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Index for this page...
All The Following Items Were Posted On November 1, 2007 Analytic and Synthetic Judgments: Modern philosophy is suffering from the mistake that Immanuel Kant made in his distinction between analytic and synthetic judgments. According to Kant, an analytical judgment is a verbal tautology. It is uninstructive. We learn nothing from it, for the predicate is contained in the meaning of the subject. To assert that lead does not conduct electricity merely asserts that it is true that lead is classified as nonconductive metal. In contrast to all such verbal tautologies or noninstructive propositions are judgments of the mind that are based on empirical evidence. Here, according to our experience, we affirm a proposition in which the predicate is independent of its subject. An example of a synthetic judgment is that hot bodies cool off by radiating their heat to the environment. To assert that all judgments are either analytic or synthetic is to deny that there are any judgments that are neither analytic nor synthetic in Kant's sense of the term. These are judgments in which both the subject and the predicate are indefinable terms, such as "whole" and "part." You cannot say what a whole is without mentioning parts; nor can you say what a part is without mentioning wholes. The foregoing statement introduces us to the meaning of self-evident propositions. A self-evident proposition is one in which the opposite is unthinkable. We cannot think that the whole is less than any one of its parts or that a part is greater than the whole to which it belongs. The proposition that the whole is greater than any of its parts is certainly instructive as well as being self-evidently true. There are not many propositions that are self-evidently true. Among self-evident truths, the most important is the law of contradiction: nothing can be and not-be at the same time. Nothing can have an attribute and not have it at one and the same time. The philosophical and scientific thought of Western civilization is governed by this rule of noncontradiction, a rule that instructs us that we ought never to affirm two propositions that cannot both be true. If truth is the agreement of the mind with reality -- with the way things are -- then the logical rule prohibiting contradiction reflects the self-evident, ontological principle that contradictions do not exist in reality. Mystics, Western as well as Eastern, may embrace contradictions and even think that the ultimate nature of reality is replete with contradictions. The Zen Buddhist Master teaches his disciples how to give contradictory answers to the questions he asks. But if the Zen Master is flying from Tokyo to Kyoto he will be willing to fly only in a place whose aeronautical engineering is based on physical science that is governed by the principle of noncontradiction. Source: Adler's Philosophical Dictionary: 125 Key Terms for the Philosopher's Lexicon. Have you a copy of this book in your personal library? If not, consider getting one. Read Max Weismann's review of this book by Clicking Here.
David Hume (1711-1776) Modern Empiricist Philosopher "In addition to his extraordinary common sense, Hume is most noted (1) for, as he says, attempting 'to introduce the experimental method of reasoning into moral subjects'; (2) for holding that there can be no knowledge of anything beyond one's own personal sense experience and inference from it; (3) for demanding that we pay very careful attention to exactly what we perceive, and that we tell the truth about it; (4) for his analysis of the notion of causality; (5) for his rejection of the principle of induction; (6) for developing and then annihilating the coherence test of truth; (7) for arguing away the existence of mind and self; (8) for his overall epistemic skepticism; (9) for the really refreshing idea (contra Descartes) that animals have feelings too." -- Professor James L. Christian. Read about David Hume 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. POLITICS: Travelers Beware - Feds Are Recording What Books You Read Who's that reading over your shoulder in the airport? It might be the federal government. According to The Washington Post: "The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials. "The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country." That's right. Fifteen-year-long records are created and stored, regardless of your innocence, without your knowledge or consent. That can include even the books you travel with. The Post reports that a group of activists requested information on their travel records, and found the records included a description of a book on marijuana one of them carried. "The federal government is trying to build a surveillance society," John Gilmore, a libertarian and a heroic civil liberties activist, told the Washington Post. "The job of building a surveillance database and populating it with information about us is happening largely without our awareness and without our consent." What other personal information is Homeland Security collecting (all to keep you free, of course)? Lots -- like, for instance, the kind of hotel bed you sleep in. Notes The Washington Post: "The [Department of Homeland Security] database generally includes 'passenger name record' (PNR) information, as well as notes taken during secondary screenings of travelers. PNR data -- often provided to airlines and other companies when reservations are made -- routinely include names, addresses and credit-card information, as well as telephone and e-mail contact details, itineraries, hotel and rental car reservations, and even the type of bed requested in a hotel." The Washington Post also told the story of Zakariya Reed, a Toledo firefighter, who said he has been detained at least seven times at the Michigan border since fall 2006. Twice, Reed said, he was questioned by border officials about "politically charged" opinion pieces critical of U.S. policy in the Middle East he had published in his local newspaper. Once, during a secondary interview, he said, "they had them printed out on the table in front of me." Incidentally, your DHS travel file is exempt from Privacy Act requirements. So you have no right to correct even erroneous information that might be there -- waiting to bite you. Source: The Washington Post 2. SOCIETY & CULTURE: Reefer Madness - Marijuana Arrests Hit All-Time High In the midst of a world-wide war on terror, limited law enforcement resources, and unprecedented government spending and deficits, our political leaders nevertheless found the time and money to arrest a record number of harmless marijuana smokers. Police arrested 829,625 persons for marijuana violations in 2006, according to just-released numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report. To fully understand that figure, consider:
"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism." "Arresting hundreds of thousands of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly needlessly destroys the lives of otherwise law-abiding citizens," St. Pierre said. St. Pierre concluded: "Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 20 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater -- and arguably far fewer -- health risks than alcohol or tobacco." Source: NORML 3. MEDIA: "24" Takes On Critics The Fox hit "24" has alarmed critics on the Left with its counterterrorist characters and their willingness to use extreme measures when dealing with terrorists in trying to save countless lives. The show appears to be taking its critics head-on. In scenes from a trailer promoting the show's seventh season, Kiefer Sutherland's character, agent Jack Bauer, appears in front of a governmental panel that is investigating his past actions, including harsh treatment of terrorism suspects. "Don't expect me to regret the decisions that I have made, because sir, the truth is, I don't," Bauer says in the scene. In another segment, Bauer is preparing to interrogate a suspect when a female official gives him free rein. "Do whatever it takes. Torture him if you have to," the woman says. Source: The Left Coast Report by James L. Hirsen Our Debt To Bush: "Whatever happens over the next 16 months, President Bush will leave office having presided over one of the fastest accumulations of government debt in the history of the United States. During his time in office, federal debt held by the public -- Washington's equivalent of a credit-card balance -- will have increased by more than 50 percent, to about $5.5 trillion. Uncle Sam [more precisely, American citizens -- ed.] will be paying interest on that sum for years to come." Source: "Bush's fiscal legacy: bigger debt", Christian Science Monitor, 9/27/07. Ron Paul Sends A Message: "In some ways Ron Paul is the antidote for every problem that plagued Republicans in 2006: Voters were tired of Republican corruption, and Ron Paul has never succumbed to the temptations of Washington. They were fed up with overspending, and he's the original anti-spender. They're disillusioned by the seemingly endless war in Iraq, and Ron Paul opposed that war from the beginning. He's appealing to fed-up traditional Republicans and to younger voters who haven't yet been Republicans. . . . Republican leaders should think about what his surprising appeal is telling them." Source: David Boaz, Executive Vice President of the of the Cato Institute. "If you want to get serious, if you want to reduce crime by 70% in this country overnight, end this War on Drugs. You want to get serious, seriously serious about crime and violence, end this War on Drugs. ... this War on Drugs is an abject failure." -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oct. 4, 2007. Source: http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_277214611.html. Please Note: Items in the "For The Record" section do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Radical Academy. Nor is the Academy responsible for any misrepresentation of the facts included. It is your job to be a critical reader. We simply provide this information as a service to our visitors because we think it is interesting and/or relevant. Some of the information in "For The Record" may have been provided to us by one or more of the following resources: Advocates for Self-Government; NewsMax.com; The Patriot Post; Media Research Center; National Center for Public Policy Research; Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
COUNSELING CORNER: Finding Calmness in Our Lives... I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never completed." So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how good I feel right now! Please pass this on to those whom you think might be in need of inner peace. [ The above was submitted by my distant cousin, Jack Dolhanty, who currently lives in British Columbia, Canada. And, yes, some of my Canadian relatives who live in Nova Scotia (where my grandfather was born and raised) spell our family name slightly differently. -- J.D. ]
A LITTLE OF THIS & A LITTLE OF THAT A Little Wisdom: "Learning is ever in the freshness of its youth, even for the old." -- Aeschylus (525-456 BC), Ancient Greek soldier, playwright. A Little Advice: "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try." -- Homer Simpson. A Little Question: If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2? A Little Put-Down: If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning. A Little Proverb: The nail that sticks up will be hammered down. -- Japanese proverb. A Little Reflection: "The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live." -- Morris Adler. A Little Definition: EGOTIST - Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation. A Little Quote: "I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her." -- Ellen DeGeneres, American commedian, TV actress, and talk-show host. A Little Observation: If only women came with pull-down menus and on-line help.
