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Index for this page...
All The Following Items Were Posted On April 1, 2009 Civil Disobedience: What are the conditions that justify dissent from civil government, and how does justifiable disobedience to civil government differ from rebellion? One ground for civil disobedience is religious. Quakers who regard killing in was as sinful disobey the draft laws by being conscientious objectors. At the same time, they do not withdraw their consent to civil government, and they voluntarily submit to the treatment that their government inflicts on those who refuse to be drafted. Another ground for civil disobedience may be that the deserter regards the war being fought as unjust. The conscientious objector in this case refuses to participate in it. Again, the individual must be willing to take whatever treatment is accorded those who disobey the law. Disobedience to civil government may also involve withdrawal of consent. When it is peaceful, that act requires emigration, as with those who opposed the war in Vietnam, and went to Canada or Sweden for the duration. They required a declaration of amnesty to return to the United States and resume their status as citizens. Violent disobedience constitutes rebellion or civil war. This resistance is civil in name only, since the authority of the government is not only denied but resisted by resort to arms. Our war of independence and our civil war were acts of rebellion, involving denial or rejection of civil status by those who opposed the government. Nevertheless, Lincoln's declaration amnesty to the rebellious population of the southern states restored them to citizenship in the republic, in effect nullifying their rebellion. 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.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German existentialist philosopher Nietzsche's discovery and description of "resentment," to mention only one of his major achievements, stamps him as one of the philosophical psychologists of the last century. His critique of the antiquated and false values of the educated middle class led prewar generations to the pursuit of an ethics of more realistic ideals. He was the first to recognize a fundamental critical difference between the philosopher and the scientist. He found those genuine ideals in the pre-Socratic period of Greek culture which he regarded as essential standards for the deepening of individuality and real culture in the deepest sense, towards which the special and natural sciences, and professional or academic philosophers failed to contribute. Nietzsche wanted the philosopher to be prophetic, originally forward-looking in the clarification of the problem of existence. More interested in developing a philosophy of life than a system of academic philosophy, his view is that only that life is worth living which develops the strength and integrity to withstand the unavoidable sufferings and misfortunes of existence without flying into an imaginary world. Let's take a brief look at his philosophizing, wherein he takes apart our notion of "truth":
Excerpted from The Gay Science, by Friedrich Nietzsche. Read about Friedrich Nietzsche in The Radical Academy. Check out the books by and about Friedrich Nietzsche in The Radical Academy Bookstore.
FOR THE RECORD Politics: Government Wrecks "Dr. Do-Good's" Low-Cost Health Care Plan, by James W. Harris Build a better mousetrap and... the government will beat a path to your door -- and shut it down. John MuneyThat's what happened to Dr. John Muney, a former surgeon who runs the AMG Medical Group clinics in New York's five boroughs. Dr. Muney wanted to help patients who lacked health insurance receive medical care. So, last year, he came up with an innovative market solution. For just $79 a month, his clinics would offer patients unlimited office visits (with a $10 copay), common tests including bloodworm, sonogram, x-ray as needed, physical therapy visits, and even in-office surgeries. Not included was treatment requiring hospitalization or specialized care. This innovative, affordable plan led the New York Post to label Dr. Muney "Dr. Do-Good." However, the New York state government has stopped Dr. Do-Good. Why? The state Insurance Department declared his service was, in essence, a form of insurance -- and that would require a license, certification, and regulation from the state. "I'm not doing an insurance business," a frustrated Dr. Muney responded. "I'm just providing my services at my place during certain hours. "If they leave me alone, I can serve thousands of patients." But they won't leave him alone. So, in order to avoid being shut down, he has been forced to more than triple his per office co-pay charge and cut back service for his uninsured patients. "I really don't want to charge more," Dr. Muney says. "They're forcing me. ... I just wanted to charge the flat rate. Most likely, [patients] will struggle with it." Dr. Muney is fighting back, and his story is drawing media attention. Many citizens are outraged at the arrogance of bureaucrats who would cripple a plan designed to help the very people -- Americans lacking health insurance -- so many in government say they are so concerned about. Dr. Muney's story is more proof that the real healthcare problems America faces are caused by politicians and bureaucrats, not the market. Source: Liberator Online 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." Religion & Science: Humans May Be Primed To Believe In Creation Religion might not be the only reason people buy into creationism and intelligent design, psychological experiments suggest. No matter what their religious beliefs, college-educated adults frequently agree with purpose-seeking yet false explanations of natural phenomena--finches diversified in order to survive, for instance. "The very fact of belief in purpose itself might lead you to favor intelligent design," says Deborah Kelemen, a psychologist at Boston University, who led the study Source: New Scientist Vatican Signals Its Embrace Of Science The Vatican has sought to show that it isn't opposed to science and evolutionary theory, hosting a conference on Charles Darwin and trying to debunk the idea that it embraces creationism or intelligent design. Some of the world's top biologists, paleontologists and molecular geneticists joined theologians and philosophers for the five-day seminar marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's The Origin of Species. Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the Catholic Church doesn't stand in the way of scientific realities like evolution, saying there was a "wide spectrum of room" for belief in both the scientific basis for evolution and faith in God the creator. Source: Boston Globe Philosophy of Science: Second Genesis: Life, But Not As We Know It When the Nobel prizewinning physicist Richard Feynman died in 1988, his blackboard carried the inscription, "What I cannot create, I do not understand." By that measure, biologists still have a lot to learn, because no one has yet succeeded in turning a chemical soup into a living, reproducing, evolving life form. We're still stuck with Life 1.0, the stuff that first quickened at least 3.5 billion years ago. There's been nothing new under the sun since then, as far as we know. That looks likely to change. Around the world, several labs are drawing close to the threshold of a second genesis, an achievement that some would call one of the most profound scientific breakthroughs of all time. David Deamer, a biochemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has been saying that scientists would create synthetic life in "five or 10 years" for three decades, but finally he might actually be right. "The momentum is building," he says. "We're knocking at the door." Meanwhile, a no-less profound search is on for a "shadow biosphere" -- life forms that are unrelated to the life we know because they are descendants of an independent origin of life. Source: New Scientist Philosophical Psychology & Epistemology: What Can Magicians Teach Us About The Brain? A magician tosses a ball into the air once, twice, three times. Suddenly, the ball vanishes in mid-flight. What happened? Don't worry, the laws of physics haven't been broken. Magicians do not have supernatural powers; rather, they are masters of exploiting nuances of human perception, attention, and awareness. In light of this, a recent Nature Reviews Neuroscience paper, coauthored by a combination of neuroscientists ... and magicians ... describes various ways magicians manipulate our perceptions, and proposes that these methods should inform and aid the neuroscientific study of attention and awareness. Source: Scientific American History: DNA Testing Ends Mystery Surrounding Czar Nicholas II Children The most enduring and romantic legend of the Russian Revolution--that two children of Czar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, survived the slaughter that killed the rest of their family--may finally be put to rest with the positive identification of bone fragments from a lonely Russian grave. The czar and his family were gunned down and stabbed by members of the Red Guard early on the morning of July 17, 1918, but rumors have persisted that two of the children, the Grand Duchess Anastasia and her brother Alexei, survived ... Those hopes were bolstered with the 1991 revelation that nine bodies of Romanov family members and servants had been found in a Yekaterinberg grave, but that a son and daughter were still missing. Now, newly analyzed DNA evidence from a second, nearby grave discovered in 2007 proves that the bones are those of two Romanov children, ending the mystery once and for all. A report on the analysis was published online Tuesday in the journal PLoS ONE. Source: Los Angeles Times Politics & Economic Philosophy: Quote For The Month: Jay Leno On The Stimulus "The country of China is going to be doing a Broadway-style play based on Karl Marx's book on communism. A play based on communism. You know, that's where capitalism has been replaced by the government taking over control of all private industries. Or as we call in this country, 'a stimulus package.'" -- Source: The Tonight Show, March 24.
A LITTLE OF THIS & A LITTLE OF THAT A Little Wisdom: The beloved of the Almighty are the rich who have the humility of the poor, and the poor who have the magnanimity of the rich. A Little Advice: When you're in it up to your ears, keep your mouth shut! A Little Quip: At least dogs do what you tell them to do. Cats take a message and get back to you. A Little Proverb: Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. A Little Question: I love to give homemade gifts... which one of my kids do you want? A Little Reflection: Life: Too many freaks, not enough circuses! A Little One-Liner: Who can I blame for my own problems? Give me just a minute ... I'll find someone. A Little Admission: I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather... Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his bus. A Little Observation: Death and taxes are inevitable; but at least death doesn't get worse every year. A Little Warning: Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree. A Little Quote: "There are only two reasons to sit in the back row of an airplane: Either you have diarrhea, or you're anxious to meet people who do." -- Henry Kissenger (former US Secretary of State). A Little Politics: For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
Some interesting & provocative articles on other websites: The Political Philosophy of James Hansen: James Hansen of NASA has written an op-ed for the Guardian that, more than any other piece of his that I've seen, expresses his political philosophy. In a phrase, that philosophy can be characterized as "scientific authoritarianism." Scientific authoritarianism, as I am using it here, holds that political decisions should be compelled by the political preferences of scientists. It is a very strong form of the "linear model" of science and decision making that I discuss in The Honest Broker. Hansen believes that the advice of experts, and specifically his advice alone, should compel certain political outcomes. He opens his op-ed in the Guardian with this statement: ... Darwin's seminal impact on biology, anthropology, philosophy and psychology: Franois-Joseph Lapointe, a biology professor at the Universit de Montral, has been teaching the theory of natural selection for two decades. The theory stipulates that all organisms best suited to their environment survive and pass on their genetic characteristics to succeeding generations. De facto, organisms that are less adapted tend to be eliminated. "I have taught these principles to my girlfriend, my children and I have defended them to creationists. It is surely the one concept I have explained the most often in my life," says Lapointe. According to Lapointe, On the Origin of the Species must be continually reinterpreted in light of new knowledge. This is contrary to the Bible, which creationists believe is a text set in stone. ... Examined Life takes philosophy to the streets, by Chance McAllister: Examined Life is the curious mind's dream. The film, directed by Astra Taylor, unleashes prominent intellectuals such as Cornel West, Peter Singer and Slavoj Zizek on the streets to discuss philosophical ideas. Although each intellectual is only given a ten minute segment, the viewer can get a sense of the importance of philosophy in one's life. Further, this briefer exploration of each idea opens the film up to include more than just the anticipated philosophy-heads and other intellectually driven characters. It is personal exploration and rigorous intellectualism made entertaining. This is helped by the setting of each segment. Each subject is placed in an environment that is considered unfamiliar for that kind of philosophical discussion. For example, Peter Singer talks ethics while walking around 5th Avenue. ...
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