By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Treating Persons as Means
Samuel Kerstein, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019/04/15
I found this the day after writing my own short post on 'value' but it serves nicely as a clarification of the concept described by Kant on treating people as ends-in-themselves and not means. First posted on Saturday! this article in the Stanford Encyclopedia explores that idea. "The entry begins by focusing on the roots in Kant of discussion of treating persons merely as means. It then considers (morally neutral) notions of using another or treating him as a means, notions that are less straightforward than it might seem." By 'less straightforward' what we mean is a bunch of cases where people argue that it is ethical to treat people as means. More...
Treating Persons as Means
Mental Representation
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mental Representation
David Pitt, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020/01/28
This is a substantive revision of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on mental representation. I won't say a lot about it here, except to say that this is (by and large) a theory I believe to be incorrect. I am definitely in the minority here, though. The representational theory of mind (RTM) "takes as its starting point commonsense mental states, such as thoughts, beliefs, desires, perceptions and imagings". More...
Hans Vaihinger
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Hans Vaihinger
Timothy Stoll, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020/01/24
This is a great overview of a philosopher who was entirely new to me. The influence and importance of Hans Vaihinger is explained well in this article, as are his two major contributions: his two-volume interpretation of Kant (which describes the Critique of Pure Reason as a patchwork), and his Die Philosophie des Als Ob (PAO), which translates to The Philosophy of As-If. This is great stuff, worthy of a 21st century treatment. Drawing on Schopenhauer's idea that the intellect is “a mere tool in the service of the will”, Vaihinger argues that the purpose of the intellect "is therefore not “to be a copy [Abbild] of reality,” but rather “an instrument for finding our way about more easily in this world.” In other words, "the purpose of thought is “to calculate those events that occur without our intervention and to realize our impulses appropriately.” That accords well with the contemporary line of thought (with which I concur) that the brain is essentially a prediction engine. More...
Comment passer du pessimisme à l’optimisme ?
Par Christophe Faurie. On parle de « passions tristes ». Une idée de Spinoza. Elles expliqueraient nos idées noires, notre consommation de tranquillisants et parfois nos problèmes professionnels. Plus...Un livre original sur « Bachelard l’inattendu »
Blog Educpros de Claude Lelièvre. Bachelard a connu une certaine célébrité dans le monde universitaire et même dans le monde pédagogique en raison notamment de la notion de »rupture épistémologique » qui portait sur l’origine de certaines difficultés de la connaissance: une problématique intéressante pour les chercheurs et pour les enseignants. Plus...Les philosophes de Luca Giordano
Sur le blog "Histoires d'universités" de Pierre Dubois. Les cinq Philosophes de l’exposition du Petit Palais ont été peints en 1659-1660. Luca Giordano, né en 1634, avait alors 25 ans ! Luca Giordano, 30 ans en 1664 (chronique d’Histoires d’universités, illustrée par 106 photos). Plus...
Philosophers On a Physics Experiment that “Suggests There’s No Such Thing As Objective Reality”
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Philosophers On a Physics Experiment that “Suggests There’s No Such Thing As Objective Reality”
Justin Weinberg, Daily Nous, 2019/03/22
MIT Technology Review recently published an article entitled “A quantum experiment suggests there’s no such thing as objective reality. Of course, the suggestion fell far short of a proof, but that didn't stop people from speculating. I personally fall into the 'no objective reality' camp, but not because of quantum physics. Anyhow, what's interesting about this set of short articles is that they make clear how important is the interpretation of any objective evidence. More...
L'enseignement de la philosophie des sciences
Etat des lieux de l'enseignement de la philosophie dans les cursus universitaires scientifiques. Identification des obstacles intellectuels et institutionnels qui pourraient s'opposer à sa mise en place. Plus...
Philosophy at a Catholic College
By Colleen Flaherty. Newman University this year opened a School of Catholic Studies -- good news for a Roman Catholic institution struggling with enrollment declines. In addition to offering seminarians new place to study, Newman hoped that students from other fields would embrace the opportunity to study alongside them in some courses.
But now the university’s Board of Trustees has approved a plan to “align” Newman’s theology and philosophy programs with the new college -- without clear input from the philosophy department. More...
Un plus un plus un... ça fait combien dans un groupe ?
Comment prévoir et même améliorer l'efficacité d'un groupe ? S’ils sont cinq, vont-ils produire cinq fois plus qu’une seule personne ? Y a-t-il plutôt une baisse de l’efficacité ou au contraire une augmentation ? Les observations de terrain et les recherches nous donnent quelques pistes et quelques explications pour que les groupes travaillent mieux ensemble. Plus...
