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Index for this page...(Be aware some links below may have expired.)
All The Following Items Were Posted On January 1, 2007 Metaphysics: "Metaphysics" is a word that Aristotle's editors invented to name books he wrote that came after his books on physics. These later books deal with the modes of being or existence, with the reality that is independent of our minds and is immaterial or nonphysical. Unlike mathematics, metaphysics does not deal with ideal objects abstracted from the realm of physical things. It deal with the immaterial, such as God and the human intellect. Aristotle sometimes refers to it as theology and today we would call it philosophical theology. In the nineteenth century something called positivism arose in the writings of Auguste Comte. For him, only the positive empirical sciences give us knowledge of reality. For him, religion and philosophy were the gibberish of a bygone era. Positivism was further developed in the twentieth century by the Viennese circle of antimetaphysical authors. It later became the position known as "logical positivism." Without any understanding of what was meant by calling the book Metaphysics, the logical positivists dismissed metaphysical discussion as a misuse of language. Today, another exclusively modern error stands in the way of reviving what Aristotle treated as a valid branch of philosophical thought. It is the error of ontological idealism -- the denial of any reality independent of our minds. This position, of course, invalidates philosophy itself as a first-order discipline. From Adler's Philosophical Dictionary: 125 Key Terms for the Philosopher's Lexicon. Have you a copy of this book in your personal library? Read Max Weismann's review of this book by Clicking Here.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) "Blaise Pascal must be included among the great innovative thinkers of the seventeenth century. Even though his contribution to Western philosophy is minimal, he attempted forays into epistemology and scientific method as well as into the more ultimate questions of how to make life at all worth living. His lasting contributions are in mathematics, geometry, and French literature." -- Professor James L. Christian. Read about Blaise Pascal in The Radical Academy.
Source: Volume 1I of The Wisdom Seekers: Great Philosophers of the Western World, by James L. Christian. If you want an excellent and comprehensive history of philosophy, the two volumes in this set are among the best available. And I'm not just saying that because Professor Christian is a personal friend. I used his introductory textbook in philosophy -- Philosophy: An Introduction to the Art of Wondering -- when I was teaching an introduction to philosophy course many years ago. J.D.
FOR THE RECORD 1. To Catch A Sensationalist Network: NBC's Own "Perversion Of Justice"? NBC "Dateline's hit "To Catch a Predator" is a television series in which adult volunteers in Internet chat rooms pretend to be young teens who are looking to hook up with adults who desire to have sex with minors. Volunteers are supplied by Perverted Justice, a controversial private citizen's group that is dedicated to finding online predators. In order to lure suspected predators, volunteers engage in sexually graphic Internet conversations with suspects. Each episode of the series features men entering the homes of minors with whom Internet discussions about sexual encounters have already taken place. With cameras rolling, the men are confronted by "Dateline" personality Chris Hansen. In commenting on the public humiliation that is part of such a televised sting, an unnamed NBC staffer told Radar Magazine, "One of these guys is going to go home and shoot himself in the head." Less than two months after the staffer's ominous prediction someone actually did. Louis Conradt Jr. was caught in one of "Dateline" and Perverted Justice's sting operations. The Dallas area prosecutor had reportedly solicited sex from a decoy who was posing online as a 13-year-old boy. When the police arrived at his home, Conradt refused to open the door. Officers eventually forced their way in only to find that in the interim Conradt had taken a handgun and shot himself in the head. An NBC camera crew assigned to film the program was present outside the home. The universal reaction to child predator crime is one of disgust, outrage and a demand for justice. In serving and protecting the public, police are required to engage in this kind of investigation. But there are big problems with a news/entertainment show getting into the criminal investigation business. Here are two. First, it is unethical for news organizations to pay sources because it taints the objectivity of the source. Perverted Justice does not supply its volunteers for free. The Washington Post reported that NBC agreed to pay the group more than $100,000 to create the sting operation that "Dateline" uses. Sources at NBC confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that Perverted Justice received more than that amount for its role in a previous sting. Second, journalistic and legal ethics are breached when a purported news organization obscures the distinction between news media and law enforcement. It turns out that, in a prior sting, NBC agreed to have the police deputize Perverted Justice members. This converted volunteers into officers and effectively transformed the NBC production into a law