Knowledge, Innovation, and Integration (in Philosophy)

Here's an interview video we made with Integrative Studies last year. The topics included generating knowledge within philosophy, innovation and integration.

The best books of 2012 from The Philosophers Magazine

There are some good books on this list.

With 2012 safely behind us, we ask TPM’s reviewers to select a favourite book published last year (give or take a few months), taking into account our commitment to the twin virtues of philosophical rigour and readability. As a slightly late stocking stuffer, we offer you this rich, juicy and still mildly festive list of philosophy books which are both illuminating and enjoyable.

The best books of 2012 | The Philosophers Magazine

Embodied Cognition

Excerpt from  Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning by Benjamin K. Bergen.

Starting as early as the 1970s, some cognitive psychologists, philosophers, and linguists began to wonder whether meaning wasn’t something totally different from a language of thought [Call it Mentalese, whichtranslates words into actual concepts: a polar bear or speed limit, for instance]. They suggested that—instead of abstract symbols—meaning might really be something much more closely intertwined with our real experiences in the world, with the bodies that we have. As a self-conscious movement started to take form, it took on a name, embodiment, which started to stand for the idea that meaning might be something that isn’t distilled away from our bodily experiences but is instead tightly bound by them. For you, the word dog might have a deep and rich meaning that involves the ways you physically interact with dogs—how they look and smell and feel. But the meaning of polar bear will be totally different, because you likely don’t have those same experiences of direct interaction.

See more of this excerpt in Scientific American, Embodied Cognition: Our Inner Imaginings of the World Around Us Make Us Who We Are [Excerpt]

Free Philosophy Courses

You can find a number of interesting philosophy classes online for free. Perhaps there that would interest you.

55 Free Philosophy Courses | Open Culture

Skeptic Society

David Lewis on Philosophy

David Lewis

Our “intuitions” are simply opinions: our philosophical theories are the same. Some are commonsensical, some are sophisticated; some are particular; some general; some are more firmly held, some less. But they are all opinions, and a reasonable goal for a philosopher is to bring them into equilibrium. Our common task it to find out what equilibria there are that can withstand examination, but it remains for each of us to come to rest at one or another of them…
      Once the menu of well-worked out theories is before us, philosophy is a matter of opinion. Is that to say that there is no truth to be had? Or that the truth is of our own making, and different ones of us can make it differently? Not at all! If you say flatly that there is no god, and I say that there are countless gods but none of them are our worldmates, then it may be that neither of us is making any mistake of method. We may each be bringing our opinions to equilibrium in the most careful possible way, taking account of all the arguments, distinctions, and counterexamples. But one of us, at least, is making a mistake of fact. Which one is wrong depends on what there is (Collected Papers, Vol. 1, 1983: x-xi). 

Fall Philosophy Reception

We want to invite all NKU philosophy majors and minors, and friends of the program, to a fall celebration of student achievement, when we we acknowledge our graduating seniors and inductees into Phi Sigma Tau, the philosophy honor society. Stop by LA 203 on Wednesday, December 5, between 3:00 and 5:00. Refreshments and great conversation.

Philosophers' Cafe

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Philosophers' Cafe yesterday. Great discussion.

Plantinga Reviews Nagel

Alvin Plantinga reviews Thomas Nagel's new bookMind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False. Nagel criticizes Materialism, Naturalism and Neo-Darwinism, but doesn't--Plantinga sadly points outs--endorse Theism.

Why Darwinist Materialism is Wrong, by Alvin Plantinga

Cafe: Moral Knowledge

Join us for the Philosophers' Cafe on Friday, November 30, from 3:00-4:00 in GH 316. Our topic will be moral knowledge. How do we know right from wrong? Is it learned or innate?

Solaris

The Friday, Nov. 9, Film and Philosophy series will present Steven Soderbergh's film Solaris. 3:00-6:00 in the Digitorium. Please join us for a great film and discussion.

Philosophy Schedule for Spring 2013

The class schedule for spring 2013 is available. Registration begins in November.

ERGO Tournament

Join the NKU Philosophy Club for an ERGO tournament Friday, October 26 starting at 3:00 in GH 316.

