These two threads, one at the Talking Philosophy blog (post by Ben Nelson) and one at Butterflies and Wheels (and thus initiated by Ophelia Benson) are fascinating. As you'll see, I'm actively involved in the discussion at B&W.
What got this going was Nelson's observations about Chris Mooney and approaches to science communication. However, it opens up larger issues about the importance of truth, what's so great about it anyway, when manipulation is acceptable, and so on. I'm enjoying the B&W thread in particular.
About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
High Court challenge to funding of chaplains in schools
This litigation will, at minimum, be fascinating to watch. You might even want to make a donation towards the legal costs. In any event, go here to see what's happening.
Note for non-Australians: the High Court is, indeed, the highest court in the land. It's the equivalent of the US Supreme Court and has seven sitting members. The case is being initiated there rather than further down in the court system, as would probably happen in the US with an equivalent issue, because that's the only real way to challenge an action like the federal government's creation of the school chaplaincy scheme.
Note for non-Australians: the High Court is, indeed, the highest court in the land. It's the equivalent of the US Supreme Court and has seven sitting members. The case is being initiated there rather than further down in the court system, as would probably happen in the US with an equivalent issue, because that's the only real way to challenge an action like the federal government's creation of the school chaplaincy scheme.
Libel reform petition
Please consider signing here if you haven't already. British defamation law potentially affects us all, whether we live in the UK or not. If our words are published in the UK, as they will be if we express ourselves via the internet, we run the risk of being sued for libel in the British courts. Freedom of speech, internationally, requires reforms in a major jurisdiction that is far too heavily weighted in favour of plaintiffs.
Exactly what reforms are needed can be a matter of debate, but there should at least be strong defences available when the impugned speech relates to questions of public interest, and not merely to the private lives of public figures.
Exactly what reforms are needed can be a matter of debate, but there should at least be strong defences available when the impugned speech relates to questions of public interest, and not merely to the private lives of public figures.
Mike Treder on full-immersion virtual reality - # 27 in the IEET countdown
This piece by Mike Treder just raises questions. It doesn't try to answer them. Still, they're good questions. How would you use a full-immersion virtual reality technology if it were available? As Mike ends up putting it: "Once the technology has been perfected and the virtual reality you can experience is near-ideal ... how much of your time do you think you would choose to spend there?"
What, I add, if you spent pretty much your whole life there? What would be gained? What would be lost?
What, I add, if you spent pretty much your whole life there? What would be gained? What would be lost?
Monday, January 03, 2011
Bruce Everett on Mark Vernon
Over at Thinkers' Podium, this extensive discussion of what we were talking about a couple of days ago.
IEET countdown # 28 - Kris Notaro on Buddhism and suffering
Note that I'm not going to go through the entire countdown, just what interests me. #29 was a piece by David Brin on his pet topic of surveillance, "sousveillance", privacy, and transparency. By all means have a look if this especially interests you.
Kris Notaro puts in a plea for the continuing relevance of Buddhism in a world where suffering seems, for practical purposes, to be inevitable.
I must say that I'm sceptical about this. Not about the inevitability of suffering - it would, at the least, be very difficult to eliminate completely - but about Buddhism as a useful response. You don't need to buy into a religion, or even an off-the-shelf philosophical system, if that's what Westernised Buddhism is, to deal with issues concerning suffering on their own terms. We are all capable of doing what we can to get a handle on facts related to suffering (and to other things that we either value or disvalue) and of making reflective choices. In any event, anybody with the intelligence and the interests that bring them here or to the IEET site will be capable of such reflection and deliberation. For those people, I don't think that traditional belief systems have anything to do with it - and that applies to Buddhism as well as the Abrahamic monotheisms.
There may be things to be said in favour of Buddhism as religions and traditional belief systems go - in favour of its tolerance, its emphasis on suffering as a bad thing (which Christian thinkers often don't recognise adequately), its relatively benign record when it comes to persecutions and wars. But that's not to say we really need it around in the 21st century.
Still, Notaro makes an interesting case. Worth reading whether you agree or not.
Kris Notaro puts in a plea for the continuing relevance of Buddhism in a world where suffering seems, for practical purposes, to be inevitable.