enforcement activity. However, we are a nation that believes in due process. Trying, convicting, and punishing individuals via reality TV bypasses the steps required in criminal cases. Such melded entertainment fare may also interfere with real-life criminal investigations. A prosecutor's discretion, impartiality of potential jurors and presumption of innocence are threatened and may even be destroyed with this type of programming. When a "child predator" label is placed on an individual on national TV, that person's life is permanently ruined. If a legislature decides that, after an individual is tried and convicted, public humiliation may be part of an individual's sentencing, that is the prerogative of representative government. NBC is no legislature. Source: The Left Coast Report from NewsMax.com 2. MPP Report: Does Prohibition Of Marijuana Protect Teens? Keeping marijuana out of the hands of children is one of the most frequently-cited reasons for outlawing marijuana. And most responsible adults agree with that goal. But do current U.S. marijuana laws effectively deter marijuana use by teens? Would re-legalizing marijuana lead to an increase in use by young people? A new report by the Marijuana Policy Project indicates the answer is no. In fact, says MPP, "empirical evidence ... shows that marijuana prohibition may actually be responsible for increasing teen marijuana use." Further, marijuana prohibition may actually encourage teens to experiment with far more dangerous drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. Among the report's major findings:
The entire MPP report is available HERE. Source: The Liberator Online from Advocates for Self-Government 3. The Timeless Wisdom of Milton Friedman Milton Friedman, a giant of free-market economics theory, died November 16 at age 84. Economist Mark J. Perry posted a collection of his favorite Friedman quotes at his "Carpe Diem" blog, and we wanted to share them with you. 1. There is nothing as permanent as a temporary government program. 2. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. 3. Inflation is caused by too much money chasing after too few goods. 4. Sloppy writing reflects sloppy thinking. 5. All learning is ultimately self-learning. 6. I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal. 7. Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property. 8. The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem. 9. The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy. 10. The high rate of unemployment among teenagers, and especially black teenagers, is both a scandal and a serious source of social unrest. Yet it is largely a result of minimum wage laws. We regard the minimum wage law as one of the most, if not the most, antiblack laws on the statute books. 11. Industrial progress, mechanical improvement, all of the great wonders of the modern era have meant relatively little to the wealthy. The rich in Ancient Greece would have benefited hardly at all from modern plumbing: running servants replaced running water. Television and radio? The Patricians of Rome could enjoy the leading musicians and actors in their home, could have the leading actors as domestic retainers. Ready-to-wear clothing, supermarkets -- all these and many other modern developments would have added little to their life. The great achievements of Western Capitalism have redounded primarily to the benefit of the ordinary person. These achievements have made available to the masses conveniences and amenities that were previously the exclusive prerogative of the rich and powerful. 12. President Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country."... Neither half of that statement expresses a relation between the citizen and his government that is worthy of the ideals of free men in a free society. "What your country can do for you" implies that the government is the patron, the citizen the ward. "What you can do for your country" assumes that the government is the master, the citizen the servant. 13. On the difference between public vs. private education: "Try talking French with someone who studied it in public school. Then with a Berlitz graduate." Source: "My Favorite Milton Friedman Quotes," Carpe Diem blog "This week a top general at the Pentagon said the War on Terror could take 100 years to fight. President Bush was furious about the 100-year prediction and said, 'Stop setting a fixed timetable!'" -- Conan O'Brien, "Late Night," December 13, 2006. Source: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bldailyfeed3.htm
COUNSELING CORNER: Deep Thoughts for 2007... Number 10 - Life is sexually transmitted. Number 9 - Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. Number 8 - When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty. Number 7 - Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks. Number 6 - Some people are like a Slinky...not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs. Number 5 - Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing. Number 4 - All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism. Number 3 - Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents? Number 2 - In the 60s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it look normal. And the Number One thought for 2007 is ......... We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of cows in America but we haven't got a clue as to where millions of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration.
