Monday, May 27, 2013

The relentless naturalist

Rebecca Kukla
3:AM Magazine interviews philosopher Rebecca Kukla.
Rebecca Kukla is chillin’ rad philosopher always thinking about the pragmatic topography of the space of reasons. She thinks philosophers have thought too much about statements broadcasting information and should look elsewhere like Plato, Rousseau and Nietzsche did.She’s suspicous of semantic theory, thinks McDowell wrong to think we are accountable to objects, thinks squirrels illustrate something important, finds certain ubiquitous risk communication both unhelpful and damaging to moral agency, is a relentless naturalist who thinks we should teach everyone to be scientifically and statistically literate, doesn’t mind being called a naturalised Kantian and has a great deal of sensible stuff to say about the scandal of gender inequality in academic philosophy. All in all, this is slick fuggly jive.
the relentless naturalist » 3:AM Magazine

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Soren Kierkegaard Turns Two Hundred

Soren Kierkegaard
If your soul has bunions, however, reading Kierkegaard may inflame them: he invented self-doubt in its modern form. “Either/Or,” for example, ought really to be subtitled “Neither.” Kierkegaard, who has often been called the father of existentialism, champions the examined life, and the conscious choice that informs it—yet he mocks choice as futile. “I see it all perfectly,” he wrote. “There are two possible situations—one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it—you will regret both.”
Soren Kierkegaard Turns Two Hundred : The New Yorker

Why isn't there more progress in philosophy?

A talk given by David Chalmers (ANU, NYU) at the Moral Sciences Club of the Faculty of Philosophy on 7th May 2013.

Video & Audio: Why isn't there more progress in philosophy?

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Daniel Dennett's seven tools for thinking

Daniel Dennett
Cognitive scientist and philosopher Daniel Dennett is one of America's foremost thinkers. In this extract from his new book, he reveals some of the lessons life has taught him.

  1. Use you mistakes
  2. Respect your opponent
  3. The "surely" klaxon
  4. Answer Rhetorical Questions
  5. Employ Occam's razor
  6. Don't waste your time on rubbish
  7. Beware of deepities

Read about it: Daniel Dennett's seven tools for thinking

Friday, May 10, 2013

Edouard Machery Interview

Edouard Machery
Interview with philosopher Edouard Machery.
Edouard Machery is a killer cool philosopher working on the cutting edge of interfaces between analytic philosophy, psychology, xphi and cognitive science. He’s a continental doing analytic philosophy who thinks philosophy without science is blind. He’s always investigating social phenomena like racism and the ‘integration challenge’, alongside the nature of concepts and whether they are the same as perceptual representation. This month he’ll be going head to head with the chillin’ blue-haired philosopher Jesse Prinz in Latvia on this very issue. He thinks concepts aren’t a natural kind and kind of thinks that studying them is like studying a science of Tuesdays. He’s also brooding on what the folk think and whether experts have judgements that can be trusted, suggesting that philosophy needs to be humble. Everything he does goes to the heart of how we think about ourselves and all in all is one hell of a badass groove. Shakin’.
without concepts » 3:AM Magazine

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

The Philosophy of Kierkegaard

Soren Kierkegaard
A 1984 documentary on existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.
Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard—often considered the first existentialist—was born 200 years ago this past Sunday in Copenhagen. Writing under pseudonyms like Johannes Climacus and Johannes de Silentio, Kierkegaard attacked both the idealism of contemporary philosophers Hegel and Schelling and the bourgeois complacency of European Christendom. A highly skilled rhetorician, Kierkegaard preferred the indirect method, deploying irony, ridicule, parody and satire in a paradoxical search for individual authenticity within a European culture he saw as beset by self-important puffery and unthinking mass movements.
The Philosophy of Kierkegaard, the First Existentialist Philosopher, Revisited in 1984 Documentary | Open Culture

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Why Study Philosophy?

Why study philosophy? It prepares you for well-paying jobs. It's interesting. It's great preparation for law school, business school or graduate school. The USC philosophy department has gathered some interesting data.

Undergraduate > School of Philosophy

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Daniel Dennett, ‘Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking’

Dan Dennett
Dan Dennett has written a new book about thought experiments, imagination, and the art of doing philosophy.
“Philosophers are infamous for being navel-gazers, but a lot of them are remarkably unreflective about their own methods.” He added, “If you do get a little self-conscious, it opens up so many weak spots and helps you think.”
Daniel Dennett, Author of ‘Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking’