|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
Online Newsletter |
 |
|
||
|
|
||||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
Index for this page...
All The Following Items Were Posted On October 1, 2008 Human Nature and Nurture: The French existentialist Merleau-Ponty summarizes the main point of nihilistic existentialism in the statement that "it is the nature of man not to have a nature." This denial of human nature, the same for all members of the human species, is so crucial to moral and political philosophy that we must point out the error made by the existentialists and also by a great many social scientists who also confuse nurture with nature. Those who made this error would readily concede that in animals other than man, the individual members of a given taxonomic group do have a specific nature, genetically determined. They recognize that all lions and tigers, all whales and porpoises, behave in the same way. Their genetically determined modes of behavior, which are the same in all members of a given species, constitute the properties of their specific nature. But it is maintained also that members of the human species do not have genetically determined behavioral dispositions that can be regarded as properties of a specific human nature. Those who hold this view are quite correct in thinking that genetically determined human nature is different from the genetically determined specific natures of other animals. In a global investigation, one would find that the behavioral dispositions of human beings are as various as the places where we find human beings in action. The reason is that specific human nature is constituted only by the possession at birth of the same potentialities for behavior rather than, as in other animals, the same actual behavioral dispositions. Potentialities are capable of a wide range of actualizations. Take, for example, the capacity that all human beings have for acquiring language, and think of the innumerable languages that human beings do, in fact, acquire. An infant whose parents are French, taken at birth and brought up in a Swedish household, will learn to speak Swedish. That infant shares with every other infant, regardless of biological paternity, the same behavioral potentialities that can be actualized differently when the child is reared in a household that is different from the family in which it was born. One property of specific human nature is the potentiality for learning to speak a human language. the language that the child learns to speak is determined not by its specific nature, but by the way in which it is nurtured. It is nurture that determines the different actualization of all the potentialities that constitute specific human nature. As they are nurtured differently, human beings actually behave differently at different times and places. But they all have at birth the same behavioral potentialities, and these potentialities constitute the specific nature of the human being. 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.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899), American Contrarian philosopher Madalyn Murray O'Hair has written: "Ever since he existed, agnostics and humanists have attempted to claim Robert Green Ingersoll for their own. His progeny to the third generation have felt that it would be more admirable for Ingersoll to be included in these "dignified" positions. His letters have been withheld, his work has been retouched to enhance his reputation as "The Great Agnostic." Volumes have been written about his love, devotion, understanding, compassion, humility, and through that extravagant praise Ingersoll has become a "saint." All of the attributes of this "loving man" are then claimed for the agnostic or the humanist position (in a reverse application of the doctrine of imputation)." Here is just a sample of Ingersoll's contrarian thoughts:
Source: Various writings of Robert Green Ingersoll. Read more about Robert Green Ingersoll in The Radical Academy.
FOR THE RECORD 1. You Need Government Permission To Be An Interior Designer, by James W. Harris Should you need the government's permission to become an interior designer? Amazingly, in much of America you do, according to a new study by the libertarian Institute for Justice. The study is entitled "Designing Cartels: How Industry Insiders Cut Out Competition." Fully twenty-two states and the District of Columbia regulate interior designers through various kinds of "titling" laws -- laws that require designers to get government permission to legally call themselves "interior designers," "certified interior designers," or "registered interior designers." Under titling laws, designers may still practice, but they must get permission from the government to use the regulated titles in advertisements, websites, contracts and other communications. This, of course, makes it much more difficult for designers to find customers. Even worse, four of those states and the District of Columbia also require designers to secure a government license to practice at all. Is this intended to somehow protect consumers -- maybe from color-blind designers who would choose sofa pillows that don't match? Of course not. Not only is their no evidence of such a need, the study shows that the regulations that do exist have no demonstrable impact on the quality of decorating services offered. So why do these laws exist? Liberator Online readers will not be surprised to learn that the push for such laws comes exclusively from established industry leaders, such as the American Society of Interior Designers. These organizations, quite simply, want to keep out competition and thus enrich themselves. And they're succeeding. According to the free-market Foundation for Economic Education, these laws have already put thousands of would-be interior designers, mainly middle-aged and elderly women, out of work. The Institute for Justice study further argues that organizations like the American Society of Interior Designers are using titling laws as a first step toward far more restrictive licensing laws. In fact, of the four states with licensure, three began with titling laws that, after industry pressure, evolved into licensing. By the way, it's not just interior decorating that's being turned into a profession requiring government certification. Today, an incredible one in five Americans must secure the government's permission to pursue their occupation -- a figure that has risen from about one in 20 in the 1950s. Source: Institute for Justice study [.pdf file] James W. Harris is the editor of Liberator Online, a publication of Advocates for Self-Government. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and he has been a Finalist for the Mencken Award, given by the Free Press Association for "Outstanding Journalism in Support of Liberty." 2. ABC's Editing Distorted Sara Palin's Answers ABC scored huge ratings with the exclusive interview that Charles Gibson of "ABC World News Tonight" conducted with GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Other shows on the ABC network, including "Good Morning America," "20/20" and "Nightline," also made use of the Palin interview. While numerous experts analyzed, scrutinized and dissected Palin's performance, ABC and Gibson did not allow the public to view a significant portion of Gibson's questions and the Alaska governor's answers. Posing difficult questions to candidates who are seeking elected office is appropriate. However, editing footage in a way that alters the substance of responses, and/or cuts, deletes and otherwise tampers with media content, which may give a false impression of an interview subject has the potential to stretch, rend and even demolish the boundaries of ethics. When the Palin interview that aired is compared to the entire interview transcript, there is evidence that ideas and explanations from Palin's answers were cut, causing the candidate to be misrepresented and the public to be mislead. Source: NewsMax Insider Read Samuel Silvers' essay in our Politics Resource Center on this Topic 3. Short Takes All Those "Satisfactory" Government School Teachers: According to syndicated columnist George Will, "David Whitman, in his book Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism, reports that in Chicago from 2003 through 2006, just three of every 1,000 teachers received an 'unsatisfactory' rating in annual evaluations; of 87 failing schools -- with below-average and declining test scores -- 67 had no teachers rated unsatisfactory; in all of Chicago, just nine teachers received more than one unsatisfactory rating, and none of them was dismissed." Source: Column in The Washington Post. Bailout Shows U.S. "More Communist Than China," Top Investor Says: Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, on the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said that "America is more communist than China is right now. ... You can see that this is welfare of the rich, this is socialism for the rich, ... It's bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters. ... This is madness, this is insanity, they have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I'm not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this." Source: Interview on CNBC, 9/8/08. 4. Quote For The Month: How Government "Creates" Jobs "Governments create no wealth. They only move it around while taking a cut for their trouble. So any jobs created over here come at the expense of jobs that would have been created over there. Overlooking this fact is known as the 'broken-window fallacy.' The French economist Frederic Bastiat pointed out that a broken shop window will create work for a glassmaker, but that work comes only at the expense of the cook or tailor the shopkeeper would have patronized if he didn't have to replace the window." -- libertarian journalist John Stossel of ABC's 20/20. Source: http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/green-jobs.html
COUNSELING CORNER: Be Cautious About Reading Those Headlines . . . (Yes, these are actual headlines culled from the print media. Editorial comments are within brackets.) Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says [No, really?] Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers [Now that's taking things a bit far!] Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus? [Do they ever read what they write?] Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over [What a guy!] Miners Refuse to Work after Death [No-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-sos!] Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant [See if that works any better than a fair trial!] War Dims Hope for Peace [I can see where it might have that effect!] If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile [You think?!] Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures [Who would have thought!] Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide [They may be on to something!] Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges [You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?!] Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge [He probably IS the battery charge] New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group [Weren't they fat enough?!] Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft [That's what he gets for eating those beans!] Kids Make Nutritious Snacks [Taste like chicken?] Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half [Chainsaw Massacre all over again!] Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors [Boy, are they tall!] Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead [No kidding?!]
A LITTLE OF THIS & A LITTLE OF THAT A Little Wisdom: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -- Aristotle A Little Advice: Before you open your mouth to speak, please make sure it's an improvement upon the silence. A Little Quip: Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair. A Little Proverb: Kind words are short to speak, but their echoes are endless. A Little Question: Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? A Little Reflection: "You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you." -- Eric Hoffer A Little Admission: I no longer need to punish, deceive, or compromise myself. Unless, of course, I want to stay employed! A Little Observation: A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to the problem. A Little Warning: I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. A Little Definition: SECRET - Something you tell to one person at a time. A Little Quote: "The word bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out." -- George Carlin A Little Put-Down: You're so cheap, I bet you look under the bed in the morning to see if you lost any sleep.
