The double look
Thinking about evil is not just about burning yourself in it With ‘Evil in modern thought‘, essayist Susan Neiman revisits Nietzsche and Arendt to condemn a resignation from contemporary philosophy about evil. She sees the Holocaust as such an exorbitant evil that it requires a complete overhaul of ethics, not just deconstructing world history. An … Read more
Striking spirit What is immediately striking about the theories of consciousness is that they don’t look alike at all. Of course we group them into major fields, scientific, religious, philosophical, but each group is heterogeneous. Among scientists, disciplines as diverse as neuroscience, complexity, and quantum physics compete for copyrights on consciousness. Every mystic wants to … Read more
A question of bumpers? Philomag tackles death that comes in front of us, or that has already hit a loved one, and we can’t overcome the disaster. Generalization hides strong inequalities: some enter a state of mental decomposition and others seem unaffected. Is death an unknown virus? A new vaccine in sight? The Epicurean and … Read more
What is a non-binary? A person who refuses to declare herself in a sexual gender according to the classic female-male binarism is non-binary. In accordance with this philosophy, she should choose a neutral name, or let her relatives use a feminine or masculine declination at leisure. The person can answer for example Theo or Thea, … Read more
“Talent hits a target that no one else can reach; the genius hits a target that no one else can see.”Arthur Schopenhauer Innate and acquired knowledge No one has the time and the means to unravel the history of science. We are forced to take for granted most of the knowledge used on a daily … Read more
Free yourself from the domination of numbers Numbers are ubiquitous in the contemporary world. If they have had such success, it is because they perfectly model multiple aspects of physical reality. Numbers are a means of dominating matter. This apparent physical universality has rubbed off on our psychology. Social relations are invaded by numbers because … Read more
An explanation at all costs? Physicists pay little attention to the interpretation of quantum mechanics on a daily basis. The Standard Model works very well, even to the point that researchers hope for unexpected results from their experiments that would force new theoretical developments. That quantum mechanics is difficult to connect to the macroscopic is … Read more
The principle of relative independence is at the heart of Surimposium, a complete theory of reality. I illustrate this with an excerpt from Timothy Williamson’s Tetralogue, before showing an outlet for the political relationship between rulers and governed. The principle of relative independence How does an individuation declare its independence? You have to look for … Read more
Attacking causal cognition Lara Kirfel and Tobias Gerstenberg support the pluralism of methods for studying causal cognition. They quote Feyerabend: « If we want to understand nature, if we want to master our physical surroundings, then we must use all ideas, all methods, and not just a small selection of them. » Paul Feyerabend, Against Method / … Read more
Were you looking for formal proof of God’s existence? Edward Feser listed five, exempting you from looking for a small miracle to strengthen your faith. What is his book worth? Should you finally fall into the great theistic family of Humanity, ugly atheist that you are? Let’s take a closer look at the demonstration. Part … Read more