February 2012
23 posts
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“It is not morally permissible to kick people off your land because it is your...”
– http://tomkow.typepad.com/tomkowcom/2012/01/the-origins-of-property-ii.html
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“Capitalisation is important. It’s the difference between helping your...”
Moral & Political Philosophy Reading Group #4
uqphilosophy:
What better way of seeing in O Week than an examination of Lockean property rights? Accordingly, this week’s reading will be chapter 5 from Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government.
You can access a copy here http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/locke/john/l81s/chapter5.html See you on Friday at 3pm, Miche level 5
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Kant and Police Don't Mix
Another great tale from Chris Hitchens
On another occasion, he put his pipe in his mouth as he was ascending the subway steps. A policeman approached and told him that there was no smoking on the subway. Morgenbesser explained—pointed out might be a better term—that he was leaving the subway, not entering it, and had not yet lit up.
The cop repeated his injunction. Morgenbesser reiterated ...
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The Philosopher's Fallacy
I noticed today that there is one very important informal fallacy missing from wikipedia’s list of fallacies. I call it the philosopher’s fallacy:
The philosopher’s fallacy is an error of reasoning whereby adequate knowledge of pertinent facts held by all parties coupled with a sound argument is believed sufficient to engender social change.
Sadly, evidence and reason is...
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Moral & Political Philosophy Reading Group #3
uqphilosophy:
This month we’ll be looking at Bernard Williams’ ‘Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy’. We are planning to cover CH6 - ‘Theory & Prejudice’.
There are a few copies left at the SSH Library & Michael has a PDF copy if the DRM on the electronic copies drives you to despair.
Friday 3pm in the Miche level 5 conference room (just outside the lifts).
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Conservative ideology is the critical pathway from...
A new study shows that conservatives really do have lower cognitive abilities.
Despite their important implications for interpersonal behaviors and relations, cognitive abilities have been largely ignored as explanations of prejudice. We proposed and tested mediation models in which lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice, an effect...
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“Slavery is so vile and miserable an estate of man, and so directly opposite to...”
– John Locke - The First Treatise of Government
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“She couldn’t babysit as an atheist, but she could when she was on crack.”
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17th Century Philsophy Smack Down
For it is scare credible that in a discourse where he pretends to confute the erroneous principle of man’s natural freedom, he should do it by a bare supposition of Adam’s authority, without offering any proof for that authority.
John Locke, The First Treatise of Government
“Freedom is just another word for having nothing left to lose.”
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“Autonomous automobile technology shifts the liability for accidents from the...”
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“There is no better way to fully understand a subject than to argue it. It’s...”
January 2012
24 posts
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Philosophy at UQ: Moral & Political Philosophy... →
uqphilosophy:
This week’s moral & political reading group will be meeting Friday 3pm in Miche level 5.
We’ll be going over Hugh Breakey’s ‘The Epistemic and Informational Requirements of Utilitarianism’ and his response to Gaus’ paper from last time.
“Nobody worries about the military or the courts being “profitable”....”
– The Economist
“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all...”
– Plutarch
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A Letter from a Former Slave
Dayton, Ohio, August 7, 1865 To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for...
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Exponential Growth, Finite Limits
Here’s an interesting thought experiment from Al Bartlett to test your understanding of exponential growth:
Imagine an empty bottle that contains just 1 cell of bacteria. Every minute, the bacteria divides and doubles. At 11:00 AM, there is just 1 cell. At 12:00 PM, the bottle is full. At what time is the bottle 50% full of bacteria?
At what time is the bottle 1% full?
At what time...
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In the end, I am not an autonomous entity who can... →
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“When a pedestrian on the street feels overwhelmed by the sheer bulk and size of...”
– Ilene Watson (via lifeonfoot)
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Warnie
War·nie [wawr-nee]
noun
the process of altering the facts of an event in order to reverse guilt or blame.
a publicly contrived story the opposite of which actually happened.
made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; falsehood; a lie.
to act in a manner becoming of Shane Warne.
Synonyms
prevarication, falsification, fib, lie
Autonyms
truth
Idioms
to tell a...
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On the Nanny State
The term ‘Nanny State’ is bandied around quite a bit these days. Sometimes its a legitimate complaint, sometimes it’s poorly disguised corporate lobbying, but most of the time it’s confused childish bitching from someone who doesn’t want to clean up their room. Pool fences, plain packaging, gambling pre-commitments. “The government is making me do something but I don’t want to do it.” When...
“You know Monopoly is an old game because there’s a luxury tax and rich people...”
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December 2011
22 posts
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