A LITTLE OF THIS & A LITTLE OF THAT A Little Wisdom: Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without spilling some on yourself. A Little Advice: Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is ready cash. Spend it wisely. A Little Question: Who puts those "Thin Ice" signs out there? A Little Put-Down: Given the capacity to be stupid, people will be. A Little Proverb: A wise man learns more from a fool than a fool does from a wise man. A Little Reflection: Nothing's impossible for those who don't have to do it. A Little Observation: A sine curve goes off to infinity or at least the end of the blackboard. A Little Quote: "He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." -- Groucho Marx (1891-1961), early American film comedian who went on to host the "You Bet Your Life" show in the early days of television. A Little Definition: TACT - The ability to tell someone to go to hell and have them look forward to the trip. A Little Admission: My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people. A Little Quip: Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now.
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: Copernicus' idea appalled Calvin, Luther, by Jon Nance: Nicolas Copernicus lay dying of a cerebral hemorrhage when he received the first copy of "De Revolutionibus" from his publisher in 1543. He probably never suspected that his mathematically abstruse book would initiate the scientific revolution that now bears his name. Philosophy major and proud, by Nick Nordstrom: I get a smirk and a roll of the eyes when I tell people my major. "Philosophy," I say, smiling, all the while anticipating the question: "What in the world are you going to do with that?" Post-Modernism, by Steven LaTulippe: What attributes make a given society "good?" What attributes make another society "evil?" Why does a society, at one particular point in time, rise to dizzying heights, only to later collapse into despair? How could the same culture have produced both a Cincinnatus and a Caligula? Duke rape case all too common, by Jim Kouri: In another twist in an already questionable criminal case, DNA testing in the infamous Duke lacrosse rape case found no genetic material from any of the accused males in the woman's body or on her clothing, but analysts found DNA from several unknown male on the accuser's body. The God Delusion - If you ask a religious person whey they are kind and honorable, you get an answer. If you ask the likes of Sigmund Freud and Richard Dawkins, there is no answer, by David Roemer, PhD: Like all atheists, Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion," does not understand the concept of God and why God exists. He has been told this before... The Dawkins delusion, by Michael Fitzpatrick: 'Catholic atheist' Michael Fitzpatrick finds himself repelled by Richard Dawkins' crass and prejudiced polemic against religion. Climate of fear as science has a bad news year: It started badly, and then it got worse. The year began with the news that a South Korean national hero had faked his apparently astonishing breakthrough in cloning, proceeded to the near death of six volunteers in a clinical trial and ended with news that millions will die unless we tackle global warming. Empty Hope Of Stem Cell Science, by Alicia Colon: Great news! Physicians in Toronto have discovered a cure for diabetes in mice. The best thing about the discovery is that no embryos were dissected to achieve it. To my knowledge, no known cures have been attributed to embryonic stem cell research. The Power of Propaganda, by Paul Craig Roberts: Gen. Augusto Pinochet served as president of Chile during a troubled period of that country's history. His fate was to become the world's most demonized person in the last quarter of the 20th century, and his death on December 10, 2006, was met with a new outpouring of denunciation by the international left. Parrot's oratory stuns scientists, by Alex Kirby: The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The War on Political Correctness, by Joe Mariani: Many of the things that seem to be going wrong for America today can be traced to an excess of political correctness -- if, indeed, that's not a redundant phrase. Dewey Defeats Haters, by Paul Barndt: The analytical/Continental divide! Pragmatist philosophy! The reason why Columbia and Barnard metaphyscians all get along! And more! Empty Hope Of Stem Cell Science, by Alicia Colon: Great news! Physicians in Toronto have discovered a cure for diabetes in mice. The best thing about the discovery is that no embryos were dissected to achieve it. To my knowledge, no known cures have been attributed to embryonic stem cell research. Understanding the Libertarian Philosophy - The Cato Institute, by Nathan Tabor: The Libertarian political philosophy may best be understood by a reading of the 144 documents known as the Cato Letters. They were written by two Englishmen, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon between 1720 and 1723. Journalists rank low in ethics survey: Journalists are low scorers once again in the annual Gallup survey on how the U.S. public ranks various professions in terms of honesty and ethics. What Islamic Science and Philosophy?, by Jonathan David Carson: We know that we are being lied to. Sometimes we just don't realize how much we are being lied to. The more sordid the Islamic present seems, the more we are told of the glories of the Islamic past.
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