Home, tired, and amused 10 Nov 2009 I arrived after a not-too-shabby flight on a Qantas A388. The American couple next to me couldn’t believe it was built by the French; I pointed out that a few other European countries also contributed. I actually slept for a while. Anyway, nothing sensible is going to come from me for a while, so here’s a page at 3 Quarks Daily on short definitions of philosophy. Some examples: Philosophy is the cure for which there is no adequate disease. Jerry Fodor He is a quantum philosopher. I can’t understand him and his position at the same time. S. Morganbesser His paper has a beginning, a muddle, and an end. Anon. Hegel loses a lot in the original. D. Stove Power corrupts. Powerpoint corrupts absolutely. Steffi Lewis Administrative Humor Philosophy
Book FAPP on the doorstep 12 May 2010 My copy of What Darwin Got Wrong by Fodor and Piatelli-Palmarini has arrived and was waiting at the door for me this AM. God the British mail system is fast to Australia! Now I owe a series of posts on Rossano’s book first, but perhaps I will read FAPP on… Read More
Education Scientism and methodological naturalism 9 Sep 201210 Sep 2012 So I’ve been busy with work, and finding a flat and preparing to move. Larry’s been busy tearing strips off those who argue that the ENCODE data shows the genome is mostly functional (only if you think that doing anything happens to be functional). But I hadn’t forgotten his latest… Read More
… nothing sensible is going to come from me for a while …. No problem. Just let us know when (if) you make the switchover.
Or if the switch does not happen take some philosophical comfort from the words of Ben Franklyn. “The Pleasure arising to a few Philosophers, from seeing, a few Times in their Life, the Threads of Light untwisted, and separated by the Newtonian Prism into seven Colours, can it be compared with the Ease and Comfort every Man living might feel seven times a Day, by discharging freely the Wind from his Bowels?
“Were all men philosophers, the business of life could not be executed, and neither society, nor even the species, could long exist.” William Smellie, 1791
I still find myself with a case of culture shock when it comes to both science and philosophy, most of my family are historians. When philosophy works and cuts through the material making it sing, its a joy. But it seems to be rather a bitch to work with and requires considerable effort getting there.