...a great game, highly recommended for scientists, philosophers and closet geeks. - boardgamegeek.com

A fun romp and definitely one for the gray matter in us all. -boardgamegeek.com

_Ergo is the logical card game for the geek in all of us. Each player plays a variable (A, B, C, or D) and uses familiar logical operators like Not, And, Or, If-Then to prove they exist, and that their opponents don't! Along the way, watch out for cards that will shift the equation like Wild Cards, Tabula Rosa or the dreaded Fallacy card.Each Player takes turns creating and changing the four premises of the proof to make true statements. Watch out though, when someone plays the Ergo card, whoever is true scores! _ - trollandtoad.com

Jean-Paul Sartre's Blog

What if Jean-Paul Sartre had a blog?

Sunday, 12 July, 1959: 9:55 A.M.An angry crow mocked me this morning. I couldn’t finish my croissant, and fled the café in despair.
The crow descended on the croissant, squawking fiercely. Perhaps this was its plan.
Perhaps there is no plan.

Jean-Paul Sartre's Blog : The New Yorker

Euthyphro Dilemma

The Euthyphro dilemma--what have the gods got to do with morality? ...an editorial in the Washington Post by Massimo Pigliucci.

Think about it: after all, science is by far the best approach human beings have devised to learn about how the world works — and surely that sort of knowledge is necessary to make good decisions about how to live. Philosophy, on its part, is a way to reflect about our choices, our priorities, and in general why we do what we do. It seems to follow, then, that the smart thing to do is to learn from the best of what science and philosophy can tell us in order to make the most informed decisions we can in our lives. Aristotle (and Plato, and Socrates) would have approved.

Lucy Lawless (AKA Xena, the Warrior Princess) Studies Philosophy

How Political Commitment Led Lucy Lawless (AKA Xena, the Warrior Princess) to Study Philosophy

“I went to the UN summit on sustainable development after getting involved in the whole… big oil protest… and I saw all of these people working very hard but seemingly at cross-purposes about how do we create a just society.” On a full two-hour episode of The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast (which she claims was largely responsible for turning her on to philosophy), she describes how this political interest drove her to look at the foundations and histories of theories of justice, and eventually decide to go back to school to study philosophy, which she’s now doing in New Zealand between flights to the states to film TV spots such as her recent appearance on NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

How Political Commitment Led Lucy Lawless (AKA Xena, the Warrior Princess) to Study Philosophy | Open Culture

A Clockwork Orange

If you haven't seen A Clockwork Orange yet, it is a must-see and this is a don't-miss event. It's intense. It's thought-provoking. It's a masterpiece. We will screen it (and discuss it!) on Friday, Oct. 12 from 3:00-6:00 in the Digitorium, GH at NKU.

What makes a person good? Do we have free will? Can society take away our choices for the good of society? Join us as we watch this classic film and discuss these and other questions.

Babies Aren’t So Moral After All, Unless We Engineer Them That Way

Are babies born moral?

Sorry, baby lovers. The latest research on the “Do babies have an innate moral compass?” question indicates that no, they do not. Rather, like a puppy or young chimp, babies enjoy watching bright objects bounce up and down. Right and wrong, good and evil, do not seem to enter the picture.

Babies Aren’t So Moral After All, Unless We Engineer Them That Way

Political Philosophers and Elections

What political philosophers have to say about elections.

What I will do is identify and introduce half a dozen passages on elections in famous books on politics that every educated person, or serious citizen, would reasonably wish to be acquainted with.

Are You Smarter Than a Freshman? | Hoover Institution

Thinking fish & zombie caterpillars

Philosopher Michael Tye is interviewed at 3:AM Magazine.

Michael Tye is the jumpin’ jack flashman of philosophy of mind, always updating his zap mind with rigorous brooding on the nature of phenomenal consciousness. To do this he has to consider a whole bunch of things – including inverted earths, whether swamp things have eyes, how chinese sounds to the chinese, the beliefs of fish, one eyed zombie caterpillars, camouflaged moths, orgasms, the planet Vulcan and the difference between Keith Richards hallucinating a tomatoe and him hallucinating a unicorn. He writes his books to catch his thoughts as they shoot on by. All in all, he’s a funky swell.

Thinking fish & zombie caterpillars » 3:AM Magazine