I must say that I'm sceptical about this. Not about the inevitability of suffering - it would, at the least, be very difficult to eliminate completely - but about Buddhism as a useful response. You don't need to buy into a religion, or even an off-the-shelf philosophical system, if that's what Westernised Buddhism is, to deal with issues concerning suffering on their own terms. We are all capable of doing what we can to get a handle on facts related to suffering (and to other things that we either value or disvalue) and of making reflective choices. In any event, anybody with the intelligence and the interests that bring them here or to the IEET site will be capable of such reflection and deliberation. For those people, I don't think that traditional belief systems have anything to do with it - and that applies to Buddhism as well as the Abrahamic monotheisms.
There may be things to be said in favour of Buddhism as religions and traditional belief systems go - in favour of its tolerance, its emphasis on suffering as a bad thing (which Christian thinkers often don't recognise adequately), its relatively benign record when it comes to persecutions and wars. But that's not to say we really need it around in the 21st century.
Still, Notaro makes an interesting case. Worth reading whether you agree or not.
How NOT to respond to a bad book review
I.e., like this.
Of course there's an issue of how you should respond, if at all. When arguments and conclusions are stake, rather than literary merit, some sort of response might sometimes be appropriate. We all get to defend our arguments and the conclusions we draw. In this case, though, silence might have been best.
H/T Kirstyn McDermott.
Of course there's an issue of how you should respond, if at all. When arguments and conclusions are stake, rather than literary merit, some sort of response might sometimes be appropriate. We all get to defend our arguments and the conclusions we draw. In this case, though, silence might have been best.
H/T Kirstyn McDermott.
IEET countdown # 30 - Marcelo Rinesi on burning fossil fuels
Marcelo Rinesi, who is among other things Managing Editor at The Journal of Evolution and Technology, laments that we'll almost certainly end up burning all the available fossil fuels. We should have stopped long ago, and invested massively in alternative energy sources, but the economic and psychological imperative to burn them has been (and still is) overwhelming - even though it's disastrous in the longer term.
Quote: "We are in this fix because a few short decades ago we did nothing. If we do nothing, or even if we just don’t do enough, the fix we’re going to be a few short decades from now will be much, much worse."
This is a rather pessimistic analysis, but the bottom line is that we must take dramatic action now.
Quote: "We are in this fix because a few short decades ago we did nothing. If we do nothing, or even if we just don’t do enough, the fix we’re going to be a few short decades from now will be much, much worse."
This is a rather pessimistic analysis, but the bottom line is that we must take dramatic action now.
IEET countdown # 31 - Your brain on sexual imagery
According to Mike Treder's list, IEET's 31st most popular posted item of 2010 was "Your Brain on Sexual Imagery" by Andrea Kuszewski. I don't have a lot to say about this one, but do have a look at it. It offers a nice potted discussion of the neurophysiology of sexual arousal and pleasure, exploring such things as the way we feel bonded with someone that we've just had sex with ... and how the effect can linger.
I'm not sure what the implications are, apart from the fact that it's good advice (mine not Kuszewski's) to avoid having sex with anyone you don't actually like. It's better not to go through life feeling emotionally bonded with somebody you find physically attractive but who is actually, at least in your perception, a nasty piece of work. Unfortunately, just fantasising sexually about somebody will also create some of that feeling of being emotionally bonded, especially if your fantasies lead to orgasm.
So watch out! Choose your fantasy objects carefully.
I'm not sure what the implications are, apart from the fact that it's good advice (mine not Kuszewski's) to avoid having sex with anyone you don't actually like. It's better not to go through life feeling emotionally bonded with somebody you find physically attractive but who is actually, at least in your perception, a nasty piece of work. Unfortunately, just fantasising sexually about somebody will also create some of that feeling of being emotionally bonded, especially if your fantasies lead to orgasm.
So watch out! Choose your fantasy objects carefully.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
IEET top 31 countdown
Over on the IEET (Institute for Ethics and Emergiong Technologies) site, Mike Treder conducted a countdown through December 2010 of the 31 most popular articles, etc., to appear there during 2010. This included three pieces by little me.
Mike now has a complete list of and guide to these 31 items. It's a fascinating and diverse list, with something of interest to almost everyone ... and much of interest to someone like me. Do go and have a look. During January, I'll be posting comments on a few of the items - but see for yourself.
Mike now has a complete list of and guide to these 31 items. It's a fascinating and diverse list, with something of interest to almost everyone ... and much of interest to someone like me. Do go and have a look. During January, I'll be posting comments on a few of the items - but see for yourself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)