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Index for this page...
All The Following Items Were Posted On May 1, 2008 Nominalism: The word "nominalism" refers to a serious error that occurred in modern philosophy, especially in the writings of Bishop George Berkeley and David Hume. It is an error in philosophical psychology. Both Berkeley and Hume think that man is equipped with sensitive faculties only. They assume that man has no intellect, or they deny it's existence. The problem they faced was explaining the meaning of the general words in our everyday language; for example, the common nouns that signify classes or kinds. If human beings enjoyed the power of conception, as opposed to perceptual thought, there would be no difficulty in explaining how words signify generalities or universals. They would derive their significance from concepts that give us our understanding of classes or kinds. But regarding human beings as deprived of conceptual thought poses a problem for Berkeley and Hume. They are compelled to say that when we use words that appear to have general significance, we are applying them to a number of perceived individuals indifferently; that is, without any difference in meaning of the word thus applied. This amounts to saying that there is a certain sameness in the individual things that the speaker or writer recognizes. Are they not contradicting themselves when they offer this explanation of the meaning of general terms or common nouns? If human beings do not have conceptual thought, how can they recognize the sameness that permits the nominalists to say that the same word can be applied indifferently to a number of individuals? Are they not contradicting themselves? Should not nominalism -- the assertion that names have general significance even thought human beings can have no understanding of kinds or classes -- be rejected? 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.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), Early American religious philosopher Puritanism still maintained its hold on New England when Jonathan Edwards, the only son in a large family, was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, on October 5, 1703. He led a life of stern discipline and hard work. However, he also demanded much of his followers, so much in fact that in the course of years he alienated many of them and acquired as many enemies as admirers. There was not much genuine originality in Edwards' thought, but he was clever in polemics and powerful in presenting his own point of view. The quotation below is taken from his work on freedom of the will, wherein he contends that freedom consists in the motivation, however caused, to prefer whatever seems to be the greater good. The work impressed many of his readers, for they could readily understand that all actions are praiseworthy or blameworthy even if there is no room for free choice. Read about Jonathan Edwards in The Radical Academy.
Source: Enquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notion of Freedom of Will, by Jonathan Edwards (1754), reprinted as Freedom of the Will (2007). Available at Amazon.com: Freedom of the Will, by Jonathan Edwards.
FOR THE RECORD 1. U.S. Senator: Taxation Is Voluntary Libertarian video artist Jan Helfeld, infamous for his in-your-face Borat-style interviews of prominent figures, recently had the following surreal exchange with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:
That's right, the U.S. tax system is voluntary. And no one is forced to participate. Of course, if you don't "volunteer," your property is seized, you face crippling financial penalties, and you may well go to jail. Sorry, Senator Reid. We're not buying it. If that's 'voluntary,' it's also voluntary when you give your wallet to the guy who steps out of an alley, points a gun at you, and snarls, "Your money or your life." Source: Free Liberal 2. America's Five Dumbest Product Bans A huge number of idiotic and tyrannical government regulations limit consumer choice by dictating product design or restricting or even prohibiting product sales. The worst of these bans not only don't protect the public -- they unfairly benefit special interests and actually cause harm or even death to consumers. The free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) recently came up with a list of "The Five Dumbest Product Bans." While one might quibble about their choices, it's hard to argue that these are indeed... dumb. So -- drum roll, please! -- here are CEI's choices for "The Five Dumbest Federal or State Product Bans":
CEI has produced a paper extensively detailing why they picked these particular bans, and it is well worth reading. It's available at the URL below. Source: CEI's "Five Dumbest Product Bans" 3: A Definition Of Classical Liberalism We are asked many times for a definition of Classical Liberalism. We do have one posted in our FAQs. But I found this one on the Web and thought it should be shared with you. Classical Liberalism: A political belief in which primary emphasis is placed on securing the freedom of the individual by limiting the power of the state. In its economic form, it advocates a respect for private property and free markets. As a political belief, its origins can be traced back to both the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Hebrews. But in its modern form, it begins on the one hand with the urban culture of Italy and the Northern European city-states and on the other with the Reformation, particularly with those dissenting sects which found themselves in opposition to the government. It is given shape during the Puritan Revolution in England, especially among the Diggers and Levelers. The first to give the modern view philosophical expression was John Locke, who wrote during the Glorious Revolution in England. Classical Liberalism was the ideology of the moderate, constitutional monarch phase of the French Revolution, which promoted limited government and was based on principles of natural law. Classical Liberalism should not be confused with democracy. One can be a liberal and yet be opposed to democracy. Classical Liberalism should also not be confused with modern, American liberalism, which is a mild variation of socialism. Source: http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/Glossary/ClassicalLiberalism.html 4: Some Interesting Homeschooling Information "Families of diverse political and religious perspectives are home educating more than 2 million children across the nation. These children equate to $16 billion in tax dollar contributions that are not spent on them. Meanwhile, public schools are spending more tax dollars while the learning environment declines." Source: Reno News Review. "For some parents, the motive for home schooling is religious; others want to protect their kids from gangs and drugs. But the most- cited reason is to ensure a good education. Home-schooled students are routinely high performers on standardized academic tests, beating their public school peers on average by as much as 30 percentile points, regardless of subject. They perform well on tests like the SAT -- and colleges actively recruit them both for their high scores and the diversity they bring to campus." Source: Wall Street Journal editorial, March 22, 2008. "President Bush threw out the first ball the other night at the Washington Nationals' home opener. Boy, wasn't it nice to see Bush throwing out something other than the Constitution?" -- Jay Leno, The Tonight Show, April 1, 2008. "Vice President Dick Cheney, you know where he is right now? He's in Baghdad. He visited there. While he was in Iraq, he said that it's a successful endeavor. At least I think that's what he said. It was hard to hear over the explosions." -- David Letterman, The Late Show. March 18, 2008.
COUNSELING CORNER: Some Serious Things To Ponder . . . Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older. It's possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs. Women blink nearly twice as much as men. It's physically impossible for you to lick your elbow. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building. A snail can sleep for three years. No word in the English language rhymes with "MONTH." Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. The electric chair was invented by a dentist. All polar bears are left handed. In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. "Go," is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet, two inches tall. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match. Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
A LITTLE OF THIS & A LITTLE OF THAT A Little Wisdom: "Money can't buy you happiness .. but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." -- Spike Milligan A Little Advice: "If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought." -- Dennis Roch A Little Put-Down: "A man's got to do what a man's got to do. A woman must do what he can't." -- Rhonda Hansome A Little Proverb: "In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities." -- Janos Arnay A Little Question: "Why is it that nobody understands me, yet everybody likes me?" -- Albert Einstein A Little Reflection: "Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art." -- Tom Stoppard A Little Admission: "I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back." -- Zsa Zsa Gabor A Little Observation: "My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe." -- Jimmy Durante A Little Warning: "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." -- Mark Twain A Little Quote: "The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure." - Henry David Thoreau
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: Morality is grounded in nature not institutionalized religion., by W. Christopher Epler: This is the teaching of the Holy Grail. The 12th Century didn't only profoundly see through the meaningless hypocrisies of institutionalized religion and realize that authentic humanity is grounded only in our spontaneous hearts, but they further and incredibly realized that being true to yourself is "nature itself" raised to its highest form, as opposed to absurd conflicts with the "supernatural" or "metaphysical" (the babble of intellectualizing theologians and philosophers). Scientists put religion under the microscope: Need for understanding - Oxford philosopher Roger Trigg says religion is central to human nature. BB&T grant will fund study of objectivism - Corporation hopes for fair discussion of author's philosophy, by Nathan Batoon: The BB&T Corp. will grant $2 million to UT to establish the BB&T chair for the study of objectivism, a philosophy of author Ayn Rand. The grant will be paid over a 10-year period for research related to objectivism and Rand's philosophical thought. It's Ethics, Stupid! New Website Offers to Incite Thought as Well as Inspire: Jim Lichtman, author, speaker, and student of the role ethical values play in modern society, has announced a new website, ethicsStupid.com. Lichtman does not see a distinction between personal ethics and social ethics. "Ethics is ethics," Lichtman says. "The situations may be different, but the principles remain the same." Launched in early March, the site offers an engaging and thought-provoking look into how ethics affects the fabric of our society as well as our everyday lives. Situational ethics - bane or benefit?, by G.W. Abersold Ph.D.: I'd like for you to think about the concept of Situational Ethics. Situational Ethics is a Christian ethical theory that made a first impact in the 1960s. It was developed by John Fletcher; an Anglican/Episcopal priest. Basically, it states that love is at times more important in ethical matters than other moral principles. A Transcendental Philosophy of Science?, by Massimo Pigliucci: Unfortunate it may be, but despite the spectacular successes of modern science, there is no ultimate foundation for our knowledge of the world. This was David Hume's great insight, when he formulated his famous problem of induction. Hume realized that all knowledge about the world is ultimately derived from a process of induction, ie by generalization from specific instances to broader rules. Authoritarianism and Scientific Elitism, by Brad Allenby: Plato in his Republic celebrates the state lucky enough to be ruled by philosopher-kings, lovers of wisdom who avoid both the lure of money and military glory, and the call of the mob, governing by expertise, intelligence, and not a little Skinnerian behavioral modification. Many scientists, perceiving fundamental shortcomings in democratic processes, find themselves ideally suited to this role. Science vs. religion - Controversial issues collide, by Francisco Rendon: Recently in America, science and religion have come into conflict over a number of issues. Issues such as the development of stem cells, homosexuality being natural or unnatural and the theory of evolution have created an invisible line in the sand between Americans' religious beliefs and their accepted science. The return of the philosophy major, by Sarah Hays: Philosophy departments across the United States are seeing a large jump in the number of students pursuing degrees in the field. Students now see philosophy as a useful tool in understanding and dealing with the world, a skill they believe will eventually aid their careers.
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