tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-194014642011-07-16T07:06:35.897+10:00MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.comBlogger1171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-8227166485508381512007-08-02T09:04:00.000+10:002007-08-02T09:12:50.324+10:00

Clearly there has not been a substantive contribution to Epideixis for a while. So with the project (that never came to be) stalled for the present, the Contributors would like to redirect our readers to Dialectic, our more active forum.We have the intention of returning here when, eventually, we decide upon and find the time for, some more substantive discussion. As the title states, this is

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1171152620633534402007-02-11T11:08:00.000+11:002007-02-11T11:10:20.633+11:00

'Ideas are bullet-proof' - V For Vendetta.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1171152419055007762007-02-11T11:01:00.000+11:002007-02-11T11:06:59.070+11:00

'It is in the very nature of things human that every act that has once made its appearance and has been recorded in the history of mankind stays with mankind as a potentiality long after its actuality has become a thing of the past.' - Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem (1994), 273.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1160490873986585502006-10-11T00:34:00.000+10:002006-10-11T00:34:38.896+10:00

‘The online purchase of a New Zealand-made drug touted as the "strongest energy pill legally available in the world" could land NSW residents in jail, police have warned. The benzylpiperazine-based products are legal in New Zealand and marketed online under names such as "Dark Angel", "Grin", "Red Hearts", "Majik", "Kandi", "Frenzy", "Altitude" and "Humma", police said.’ Quoted

Captain Kickarsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761360601256251604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1159920313284828962006-10-04T09:54:00.000+10:002006-10-04T10:05:13.316+10:00

Firstly, an interview from Cogito with philosopher John Haugeland on human intelligence and responsibility. It includes an interesting discussion of AI (so Sam should read it).Secondly, a Foucauldian analysis of EU telephone and internet surveillance regulations, from Le Monde diplomatique. Thirdly, a discussion of the role of religion in social cohesion.All via Eurozine.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1159225029026254932006-09-26T08:47:00.000+10:002006-09-26T08:57:09.070+10:00

I recently spent a couple of hours talking a criminology student through various aspects of Foucault’s work – in particular disciplinary mechanisms and prisons – in the context of a paper she was writing about the success of prisons.While this conversation was taking place, especially during the two hour intermission that was legal ethics (week nine – game theory and client counselling), the

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1159222914808449712006-09-26T08:08:00.000+10:002006-09-26T08:21:54.880+10:00

The 36th Philosopher's Carnival is being hosted by What is it like to be a blog?

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1158316152743516152006-09-15T20:23:00.000+10:002006-09-15T20:29:12.756+10:00

‘Yes, Kanzan’s heart is like an autumn moon, but what about your own heart? Isn’t it also like the autumn moon? Instead of using another’s thoughts create your own’ – Ashiza Sekirew, ‘Enso’

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1157930842895260612006-09-11T09:23:00.000+10:002006-09-11T09:27:22.896+10:00

Peter Singer, with Agata Saga, has contributed to the Australian debate regarding the legal status of stem-cell technology research, with an article in The Bulletin.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1157930577354938912006-09-11T09:10:00.000+10:002006-09-11T09:22:57.373+10:00

William R. Schroeder’s review of Julian Young’s Schopenhauer, for NDPR.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1158015738885929772006-09-11T08:59:00.000+10:002006-09-12T09:02:43.460+10:00

Allegedly, five years ago the world changed.Perhaps the locus of change was simply in the mode of perception.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1157584717277199732006-09-07T09:13:00.000+10:002006-09-07T09:18:37.276+10:00

The 35th Philosopher's Carnival - the 'back to school edition' - is being hosted by Philosopher's Playground.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1157168251859838702006-09-02T13:36:00.000+10:002006-09-02T13:37:31.860+10:00

‘there is no small difference between the gladness by which a drunk is led and the gladness a philosopher possesses.’ – Benedict de Spinoza, Ethics (London: Penguin, 1996), p. 102.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1157168016049820732006-09-02T13:31:00.000+10:002006-09-02T13:33:36.050+10:00

Richard Wolin, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, advances a humanist reconsideration of Foucault’s position.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1157167829304351802006-09-02T13:10:00.000+10:002006-09-02T13:30:29.356+10:00

It was noted, in an earlier post, that Ramin Jahanbegloo had been imprisoned in Iran. In the past couple of days it has been confirmed that he has recently been released.Eurozine has published a paper, delivered by Jahanbegloo earlier this year, on ‘the clash of intolerances’.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1153436398301632852006-07-21T08:41:00.000+10:002006-07-21T08:59:58.323+10:00

An Iranian philosopher – Ramin Jahanbegloo – is presently imprisoned (apparently in solitary confinement). (On Jahanbegloo, a collection of his papers and an interview with Postel.)While there is a tradition of philosophers being imprisoned – Socrates springs to mind – it seems somewhat discordant with the state of the discipline at present. This raises an interesting question – are there any

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1153434985300065672006-07-21T08:26:00.000+10:002006-07-21T08:36:25.330+10:00

An interesting project, coming out of Germany, attempting to set out one hundred concepts – in the form of a dictionary – associated with war. [Via Utne.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1152752519531860572006-07-12T10:54:00.000+10:002006-07-13T11:01:59.566+10:00

‘Human justice makes human errors. No human effort is immune from error’ – Justice Michael Kirby (High Court of Australia), ‘The Dreyfus Case a Century On – Ten Lessons for Australia’Today marks the centenary of the Dreyfus acquittal.[This is also the 100th post on epideixis, which is considerably less significant.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1152445030511710742006-07-09T21:37:00.000+10:002006-07-09T21:48:26.540+10:00

I started reading Derrida the other day, only to be hit with the thought, why? It seemed like something that I should be interested in, but it all seems a bit irrelevant now. Who was the last deconstructionist you met? Or the last person who actually read Derrida?So i stopped reading Derrida and started reading Habaermas. Martin then asked me 'why would you want to read Habermas?' Sadly it feels

Captain Kickarsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09761360601256251604noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151992473672180912006-07-04T15:47:00.000+10:002006-07-04T15:54:33.673+10:00

‘Morality, what crimes may be committed in thy name!’ – HLA Hart, ‘Immorality and Treason’.[There’s not been a sermon here in some months; this sort of feels like one … possibly delivered by Nietzsche in the midst of the Genealogy …]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151991557916184452006-07-04T15:35:00.000+10:002006-07-04T15:39:17.930+10:00

The 32nd Philosopher’s Carnival is being hosted by Adventures in Ethics and Science.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151881410627696062006-07-03T08:59:00.000+10:002006-07-03T09:06:17.903+10:00

Peter Singer – recently listed by The Bulletin as one of the hundred most influential Australians, alongside philosophical spectre John Anderson – has argued that Austria’s laws criminalising Holocaust denial are a contravention of free speech which demonstrate the hypocrisy inherent in Europe’s attitude towards free speech.Why does reading Singer so often result in a sense of ‘if only things

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151880993817573912006-07-03T08:54:00.000+10:002006-07-03T08:56:33.816+10:00

What is it like to be a blog – a wide ranging, and young, grad-philoblog.[It may be noticed that these have become notices rather than reviews, simply because they are more notices than reviews …]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151880854232941752006-07-03T08:33:00.000+10:002006-07-03T08:54:14.246+10:00

Long Sunday has attempted to conclude the discussion of Carl Schmitt it instigated …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151805217313495652006-07-02T11:43:00.000+10:002006-07-02T11:53:37.313+10:00

The Supreme Court of The United States of America opinions in Hamdan v Rumsfeld have been released.Legal Theory has this collection of the early commentary.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151804600131536092006-07-02T11:34:00.000+10:002006-07-02T11:43:20.133+10:00

For Samuel: Steven Horst’s review (for NDPR) of Nicholas Georgalis' recent work on the interplay between minds and language – another item to add to the doctoral reading list …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151803873883228152006-07-02T11:24:00.000+10:002006-07-02T11:31:13.900+10:00

An all to brief critique of Australia’s ‘re-colonisation’ of the Pacific, authored by a member of the Sovereignty And It’s Discontents working group.There remain a number of political questions about this new trend in Australia’s foreign policy – none the least of which is the extent to which this approach should be deployed, and all of which have to do with the role that Australia should play in

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151280313180647592006-06-26T10:02:00.000+10:002006-06-26T10:05:13.180+10:00