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: What Libertarianism Is Not, by Johnny Kramer: My recent piece on the death of neckties generated far more critical mail than anything else I have written for LRC. Most of the mail contained one of two common threads: some wrote that I was "unlibertarian" for expressing a fondness for ties; while the others complained that an expectation for someone to wear a tie (presumably, by anyone in any situation) is a suppression of "individual liberty." Since it appears that some may have misconceptions about what libertarianism is -- and what it is not, let's examine these two fundamental misunderstandings in more detail. The Irrelevance of Rational Atheism and the New Philosophy of the Non-Rational, by John C. Garrison: This, I point out to you, is part of the atheist impoverishment; it involves a deliberate evasion of deep, reflective thought with simple-mindedness being the consequence. It is also how atheists are forced, in their drive to oppose religious faith, to take many realities, including meaningful, deep and complex aspects of existence for granted; it is a "so what if things are the way they are or happen as they do; don't think about it, just live with it and ignore the why of it as much as you can" approach. This, I also point out is what makes atheism so pathetically shallow and utterly superficial. A casual disregard for facts, by John S. Wilkins: Now anyone who has studied logical positivism and Popper knows well that Popper resiled from the LPs' claims to be metaphysics free. They held that metaphysics was something one ought not to do, in favour of positive knowledge. They held the famous Verification Principle, which Popper among others used as a reductio of the LP program. To say that they "were" doing metaphysics is to fundamentally mischaracterise what was going on. Why is philosophy as a subject such a fizzer in schools, by Laura Parker: For Said Bouziane, a year 11 student, using deductive logic is as easy as stacking chairs. "One day after class I noticed a student pick up a pile of five chairs and place them on a pile of two. I wondered how many times this student chose the bigger, heavier, more troublesome pile of chairs," he said. Pondering reason and logic is a normal part of Said's day at Calamvale Community College in Brisbane, where he studies philosophy under the guidance of teacher Peter Ellerton. Practical Philosophy puts thinking to the test of daily use, by Deborah Medenbach: Hamlet of Wallkill -- "Honor truth through use." It's a practical idea, and fitting that the final lecturer for the School of Practical Philosophy's summer series used the phrase to highlight connections between the school's mission and the 19th-century American transcendentalists. The school encourages present-day experiments with the ideas of Plato, Hermes Trismegistus, Shakespeare, Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman. If you believe there's an underlying unity and divine eminence that enlivens all things, how does your daily life change? Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of the Human Mind, by Ursula Dicke and Gerard Roth: As far as we know, no dog can compose music, no dolphin can speak in rhymes, and no parrot can solve equations with two unknowns. Only humans can perform such intellectual feats ... Of course, intelligence must emerge from the workings of the three-pound mass of wetware packed inside our skulls. Thus, researchers have tried to identify unique features of the human brain that could account for our superior intellectual abilities. But, anatomically, the human brain is very similar to that of other primates .... Nevertheless, researchers have found some microscopic clues to humanity's aptitude. Leading Scientist Urges Teaching of Creationism in Schools: Creationism should be taught in schools as a legitimate point of view to stop religious children losing interest in science lessons, a leading Royal Society scientist has urged. Rev Professor Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society and a biologist, said teachers should discuss Creationism openly in science classes. He said one in 10 pupils have Creationist beliefs and he maintained it would be self-defeating to dismiss them all as wrong and misguided. Far better, he told the British Association conference, to treat Creationism as a "world view" rather than a "misconception." His comments, however, provoked a vociferous reaction from other scientists who said Creationism had no place in a science lesson. New worlds for thought, by Keeli Cambourne: To be or not to be - a philosophy graduate. That used to be the question, but not any more. Gone are the days when the disciples of Plato and Socrates graduated with no clear job prospects and were seen as laid-back hippie types who spent more time navel-gazing than paying taxes. Now these critical thinkers are being snapped up by blue chip companies to become much wanted corporate trouble shooters and problem solvers.
|
|
|
Newsletter Front Page |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
[Homepage] [Newsletter] [Search] [Support the Academy] [Link to Us] [Contact the Academy] [Citing Articles from Our Website] [Privacy Policy & Disclaimer]
Copyright 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2004-05, 2006-07, & 2008 by The Radical Academy. All Rights Reserved.