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: Vatican paper set to clear Knights Templar, by Malcolm Moore: The mysteries of the Order of the Knights Templar could soon be laid bare after the Vatican announced the release of a crucial document which has not been seen for almost 700 years. A new book, Processus contra Templarios, will be published by the Vatican's Secret Archive on Oct 25, and promises to restore the reputation of the Templars, whose leaders were burned as heretics when the order was dissolved in 1314. The Knights Templar were a powerful and secretive group of warrior monks during the Middle Ages. Their secrecy has given birth to endless legends, including one that they guard the Holy Grail. The Physics of Medieval Archery: Don't let the word 'physics' put you off - read the article for an insight into how modern science can help us understand the history of the weapon we now use for sport (and ignore the formulae if you must!) It is generally believed that the main factor responsible for the English victory at the battle the Agincourt in 1415 was the longbow. Gareth Rees describes from a physicist's point of view why we believe this simple weapon was so devastatingly effective. Research Leaves No Cloud in Medical Pot Debate, by Paul Armentano: As the author of the recent publication, "Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Scientific Literature," I take umbrage with those politicians and law enforcement officials who argue, "Smoked marijuana is not medicine." This allegation -- most recently asserted on the DEA's new website -- is false, plain and simple. Congress - School Choice for Me, But Not For Thee: More than a third of members of Congress think their children's education is too important to risk to government schools. However, many of these same Congress critters strongly oppose school choice legislation that would give the same opportunity to other families. In other words, while America's disastrous government schools aren't good enough for "their" children, they're just fine for yours. New Polls - Public Distrust of Gov't Below Watergate-Era Level: A startling new Gallup poll finds that Americans now "express less trust in the federal government than at any point in the past decade, and trust in many federal government institutions is now lower than it was during the Watergate era, generally recognized as the low point in American history for trust in government." Philosopher Setting Out to Reclaim Space for the Spiritual in the Physical World, by Maja Tarateta: William Jaworski, Ph.D., is nothing if not audacious. An assistant professor of philosophy at Fordham University, Jaworski has essentially rejected more than three centuries of philosophical assumptions in an effort to retrieve a view of human nature originally held by Aristotle. Looking Up From the Gutter - Philosophy and Popular Culture, by Stephen T. Asma: Philosophy has never had a good relationship with popular culture. The two domains seem like different planets, each with an atmosphere toxic to the other. Thales (625?-?547 BC), the first philosopher, is famous for being so out of touch with the mundane world that he once fell down a well because he was distracted by deep thought. Philosophy broods, analyzes, and tends toward the antisocial; pop culture celebrates, wallows, and tends toward the communal. Philosophy is for cynics, and pop culture is for bimbos. Practical Philosophy - Avoiding Pseudointellectuality, by Scyze: Philosophy is a grand subject, though a certain group of people give it a very bad name. But first, what IS intellectuality? Let's define our terms. ... So, unless your family was killed by ninja-philosophers, don't hate philosophy. Hate the pseudointellectuals who bastardize philosophy and turn it into something ugly for their own egotistic mental arousal. Golden Anniversary of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged: This year marks the Golden Anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's monumental achievement--Atlas Shrugged. The novel has been variously described in leading media channels as the most challenging book of ideas in recent history; the most influential book in the lives of Americans--following the Bible; and the beginning of a radically new turn in philosophical thought and tradition. God and science do exist, by Heath Talbot: The creation-evolution debate is not about religion versus science or the Bible versus science -- it's about good science versus bad science. Likewise, it's not about faith versus reason -- it's about reasonable faith versus unreasonable faith. How did life arise from nonliving chemicals, without intelligent intervention, when nonliving chemicals are susceptible to the second law? Darwinists have no answer, only faith. Who Saved Greek Political Philosophy? The Flemings, Not the Arabs: It is true that some Greek and other classics were translated to Arabic, but it is equally true that Muslims could be highly particular about which texts to exclude. As Iranian intellectual Amir Taheri explains: "It is no accident that early Muslims translated numerous ancient Greek texts but never those related to political matters. The great Avicenna himself translated Aristotle's Poetics. But there was no translation of Aristotle's Politics in Persian until 1963. Professor tells Plato students to learn Greek or leave, by Perrin Valli: On the first day of classes, Professor Alison Laywine told students in her PHIL 354 Plato class that it would be impossible for them to pass the course if they scored less than 100 per cent on the first test. The test, which evaluated students' knowledge of the lower and upper cases of the Greek alphabet and their ability to transliterate from Greek to English, is worth 10 per cent of the course's final grade.
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