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Ian Macdonald NZ photographer
Ian Macdonald graduated from Elam, Auckland in 1975 majoring in photography. He has exhibited and been published consistently since and is known for his photography on New Zealand environmental issues. He ran Real Pictures Gallery during the 1980s and more recently the Matakana Pictures Gallery. Ian Macdonald Whale Stranding at...
Self denial
Consciousness, as we’ve noted before, is a most interdisciplinary topic, and besides the neurologists, the philosophers, the AI people, the psychologists and so on, the novelists have also, in their rigourless way, delved deep into the matter. Ever since the James boys (William and Henry) started their twin-track investigation there has been an intermittent interchange [...]
Saturday Night at the Oldies: Dylan on Rick Nelson and James Burton
Bob Dylan, Chronicles, Volume One (Simon and Shuster, 2004), p. 13: He was different from the rest of the teen idols, had a great guitarist who played like a cross between a honky-tonk hero and a barn-dance fiddler. Nelson had...
From the Laws of Logic to the Existence of God
James N. Anderson and Greg Welty have published a paper entitled The Lord of Non-Contradiction: An Argument for God from Logic. Having worked out similar arguments in unpublished manuscripts, I am very sympathetic to the project of arguing from the...
Spinoza: Notes on Body and Mind
[These are notes written as part of an abandoned paper project] Beyond Parallelism: Body, Mind, and Individuation in Part II of Spinoza’s Ethics (Page references to Curley, 1994) Summary: the body is a pattern of unified activity; the mind is shaped by the interaction of this pattern with its environment. Show More Summary
Why naturalism excludes the supernatural
The problem with naturalism excluding the supernatural is that, at least in one sense, it's trivially true. Of course if everything is natural, then the supernatural is excluded. But that doesn't tell me, by itself, what is natural and what is supernatural. Show More Summary
The Liberal Quota Mentality Illustrated Once Again
If blacks make up 12% of the student population, then blacks ought to make up 12% of school expulsions. Fair is fair. Discrimination on the basis of skin color is wrong. But in Clark County, Nevada, in 2009-2010 black student...
Your Federal Right Not to be Offended
Here Related: Of Black Holes and Political Correctness: If You Take Offense, Is that My Fault? We we talking of Hawking. I said 'black hole.' You heard 'black ho' and took offense....
New and Forthcoming Titles -- Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion
New Titles: Zain Ali, Faith, Philosophy and the Reflective Muslim Yujin Nagasawa (ed.), Scientific Approaches to Philosophy of Religion Forthcoming Titles: Istvan Aranyosi, God, Mind and Logical Space: A Revisionary Approach to Divinity...Show More Summary
Critical Thinking Versus Utopian Thinking
Critical thinking is not necessarily opposed to the status quo. To criticize is not to oppose, but to sift, to assess, to assay, to evaluate. The etymology of krinein suggests as much. A critical thinker may well end up supporting.....
Die Like a Man
Albert Camus, The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt, tr. A. Bower, Vintage 1991, p. 15, French original published by Gallimard in 1951: Better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees. Good advice if one...
Gerhard Richter: Cathedral Square, Milan
Cathedral Square, Milan is one of Gerhard Richter's largest figurative paintings. The work features the northern side of the cathedral square, onto which the shopping centre Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II faces. The façade of the 19th century Galleria covers a large area of the paintingâ??s left side. This is a...
What would physical proof of God look like?
Would would it be like to physically prove that there is a God? It seems to me that whatever appeared to us physically, we could draw the conclusion that whatever it is, it isn't God? It would, for example, have to occupy space, but God is not supposed to be a being with a location.
The Stanford Encyclopedia Entry on Naturalism
Written by well-known naturalist defender David Papineau.
More Nagel Commentary
If you haven't read enough already about Thomas Nagel's 2012 Mind and Cosmos, here are two more worthwhile articles. Nagel's Untimely Idea Thomas Nagel is not Crazy Related articles Any Good Reviews Yet of Nagel's New Book? Should Nagel's Book...
The Government Is Us?
Liberals like to say that the government is us. President Obama recently trotted out the line to quell the fears of gun owners: You hear some of these quotes: ‘I need a gun to protect myself from the government.’ ‘We...
CFP: First Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference
I am pleased to announce this call-for-papers for the first annual Philosophers' Cocoon Philosophy Conference (PCPC), which will be held at the University of Tampa from Friday October 18th-Sunday October 20th, 2013. This conference will be unique in several respects:...
On signalling
by Ian Pollock [Note: neither character in this dialogue represents any particular person, apart from the “people” who are always arguing about philosophy in my own head. I acknowledge that this conversation is totally unrealistic as a real-life event, for several reasons. Show More Summary
Jobs for Experimental Philosophers
As this year's hiring season comes to a close, I was thinking it might be nice to take a moment to congratulate all the experimental philosophers who were hired this year. So here is a quick list of people who...
Envy versus Schadenfreude
"Your gain is my pain" versus "Your pain is my gain." My analyses of envy, jealousy, Schadenfreude, pity, etc. Related articles Saturday Night at the Oldies: Rodney King and Henry Hill In Praise of Schadenfreude