Well, can they?Apparently not…Which may have implications for the future of this blog…

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1151280074916515752006-06-26T09:50:00.000+10:002006-06-26T10:01:14.933+10:00

T. Nadelhoffer, of the Leiter Reports, has posted on the sceptical position Posner J has advocated in regard to philosophical ethics …(Meanwhile, Leiter has posted on ‘new legal realism’ …)

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150502640771978662006-06-17T10:00:00.000+10:002006-06-17T10:04:00.773+10:00

‘Though law and morality are not the same, and many things may be immoral which are not necessarily illegal, yet the absolute divorce of law from morality would be of fatal consequence … To preserve one’s life is generally speaking a duty, but it may be the plainest and the highest duty to sacrifice it.’ – The Queen v Dudley and Stephens (1884) 14 QB 273, 287 (Lord Coleridge CJ).

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150502030431868132006-06-17T09:45:00.000+10:002006-06-17T09:53:50.433+10:00

For Samuel: Hauser’s review (for NDPR) of Robert Kirk’s recent work on the implications of zombies on theories of mind and consciousness …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150772999480366432006-06-17T09:35:00.000+10:002006-06-20T13:09:59.503+10:00

Side Effects – a long established philoblog dealing with aesthetics in the European humanist tradition.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150412553693884092006-06-16T09:00:00.000+10:002006-06-16T14:54:45.506+10:00

The Federal Government used its constitutional powers to prevent the ACT’s homosexual civil union legislation coming into force.Is there a stronger argument for why civil unions should not be accorded a legal status akin to that of marriage – given that heterosexual de facto relationships are akin to marriage – than the policy/values position that marriage is between a man and a woman only?

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150412430039326222006-06-16T08:50:00.000+10:002006-06-16T09:00:30.040+10:00

At the start of a heated stoush, John Derbyshire compared the right to life movement with a cult, which was ‘rebutted’ by a rhetorical response …[Another review of the work that started the debate.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150411840507173502006-06-16T08:49:00.000+10:002006-06-16T08:50:40.526+10:00

Ali G as an ‘unconventional modern pop-culture manifestation’ of Grotius, Hobbes, and Locke? (The paper is on reciprocity in international law.)

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150326592792221932006-06-15T09:05:00.001+10:002006-06-15T09:09:52.816+10:00

Samuel, due to the sort of popular demand that led to the forth-coming Superman film (with its scenes that plagued our streets and crowded our parks ...), has composed a sequel on mind and meaning. This time it’s all minds, infinite monkey generators, and functional isomorphs …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150326097437371332006-06-15T08:46:00.000+10:002006-06-15T09:01:37.453+10:00

Apparently, war has been declared on relativism.The current martial strategy is to impose ‘fact’ on morality, promoting it to role akin to that it plays in science. Given the analogy of the war on terrorism, perhaps it is time to commence an insurgency …An apparent issue is methodological – by what method does one impose fact on morality? Assumedly, the vanguard what to construct a schema of ‘

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1150325060345655732006-06-15T08:42:00.000+10:002006-06-15T08:44:20.366+10:00

The 31st Philosopher's Carnival is being hosted by Kenny Pearce.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1149228103788683822006-06-02T15:55:00.000+10:002006-06-02T16:01:43.803+10:00

Julian Baggini’s ‘argument’ for Homer to be considered the new Plato ...I've always thought that Homer was slightly more Cynic than he was Platonic ...

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1148598763312428992006-05-26T09:06:00.000+10:002006-05-26T09:12:43.313+10:00

The podcast of Huw Price's (University of Sydney) recent lecture on truth is now available.(Why is it that the podcast has replaced the transcript as the primary means of preserving public lectures?)

