Tag Archives: logical positivism
Iris Murdoch: Bringing Philosophy to Life
Iris Murdoch: Bringing Philosophy to Life When Jerry and I fly to California for another round of my neuropathy treatments, we each bring something to read en route. Obviously our selections have to be in paperback and short. Since I’d … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, bigotry, books, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, female power, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, institutional power, life and death struggle, literature, male power, masculinity, master, memory, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reading, reductionism, relationships, roles, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, suffering, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Freddie lost his cool", A.J. Ayer's Language Truth and Logic, Abigail L. Rosenthal's What Ayer Saw When He Was Dead, acting rightly, airplane reading, arbitrary willing, Ayer's What I Saw When I Was Dead, background assumptions, contest of ideas, conversational implicature, deathbed regrets, eliminating nonsense, experiential layers, free will out of context, freedom of the will, Iris Murdoch's The Severed Head, Iris Murdoch’s The Sovereignty of Good, it has my name on it, knowledge and moral choice, logical positivism, moral choices, moral knowledge, neuropathy treatments, novels of ideas, Oxford and Cambridge, paperback books, pathbreaking women, philosophic about face, philosophic courage, philosophic novelist, Philosophy: The Journal of The Royal Institute of Philosophy, redeeming good deeds, reversing one's paradigm, That Undiscovered Country, the human story, the moral stakes, the obligatory act, the one best choice, the right note, the right stroke, the right word, The Vienna Circle, valuing truth, What do you mean?, women philosophers
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Philosophical Women: the Pathbreakers
Philosophical Women: the Pathbreakers The Women are Up to Something is a book title lifted from a remark made by a male philosopher who anticipated trouble from one of the women philosophers at Oxford. The occasion at which the trouble … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, bigotry, books, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, immorality, institutional power, Jews, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, memoir, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual not religious, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged A. J. Ayer's Language Truth and Logic, Anschulss, Benjamin Lipscomb's The Women Are Up to Something: How Elizabeth Anscombe Philippa Foot Mary Midgley and Iris Murdoch Revolutionized Ethics, brilliant women, Catholic convert, criterion of meaningfulness, death camp film footage, Donald MacKinnon, English universities, facts and values, feeling as feminine, females at Oxford, gendered play, Holocaust and history, intellectual drama, intellectual universe, logical positivism, lovers of wisdom, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, male intellect, male philosophers, masculine habits of speech, masculine social reality, meaninglessness, microscopic billiard balls, Oxford honorees, Oxford University, philosophical bestseller, philosophical boundaries, philosophical nonsense, the verification principle, The Vienna Circle, thought as masculine, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, upholding standards, value neutral bits of matter, value neutral components, virtue ethics, virtue ethics and World War II, wartime broken lives, women making trouble, women philosophers, women's insignificance
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Philosophy and Philosophy
Philosophy and Philosophy In recent months, I’ve been reading books that — if I weave them together — bestow overviews of two major branches of philosophy: Analytic Philosophy and Continental Philosophy. They have dominated the field for the last hundred … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Bible, Biblical God, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, Idealism-, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, memoir, memory, mind control, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, nineteenth-century, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romanticism, scientism, self-deception, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 20th-century philosophy, A.J. Ayer, actors in history, Albert Camus, Albert Einstein, Alexandre Kojève, Alexandre Kojève's Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the "Phenomenology of Spirit", Analytic philosophy, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bertrand Russell, book of Genesis, Cain and Abel, Cambridge University, Carl Hempel, Cheryl Misak’s Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers, Continental philosophy, creator/human relations, cultural diversity, cure for history, curing envy, David Edmonds's The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle, dialectic of history, end of history, envy in history, ethical statements, first fratricide, first murder, Frank Ramsey, French existentialism, Freud, Freudian psychoanalysis, G. W. F. Hegel, goal of history, Hans Reichenbach, Hegelian history, history and transcendence, history's beginning, identity quest, Jews in the Vienna Circle, Kojève’s lectures, logical empiricism, logical positivism, logical truth, Ludwig Wittgenstein, meaning of sacrifice, meaningful statements, Neo-Marxism, oppressed and oppressor, Otto Neurath, philosophy in Vienna, philosophy of history, philosophy of science, post-Darwinian era, pre-history, problematic of history, Ray Monk’s Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, relation to truth, rhetoric of equality, Rudolph Carnap, same and other, stages of history, statements about cosmogony, statements about probabilities, statements about unobservables, struggle for prestige, The Vienna Circle, timeless truth, two branches of philosophy, unreal cities, verifiable fact, verification principle, Vienna, Vienna Circle manifesto, Werner Heisenberg
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How to Be Modern
How to Be Modern I’ve never understood why people wanted to be modern in the first place. Okay, the dentistry is an improvement. I’ll give you that. On the other hand, Victorian people (as in the novels of Dickens) seemed … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, nineteenth-century, novels, ontology, oppression, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, romantic love, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged 1920s modernity, 19th-century Manhattan, Anglo-American Philosophy, anti-establishment, anti-Victorian people, antinomian, Astor buildings, atomic facts, atomic propositions, behaviorism, being modern, cityscapes, contemporary dentistry, Continental philosophy, defining modernity, Dickensian people, ego-driven architecture, epiphenomenon, excluding the mental, Freud’s falsifiability, Freudian psychoanalysis, go along to get along, Hoop skirts, John Brown Queen Victoria’s attendant, Karl Marx, life after death, logical atomism, logical positivism, logicism, Marx’s falsifiability, mind/body problem, modern architecture, mother knows best, philosophical skepticism, Prince Albert, psychic medium, psychology as put down, quantifiable things, Queen Victoria, reductionism in psychology, refutation of positivism, reinventing philosophy, Rudyard Kipling’s The Widow at Windsor, secular religions, Sigmund Freud, skepticism’s contradictions, smothering mother, supervenience, the age of Victoria, unconscious motivation, Victor Zammit’s Friday Afterlife Report, Victoria recorded, Victorian people
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Do Miracles Happen?
