What it means to be human is to have a set of limitations and potentialities and somewhere therein our short life is rooted. In there the trials and tribulations of social life happens. With social life language evolved. This natural language, of which all other artificially contrived languages arise from, comes in the form … Continue reading All Too Human
Freewill and Determinism
On freewill and determinism, Voltaire wrote: “It would be very singular that all nature, all the planets, should obey fixed eternal laws, and that there should be a little animal five feet high, who, in contempt of these laws, could act as he pleased, solely according to his caprice.” This captures the enlightenment's thoughts and … Continue reading Freewill and Determinism
In the Beginning
In the beginning was the logos, the reason for it all. In the vast, infinite emptiness of space, arose a single point, a divine soul which named itself Chaos. It contemplated everything a wise, cosmic being such as itself could ever contemplate. However, once Chaos opened its onyx eyes, only to realize and see the … Continue reading In the Beginning
Psychology and its Artistic Counterparts.
Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts, the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others, but of the three the only trustworthy one is the last. -JOHN RUSKIN The History of Venice, … Continue reading Psychology and its Artistic Counterparts.
William Blake Unshackled
Romantic poet and painter William Blake (1757-1827). His Songs of Innocence and Experience were a contrast of the ordinary mechanistic world to the vibrant imaginative world which could see the world anew, perhaps even as it really is. He recognized man as struggling between the imaginative naivete' and the realism of what old age imposes … Continue reading William Blake Unshackled
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria
The Lyrical Ballads were written in 1798 as a joint project between Wordsworth and Coleridge. In 1800 Coleridge said the new preface, contains our joint opinions on Poetry however by 1802 things took a wrong turn and Coleridge proclaimed he knew Wordsworth better than he knew himself. Coleridge believed Wordsworth was brilliant, but as time … Continue reading Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria
The Lyrical Ballads: Wordsworth and Coleridge
The Lyrical Ballads, first published in 1798, were a collection of poems collected and collaborated by William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). This pair of writers made one feel and wonder in different ways. Coleridge would take the mysterious and wondrous, and bring them down to ordinary life. Wordsworth had the opposite effect, … Continue reading The Lyrical Ballads: Wordsworth and Coleridge
The Philosophical Toolbox
There is no public or absolute perspective by which to study reality and our place there within. The freshmen philosopher, still trying to get his sea legs, will enounter countless philosophical methods, each with their own set of conclusions. Instead of the false belief that all of them are inferior to one single method, consider … Continue reading The Philosophical Toolbox
The Problems of AI Consciousness
In 1996 a chess program named Deep Blue was set against Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion. Garry won 4-2. However, the next year Deep Blue was mightily upgraded and Garry lost. The question I want to ask you is, did Deep Blue ever actually play a game of chess? I mean, did it enjoy … Continue reading The Problems of AI Consciousness
Can Genius Be Taught?
William James, in his Principles of Psychology, talks about two types of genius, the analytical genius, which are the men of science and philosophy, and the intuitive genius, which are men of poetry and music. Much of genius is how one thinks. What are your heuristics, are you going through associations by relation, contradiction, resemblance, succession, cause and … Continue reading Can Genius Be Taught?
Mary, Quite Contrary: Consciousness Unexplained
What is the ultimate nature of reality? In Philosophy of mind, there are many positions regarding what has real being. On a commonsense level, dualism seems to be the reality. Thoughts, beliefs, and qualia really do seem to be different from tables, apples, and automobiles; therefore, according to dualists, there are two types of stuff … Continue reading Mary, Quite Contrary: Consciousness Unexplained
A Gloss on Fichte’s Way Towards a Blessed Life
Only when one abandons individuality, which is materiality itself, can there be an eternal life. As an individual entity you’re a material particular entity, and it is in abandoning that, and surrendering oneself to the good of the whole that the possibility of a life that transcends mere materiality becomes possible -Daniel Robinson
Traversing the Twisted Seas of Philosophy
I once heard a philosophy peer say that reality is a strange fiction. I questioned how he ever made it to the market and back, surely he must have great friends who take good care of him. When entering the shipyard of philosophy we have eyes of innocence. We have principles that have gone unquestioned … Continue reading Traversing the Twisted Seas of Philosophy
Beauty Beyond a Percipient
When G.E. Moore, in his Principia Ethica, argues for the existence of Beauty he gives us a pragmatic conclusion for its existence. He writes: If it be once admitted that the beautiful world in itself is better than the ugly, then it follows, that however many beings may enjoy it, and however much better their … Continue reading Beauty Beyond a Percipient
The Contemplative Titan
Prometheus stood there atop the precipice, peering out with a contemplative concern towards Daniel Daedalus, his path will be trodden and tough, but he knows the young man will not give up. Once he makes his way through the labyrinth there is no stopping him. He will not cower, for he will stand firm … Continue reading The Contemplative Titan
