Metaphysics Essence 12 Aug 2009 Essence, (essentia, from esse, to be,) “the very being of anything, whereby it is what it is.” Locke. It is an ancient scholastic word, which cannot be really defined, and should be banished from use. [W. S. Jevons, Elementary Lessons in Logic, 1870: 335] The Locke quote is from the… Continue Reading
Philosophy On philosophical practice 8 Aug 2009 One might well want to ask how seriously this doctrine is intended, just how strictly and literally the philosophers who propound it mean their words to be taken. … It is, as a matter of fact, not at all easy to answer, for strange though the doctrine looks, we are… Continue Reading
Philosophy It’s not just economics 6 Aug 2009 “The real world is a special case.” Horngren’s Observation Continue Reading
Philosophy Epitaph on a Tyrant 4 Aug 2009 Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after, And the poetry he invented was easy to understand; He knew human folly like the back of his hand, And was greatly interested in armies and fleets; When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter, And when he cried the little… Continue Reading
Philosophy Farr on MRI 3 Aug 2009 Introducing an irregular series of quotes that catch my eye: Noise is principally due to the presence of the patient. [R. F. Farr] HT Omri Schwartz Continue Reading