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1148598280545550002006-05-26T09:00:00.000+10:002006-05-26T09:04:40.560+10:00

The 30th Philosopher's Carnival is being hosted by annemiz.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1148093337888090492006-05-20T12:21:00.000+10:002006-05-20T12:48:57.906+10:00

‘A comparison between a life with disabilities and non-existence, for the purposes of proving actual damage and having a trier of fact apprehend the nature of the damage caused, is impossible. Judges in a number of cases have recognised the impossibility of the comparison and in doing so references have been made to philosophers and theologians as persons better schooled than courts in

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1148095028624991702006-05-20T12:13:00.000+10:002006-05-20T13:17:46.243+10:00

Samuel’s contemplation of minds and meaning, and the discussion that it sparked …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1146866623708395812006-05-06T08:00:00.000+10:002006-05-06T08:03:43.710+10:00

An introduction, via spiked, to the Manifesto Club.The sixth point of their manifesto – ‘We seek to reclaim the Enlightenment and the legacy of the Enlightenment’ – is interesting in a post ‘Was Ist Aufklärung’ era …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1146694453725453472006-05-04T08:12:00.000+10:002006-05-04T08:14:13.726+10:00

Where should the line between sedition and critique of government be drawn? Should it even be drawn at all?

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1146693632512605792006-05-04T07:56:00.000+10:002006-05-04T08:10:27.416+10:00

The first set of papers for the much announced On-Line Philosophy Conference were presented on Sunday (there are more to be presented in the next couple of weeks). The seven papers were:- Mary Coleman, ‘Holistic Directions of Fit and Smith’s Teleological Argument’- Julia Driver, ‘Luck’- Noa Latham, Fundamental Laws’- Alfred Mele, ‘Practical Mistakes and Intentional Actions’- Stephen Stich and

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1146693056249520132006-05-04T06:50:00.000+10:002006-05-04T07:50:56.310+10:00

The 29th Philosopher’s Carnival is being hosted by Daylight Atheism.DuckRabbit’s ‘10 Things’ is definitely worth a glance.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1146131898793589832006-04-27T19:54:00.000+10:002006-04-27T19:58:18.816+10:00

'If anyone does an act hurtful to others, there is a prima facie case for punishing him by law or, where legal penalties are not safely applicable, by general disapprobation' - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (Penguin, 1985) 70.[Have been re-reading On Liberty over the past couple of weeks, and this sprung to mind during a discussion of the punishment of homocide.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1145314951042604942006-04-18T09:00:00.000+10:002006-04-18T09:02:31.053+10:00

The schedule of papers for the First On-line Philosophy Conference has been posted, with the first set of papers to be posted on the 30th of April.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1144456238215940352006-04-08T10:22:00.000+10:002006-04-08T10:30:38.216+10:00

“What the Geldofs and Bonos don’t understand is that you can’t make poverty history until you end [sovereign] impunity” - Geoffrey Robertson QC, The University Of Sydney Law School, 28th of March 2006.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1143323866389242002006-03-26T08:51:00.000+11:002006-03-26T08:57:46.390+11:00

“So in a democracy no one, however powerful or impotent, can have a right not to be insulted or offended. That principle is of particular importance in a nation that strives for racial and ethnic fairness. If weak or unpopular minorities wish to be protected from economic or legal discrimination by law—if they wish laws enacted that prohibit discrimination against them in employment, for

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1143323383762615342006-03-26T08:23:00.000+11:002006-03-26T08:49:44.523+11:00

Just a couple of articles that have caught my attention of late. Firstly, two Francis Fukuyama items; a discussion with Bernard-Henri Levy, and an article on neoconservatism.Secondly, ‘The Pyres Of Autumn’ by Baudrillard.Thirdly, a piece on Alain Badiou.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1143241767965581642006-03-25T10:03:00.000+11:002006-03-25T10:09:27.966+11:00

Bill Pascoe has commenced a discussion on objectivity and ethics, over at Dialectic.The question that I have been considering is whether or not it is appropriate to consider an ‘ethic’ to be anything more than the schema of norms adopted by an individual in the course of ethical decision making?

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1143241225689170832006-03-25T09:53:00.000+11:002006-03-25T10:00:25.703+11:00

Stephen Gaukroger, of the University of Sydney, has reviewed Peter Hanns Reill’s Vitalizing Nature in the Enlightenment for the Australian Review of Public Affairs.The initial discussion of the Enlightenment is an interesting read …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1141956072978738632006-03-10T12:56:00.000+11:002006-03-10T13:01:13.013+11:00

I’m going to be brief – there is a case study for Criminal Law that I should be writing – but I found the notice for the latest issue of borderlands – a free e-journal for those unfamiliar – in my in-box. It’s topic is Althusser. I’ve not had a chance to read the articles, but there is probably some interesting stuff there-within.Now it’s back to the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities)

