Philosophy
In the conversations involving the death of Osama bin Laden, one hears the word "closure" used very frequently. Is it a meaningful notion or just pop psychological nonsense?
It is certainly true that in unusual cases such as the disappearances of political dissidents in Central America in the 1980s, their loved ones had problematic grieving processes because they felt they could not surrender hope that the person was still alive in a secret prison and could someday emerge. In such cases, final word would free the loved ones from this emotional limbo. But those cases are far the exception.
What about more normal cases? Do we use notions like "closure" to justify what we realize are just revenge fantasies and use pseudo-psychological babble to provide moral cover for our baser urges or is it a legitimate concern for the healing of victims?
- Osama Bin Laden And The Dread Pirate Roberts
It has been very interesting watching the administration's finesse in handling the bin Laden assassination. Some of the interest was in doing the right thing because it is the right thing, some of it has been to make sure that there was as little...
- Do You Get What You Pay For?
Is the old chestnut "you get what you pay for" true? When you pay more, is it generally for quality or is it for marketing and brand status or convenience? Has the mass production of goods and consolidation in the marketplace altered the relationship...
- Language, Gender, And The Many
Wonderful questions this time around, folks. Thank you very much. Two good ones for today. Anne asks, "In Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, pidgin english only uses one gender to describe everyone. Men and women are both given the word man along with all...
- Sex And Handwriting
I was doing some grading and TheWife was looking over my shoulder. Without looking at the names, she was able to correctly determine the sex of the writer in 29 out of 30 cases. While she is quite a detail-oriented person, my guess is that this experiment...
- Death, Hockey, And Love
A pair of questions from C.Ewing. First, Is there an important distinction between "clinically dead" and "dead"? Is there a lingering dualism within that phrasing or something else entirely?Yes, there is a difference. "Dead" is the explicandum and "clinically...
Philosophy
Closure
In the conversations involving the death of Osama bin Laden, one hears the word "closure" used very frequently. Is it a meaningful notion or just pop psychological nonsense?
It is certainly true that in unusual cases such as the disappearances of political dissidents in Central America in the 1980s, their loved ones had problematic grieving processes because they felt they could not surrender hope that the person was still alive in a secret prison and could someday emerge. In such cases, final word would free the loved ones from this emotional limbo. But those cases are far the exception.
What about more normal cases? Do we use notions like "closure" to justify what we realize are just revenge fantasies and use pseudo-psychological babble to provide moral cover for our baser urges or is it a legitimate concern for the healing of victims?
- Osama Bin Laden And The Dread Pirate Roberts
It has been very interesting watching the administration's finesse in handling the bin Laden assassination. Some of the interest was in doing the right thing because it is the right thing, some of it has been to make sure that there was as little...
- Do You Get What You Pay For?
Is the old chestnut "you get what you pay for" true? When you pay more, is it generally for quality or is it for marketing and brand status or convenience? Has the mass production of goods and consolidation in the marketplace altered the relationship...
- Language, Gender, And The Many
Wonderful questions this time around, folks. Thank you very much. Two good ones for today. Anne asks, "In Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, pidgin english only uses one gender to describe everyone. Men and women are both given the word man along with all...
- Sex And Handwriting
I was doing some grading and TheWife was looking over my shoulder. Without looking at the names, she was able to correctly determine the sex of the writer in 29 out of 30 cases. While she is quite a detail-oriented person, my guess is that this experiment...
- Death, Hockey, And Love
A pair of questions from C.Ewing. First, Is there an important distinction between "clinically dead" and "dead"? Is there a lingering dualism within that phrasing or something else entirely?Yes, there is a difference. "Dead" is the explicandum and "clinically...