Category: Philosophy
Being vs. Behavior
The recent Supreme Court ruling establishing that gay marriage must be considered legal throughout the United States has renewed the heated arguments regarding homosexuality. Christians in particular continue to state that homosexuality is an “abomination” in the sight of God, …
Gays and Guns: Equal Protection Under the Law
Last year (2014), Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado was fined by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and it was also civilly sued by a gay couple for whom the cakeshop refused to bake a wedding cake. You can find an …
Conclusions
We’ve done the hard work, so pulling it all together into a single, big-picture argument is now quite easy and straightforward, as follows:
Arguments — We learned what propositions are, that they are statements that can be either true or …
Abstract Objects
We have repeatedly alluded to the notion of abstract objects, as we have talked about, for example, propositions underlying information. As our last point of consideration in this seminar, we will now take a closer look at the necessary existence …
Information Theory Continued
We have settled upon a working definition of “information.” It is: Semantical content intentionally formed and conveyed according to syntactical rules.
We see three primary components of this definition: Syntax (form/structure), semantics (meaning), and intention. Each is a necessary condition …
Introduction to Information Theory
What is information?
At first, that question sounds almost as ridiculous as, “What is light?” or, “What is air?” We are awash in information, like we are awash in light and air. And we have practical, common-sense notions of …
Philosophy of Mind Continued 3
We have briefly introduced and contrasted Humean empiricism and Kantian transcendental idealism. We’ve talked about primary and secondary qualities, and we’ve talked about how that division leads to the Kantian division between “things in themselves” and “appearances.” At this juncture, …
Hume’s Empiricism
David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher who is now universally considered preeminent among the so-called “British empiricists.” However, even higher praise comes from Kant himself, who said that Hume “awakened me from my dogmatic slumber.”
“Dogmatic” in Kant’s time …
Introduction to Philosophy of Mind 1
We each have a mind. We know this by simple introspection. Indeed, if we know anything at all, each of us knows: “I think.”
Even the most radical of the Greek skeptics (from which later forms of skepticism arose) did …