mere expression of sentiments. They are committed to the thesis that their morally evaluative beliefs

"superaddition"

2007-12-01T09:57:00.001-06:00

Continuing from the post below...Review the propositions:(1) M thinks.(2) M’s mental properties are deducible from M’s physical properties.(3) There is a true description P of M’s real essence qua fitly disposed matter.(4) Q.(5) Therefore, M thinks.Now on to more...Ayers grants that Q can make reference also to God’s agency, so long as his agency is only a manipulation of the physical (primary)

Locke on gravity and mental properties

2007-11-25T13:25:00.001-06:00

Mechanism, generally, is the view that all of the operations, interactions, and sensible qualities of natural bodies are causally dependent upon the mechanical qualities of those bodies. Laws which govern the behavior of the mechanical parts and properties can be explained by being deduced from the attributes possessed essentially by all bodies qua bodies.The application of such a model of

Philosophy Soccer

2007-11-08T19:22:00.000-06:00

why can't we all just get along?

2007-11-08T16:53:00.000-06:00

When I walk through the hallways, I always overhear conversations. It's not intentional. That's just what happens when I walk through public areas where people are having conversations.I ran across an interesting conversation. I only heard a very brief bit. It went something like this.Student A says to another: "I really like the philosophy readings that we're doing. But it doesn't connect with

The Metaphysics of Albus Dumbledore

2007-11-02T10:45:00.001-05:00

I’ve long been a fan of the Harry Potter books, and I’ve long been puzzled by the metaphysics of fictional characters. These two things came to a head for me recently when J.K. Rowling, the author of the books, mentioned that Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, invaluable mentor to Harry, and perhaps the most powerful wizard alive (up until the end of the

fun with Pyrrho and Chisholm

2007-10-26T20:28:00.002-05:00

Sextus Empiricus makes a clear distinction between (a) affirmations concerning how things appear and (b) affirmations concerning real existence. (a) is supposed to be neither an overly technical notion nor a philosophical term of art. It's just supposed to be a common sense report of how things seem, how the phenomena strike a perceiver. (a), for example, is NOT supposed to connote sense data,

What is the value of philosophy?

2007-10-07T11:47:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, I hear something like the following:"What is philosophy good for?"This is usually attended with some attitudes of frustration or disenchantment.I don't quite understand the question, partly because I wonder whether there is such a thing as "Philosophy," plain and simple. More often, when I think of philosophy, I think of all the sub-divisions and sub-specialties that the term "

Existentialism

2007-10-06T09:57:00.000-05:00

If you, like me, find existentialism puzzling but fascinating, then here's a fun show for you.Existentialism Philosophy TalkClick the link above. You'll need the Real Player application.

Ian Hacking on anti-Darwinism

2007-10-02T22:02:00.001-05:00

Ian Hacking, a philosopher I respect, has posted a short opinion piece in The Nation.He notes his suspicions about "intelligent design," a new form of creationism that attempts to pass itself off as science.It's worth a read.

Descartes and the "image of God"

2007-09-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

One of the things that Descartes was self-consciously doing was elevating the human mind to make it more godlike. He takes very seriously the thesis that human beings are "made in the image of God," and he wants what he interprets as this godlikeness to be a defining mark of his Christian philosophy.His spin on being made in the image of God takes three forms. First, the mind is transformed from

Welcome

2007-09-30T09:55:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the new Bethel University Philosophy blog.