Do Miracles Happen? Occasionally something occurs that you or I might be tempted to call “a miracle.” But: what follows when you try to talk about a “miracle” that you think might have happened to you? Despite the Establishment Clause … Continue reading
Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art of living, atheism, autonomy, Christianity, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, eternity, ethics, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, freedom, glitterati, health, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, identity, ideology, idolatry, immortality, institutional power, journalism, life and death struggle, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, mortality, mysticism, ontology, past and future, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, scientism, secular, self-deception, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Freddie's lost his cool", A.J. Ayer, accepted views, altruism, Analytic philosophy, Anglophone philosophy, annihilation of consciousness, anthologies of religion, Atheism, atheist, atheist anxieties, belief system, body as mechanism, brain damage, brain death, British Humanist Association, brute features of humanity, chance as explanatory, Darwinism, definition of miracles, established religion, Establishment Clause, evolutionary biology, felt futility, First Amendment, fruitful outcome, getting nowhere, heart death, human refinement, identity theory, improbable events, laws of nature, laws of probability, life after death, life deceits, light on the meaning, logical positivism, meaning of life, meaningful events, meaninglessness, mental clatter, mind is brain, miracles, N.D.E., natural selection, near death experience, non-conformism, noticing a miracle, O.B.E., objectivity, origin of space and time, out of body experience, out of the closet, perceiving a miracle, philosophical failure, philosophical success, private experience, randomness, Rationalist Press Association, reductionism, religious doctrine, religious tolerance, role of chance, secular humanism, seeing God, selling the Brooklyn Bridge, sense data, social conformism, social dissent, social excommunication, social isolation, South Place Ethical Society, stopping to listen, stopping to look, Sunday Telegraph, supernatural event, survival drive, synchronicity, synchronous events, target of ridicule, The Big Bang, the material world, the objective world, the selfish gene, theory of evolution, US Constitution, what's a miracle?
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“Where Are We Now?”
“Where Are We Now?” Since my last column, I’ve been preoccupied with the long-shot nomination of me, by a kind colleague, to give the John Dewey lecture at the American Philosophical Association. That’s the lecture underscoring the link between the … Continue reading
Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, alienation, anthropology, art of living, autonomy, beauty, chivalry, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, ethics, evil, existentialism, faith, fashion, femininity, feminism, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, heroes, hidden God, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, institutional power, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, master, memoir, mind control, modernism, motherhood, nineteenth-century, past and future, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, political, political movements, power, propaganda, psychology, public intellectual, reductionism, relationships, roles, seduction, sex appeal, sexuality, social conventions, sociobiology, spirituality, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, violence, work, writing, Zeitgeist
Tagged "Destry Rides Again", "Here be dragons", "the boys in the back room", "the girls in the back room", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Feminism Without Contradictions", Abigail L. Rosenthal's "Getting Past Marx and Freud", Absolute Spirit, American Philosophical Association, amoral impulses, Analytic philosophy, Anglo-American Philosophy, APA, Australian philosophy, Authenticity, background assumptions, British Idealism, cartography, college orientation, conceptual clarity, conceptual muddles, conceptual obscurity, Continental philosophy, cultural paradigms, dance hall singers, David Stove, doctrine of the unconscious, empiricism, falsifiability, feminine flattery, Feminism, Freud, human liberation, human motivation, ideal languages, ideology, induction, inhibitions, jargon, John Dewey Lectures, liberation, logical empiricism, logical positivism, manipulation, Marlene Dietrich, men's liberation, militant feminism, Mind Control, Nietzsche, nineteenth-century philosophy, ordinary language philosophy, originality, philosophical explanation, philosophical maps, philosophy of science, privacy, programming, psychic layers, rape, reductionism, Schopenhauer, scientific paradigms, sensory experience, sex differences, social contructs, theoretical entities, traditional woman, twentieth century philosophy, women's liberation, work and life, zones of silence
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