Learning to (not) fight

Why would we think that ordinary civilians should be free to train in the martial arts? It’s tempting to suppose that it’s at least in part a result of the profound and enduring influence of the 19th Century, English philosopher, John Stuart Mill, who taught us that citizens ought to be free to do whatever they please, just so long as it doesn’t harm others. But, at face value, the martial arts don’t seem to fit this bill very well. After all – a cynic might say – isn’t learning how to fight indistinguishable from learning how to harm others?

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PARENTAL ADVISORY: RELIGIOUS THEMES

Frank Zappa once asked if humor belonged in music. Now it seems as if the question should be whether or not God belongs in metal. I personally think that He should stick to church on Sunday mornings, where no one’s in any doubt why they’re there and who they’re there to sing about. But, last Saturday night at the Forum theatre, I distinctly heard God being sung about by the most unlikely of candidates.

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Objective Objections

OBJECTIVE OBJECTIONS
ROSS CAMPBELL BARHAM
19.08.2008
School of Philosophy, Anthropology, and Social Inquiry
The University of Melbourne
0. In my thesis, I intend to advance an understanding of objectivity as essentially a methodological process that epistemologically underlies all other (relevant) senses of the concept. It is therefore incumbent upon me to demonstrate that previous, alternative conceptions are insufficient. Such then [...]

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Newcomb’s Paradox

Newcomb’s paradox has it that an accurate prediction is made of your future behaviour upon entering a room and being presented with two options. If it is predicted that you will take both $1K and an opaque box, then nothing will have been deposited in the latter. If it is predicted that you will take the opaque box alone, then $1M will have been deposited therein. What should you do?

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What is this thing called Music?

“If there is anything to the distinction between high art and popular art with regard to music that is not entirely social in nature, where are we to look for it? Surely not in the mechanisms that work to claim a particular piece of music for the canon of either order; whether it be, say, the inclusion into the repertoire of a well-reputed orchestra or the play-list of a ‘pop’ radio station, it is obvious that both are essentially social in nature. Nor in individuals; the hugely successful advertising devices have both confirmed and augmented the typical correlation between an individual’s tastes and their overall social position. Rather, the answer must be found in the music. “

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A pHILOSOPHY OF PHILOSOPHY

‘Finding myself approaching the conclusion of my undergraduate studies in Philosophy, I thought it particularly fitting that Metaphilosophy be the area that concerned my thesis. I reasoned that in attempting to answer the question, ‘What exactly is it that you have been doing these past years, and why should you wish to continue en suite?’ I should not only be able to take stock for myself but, moreover, openly provide my peers, mentors and superiors with an insight by which to better gauge my potential worth as an aspiring Philosopher. However, it is not for this reason only that I have attempted to answer the question ‘What is Philosophy?’ on my own two legs, so to speak. In all of my Philosophical life, I have never as yet encountered a definition of Philosophy that I have found satisfactory. Perhaps this is merely a matter of personal eccentricity – I shall let you be the judge thereof.’

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Glossary of Argumentation

Glossary of Argumentation
abstract: a separate note or comment preceding the introduction of a topic
abstraction: a process of generalisation by reducing the information content of a subject
(argumentum) ad hoc: Latin meaning ‘for this purpose’; a pejorative term for a make-shift argument
(argumentum) ad hominem: Latin meaning ‘against the man’; an fallacious form of argument, where an irreleant [...]

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Turing Test

‘Passing a Turing test is neither necessary nor sufficient for the attribution of mentality.’ Discuss.
In his 1950’s paper, ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’, Professor Allan Turing (of Bletchley Park fame) suggested a hypothetical means to test for the legitimate attribution of mentality in computers:
An interrogator seeks to distinguish a human respondent from a computerised one, via [...]

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The Philosophical Significance of Mike

The following essay was written as an imaginative, albeit philosophical, response to the science-fictional anecdote told by Isaac Asimov in his short story, ‘Think’.
The hope is that, by considering the significance of the events
portrayed therein, we shall gain greater insight into the present,
real-life Philosophy of Mind.
Dr Renshaw’s remarkable inventions and discoveries are certain to revolutionise [...]

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The Epistemological Spell of Plato

1. Introduction
1.1 Statement of Contention
At first glance, Plato and Popper’s philosophies might seem diametrically opposed: whereas Plato posits knowledge of types (or ‘Forms’) as self-contained starting points requiring no supporting assumptions, Popper denies the possibility of direct knowledge of the truth, except via the inductive process of a theory surviving ever more precise and challenging [...]

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