Dave Kinkead

Oh yeah! yeaheyecandy: National Geographic Society’s...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:12:05 +1000

Oh yeah!

National Geographic Society’s Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis called on architect and designer Travis Price to construct his very own personal at-home workspace in Washington, DC.

This is so wrong and so hilarious/ridiculous at the same time...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:29:00 +1000

This is so wrong and so hilarious/ridiculous at the same time that I am not even sure what the proper emotional reaction to it should be – pity? moral outrage/anger? laughter? envy (those shirts!)? sheer amazement? is he just awesome at being awesome? is he the man of the year? an adult icon? formal iconoclast? future star of the “hot implications and modus sexiens” vivid entertainment series? vin hendricksian? the real house-philosopher of Denmark? A real-life reductio ad absurdum? Aristotelian phronimos? Or is he shooting for a appearing on O’Reilly factor to promote our profession? But, the most importan question is – who will now submit something to Synthese and be serious?

Probably not the best way to promote one’s introductory logic course me thinks…

Via http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/um/

"It is not morally permissible to kick people off your land because it is your property; it is your..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:49:32 +1000

“It is not morally permissible to kick people off your land because it is your property; it is your property because it is morally permissible for you to kick people off it.”

- http://tomkow.typepad.com/tomkowcom/2012/01/the-origins-of-property-ii.html

Photo

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:12:06 +1000

"Capitalisation is important. It’s the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse..."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:04:16 +1000

“Capitalisation is important. It’s the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.”

Moral & Political Philosophy Reading Group #4

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:19:37 +1000

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

secretrepublic: When form meets function (and beer).

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:56:27 +1000

secretrepublic:

When form meets function (and beer).

What philosophers do

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:51:39 +1000

What philosophers do

Kant and Police Don't Mix

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:12:05 +1000

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 his observation. After a few such exchanges, the cop saw he was beaten and fell back on the oldest standby of enfeebled authority: “If I let you do it, I’d have to let everyone do it.” To this the old philosopher replied, “Who do you think you are—Kant?”

His last word was misconstrued, and the whole question of the categorical imperative had to be hashed out down at the precinct house.

Every good philosopher has to screw it up somewhere. Peter...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:47:00 +1000

Every good philosopher has to screw it up somewhere. Peter Singer endorses bestiality (providing it doesn’t hurt the animal of course) and Kant, well Kant endorsed infanticide. I still can’t work out how that one can be universalised…

Legislation cannot remove the disgrace of an illegitimate birth … A child that comes into the world apart from marriage is born outside the law … and therefore outside the protection of the law. It has, as it were, stolen into the commonwealth (like contraband merchandise), so that the commonwealth can ignore its existence (since it was not right that it should have come to exist this way), and can therefore also ignore its annihilation.

Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Mary Gregor (Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 108

The Philosopher's Fallacy

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:11:43 +1000

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 neither necessary nor sufficient to convince the demos :(

Moral & Political Philosophy Reading Group #3

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:48:49 +1000

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).

Fantastic advertising for ABS

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:56:06 +1000

Fantastic advertising for ABS

Conservative ideology is the critical pathway from low intelligence to racism

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:43:29 +1000

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 mediated through the endorsement of right-wing ideologies (social conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism) and low levels of contact with out-groups. In an analysis of two large-scale, nationally representative United Kingdom data sets (N = 15,874), we found that lower general intelligence (g) in childhood predicts greater racism in adulthood, and this effect was largely mediated via conservative ideology. A secondary analysis of a U.S. data set confirmed a predictive effect of poor abstract-reasoning skills on antihomosexual prejudice, a relation partially mediated by both authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact. All analyses controlled for education and socioeconomic status. Our results suggest that cognitive abilities play a critical, albeit under appreciated, role in prejudice. Consequently, we recommend a heightened focus on cognitive ability in research on prejudice and a better integration of cognitive ability into prejudice models.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/2/187

"Slavery is so vile and miserable an estate of man, and so directly opposite to the generous temper..."

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:12:06 +1000

“Slavery is so vile and miserable an estate of man, and so directly opposite to the generous temper and courage of our nation, that it is hardly to be conceived that an Englishman, much less a gentleman, should plead for it”

- John Locke - The First Treatise of Government

"She couldn’t babysit as an atheist, but she could when she was on crack."

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:50:24 +1000

“She couldn’t babysit as an atheist, but she could when she was on crack.”

17th Century Philsophy Smack Down

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:48:34 +1000

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

treadlyandme: Check the reactions in the crowd…

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:45:26 +1000

treadlyandme:

Check the reactions in the crowd…

"Freedom is just another word for having nothing left to lose."

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:48:05 +1000

“Freedom is just another word for having nothing left to lose.”

"Autonomous automobile technology shifts the liability for accidents from the car’s owner to the..."

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:36:05 +1000

“Autonomous automobile technology shifts the liability for accidents from the car’s owner to the car’s maker. It’s tantamount to corporate suicide.”