Philosophy
A student of mine was discussing a debate he viewed concerning the existence of God and the team arguing in favor of the thesis began with an axiom that existence of the universe is a necessary truth. Is it? Is it possible that nothing could exist? If we think about possibility in terms of possible worlds, is the idea of a possible world in which nothing exists possible? Would such a world be one among the multiplicity of possibilities or is it a non-world, that is, is it logically inconsistent to have a world in which there is no world? Does there necessarily have to be something?
- Modern Mencken
Tomorrow is Mencken day at the Enoch Pratt Library, honoring one of the great intellects of Baltimore. Who would be the modern day version of H.L. Mencken? Is there a writer who is smart, ascerbic, conservative, and wry? P.J. O'Rourke? ...
- Can You Really Own A Position?
I've been thinking about the use of the verb to own with respect to an intellectual view. When a student is being wishy-washy about a proposition he or she is arguing for and clearly believes, I'll tell the student to "own the position." ...
- Historians, Archaeologists, And Scientists
Are historians scientists? They frame hypotheses about the causes and effects of real events and use empirical evidence to support their accounts. But they don't do not look for regularities to make into laws; to the contrary, they account...
- Are Atoms Illogical?
The word "atom" comes from the Greek for uncuttable. The idea in the doctrines of Democritus and Lucretius was that there was a basic unit of material existence that had no parts, was complete unity in itself. Descartes, in his book The Principles...
- Indexical Obsolescence?
Tightening up the index for Einstein's Jewish Science. Last item before it goes to the printers. It will be released in mid-April in both hardback and e-book formats. If we are moving towards an all e-book world in the next decade...
Philosophy
Is Existence Necessary?
A student of mine was discussing a debate he viewed concerning the existence of God and the team arguing in favor of the thesis began with an axiom that existence of the universe is a necessary truth. Is it? Is it possible that nothing could exist? If we think about possibility in terms of possible worlds, is the idea of a possible world in which nothing exists possible? Would such a world be one among the multiplicity of possibilities or is it a non-world, that is, is it logically inconsistent to have a world in which there is no world? Does there necessarily have to be something?
- Modern Mencken
Tomorrow is Mencken day at the Enoch Pratt Library, honoring one of the great intellects of Baltimore. Who would be the modern day version of H.L. Mencken? Is there a writer who is smart, ascerbic, conservative, and wry? P.J. O'Rourke? ...
- Can You Really Own A Position?
I've been thinking about the use of the verb to own with respect to an intellectual view. When a student is being wishy-washy about a proposition he or she is arguing for and clearly believes, I'll tell the student to "own the position." ...
- Historians, Archaeologists, And Scientists
Are historians scientists? They frame hypotheses about the causes and effects of real events and use empirical evidence to support their accounts. But they don't do not look for regularities to make into laws; to the contrary, they account...
- Are Atoms Illogical?
The word "atom" comes from the Greek for uncuttable. The idea in the doctrines of Democritus and Lucretius was that there was a basic unit of material existence that had no parts, was complete unity in itself. Descartes, in his book The Principles...
- Indexical Obsolescence?
Tightening up the index for Einstein's Jewish Science. Last item before it goes to the printers. It will be released in mid-April in both hardback and e-book formats. If we are moving towards an all e-book world in the next decade...