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1140673324725517712006-02-23T16:38:00.000+11:002006-02-23T16:42:04.766+11:00

“I’m wasting my life just hiding under the pretence of Foucault” – The Hampdens, ‘Phillip Johnson Homes’.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1140405754784018522006-02-20T14:19:00.000+11:002006-02-20T14:22:34.800+11:00

Virtue supposes liberty, as the carrying of a burden supposes active force. Under coercion there is no virtue, and without virtue there is no religion. Make a slave of me, and I shall be no better for it. Even the sovereign has no right to use coercion to lead men to religion, which by its nature supposes choice and liberty. My thought is no more subject to authority than is sickness or health.-

Samuel Douglasnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1140080261578462502006-02-16T19:54:00.000+11:002006-02-18T20:23:11.820+11:00

Thinking about responding to Mr Pender’s recent post – ‘On allegory and meaning’ – I considered the use of allegory and analogy (I’ll agree that, as techniques, they have their place, though I often wonder if they are used when other techniques may have conveyed their message more precisely [which seems to imply that I think less of them than other techniques, though I can think of no legitimate

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1139871192048194772006-02-14T09:28:00.000+11:002006-02-14T09:53:12.130+11:00

This story about a statement by Dana Vale was on the news tickers this morning.At it’s crux runs this interesting slippery slope argument:I) If control of RU486 (an abortion drug) is taken from the Government (and given to the Therapeutic Goods Administration), then Australian will become a Muslim nation.II) Becoming a Muslim nation is ethically impermissible (which seems to be analogous to ‘

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1139448922616532132006-02-09T11:52:00.000+11:002006-02-09T12:35:22.690+11:00

“Muslim leaders say the cartoons are not just offensive. They're blasphemy--the mother of all offenses [sic]. That's because Islam forbids any visual depiction of the Prophet, even benign ones. Should non-Muslims respect this taboo? I see no reason why. You can respect a religion without honoring [sic] its taboos. I eat pork, and I'm not an anti-Semite. As a Catholic, I don't expect atheists to

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1139100713505146762006-02-05T11:28:00.000+11:002006-02-05T11:51:53.620+11:00

A series of cartoons, published in the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, and the response by Muslims has been receiving media attention (an article from spiked).The commentary has been examining free-speech, the oft claimed right to free-speech, and how that right sits in relation to religious tolerance.The point I have been pondering, for the past couple of hours, is whether or not in a post modern

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1138756258853393812006-02-01T11:49:00.000+11:002006-02-01T12:25:47.540+11:00

“In the Western tradition, civility has long been accepted as a public virtue manifest in signs of respect to strangers in language, etiquette and in tempering the assertion of self-interest.This public virtue assumes that there are broadly accepted rules for conduct: a system of public morality reflecting the core values of our society, particularly the respect for the freedom and personal

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1138748127786603892006-02-01T09:46:00.000+11:002006-02-01T09:55:27.786+11:00

The 25th Philosopher’s Carnival is being hosted by The Uncredible Hallq.I’ve not had time to read through the posts, but this carnival appears diverse which is a good thing.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1138749354840768552006-02-01T09:40:00.000+11:002006-02-01T10:15:55.106+11:00

In the absence of anything much here of late – I, personally, apologise and lay the blame on the first volume of the Foundations of Law reader that I have to demolish prior to my intensive – Reader’s attention is drawn to a new discussion being hosted at Dialectic, Epideixis’ kin, commenced by Ol’Merciless on “the nature of time”.[The lack of method and ‘immature’ tone of the debate which will

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1138060225182561472006-01-24T10:44:00.000+11:002006-01-24T10:50:25.183+11:00

'The Curious Rise Of Anti-religious Hysteria' (via Spiked). Posted because it has been a bit quiet, and because it might provide context for this discussion ...

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1137376162078263872006-01-16T12:45:00.000+11:002006-04-04T10:25:43.300+10:00

A hypothetical:A, a young man of utilitarian persuasion, decides that life with a disability is not justified. A signs a statutory declaration to such effect, adding that in the case of an emergency where an operation could save his life though leave him disabled he refuses medical assistance other than that which will enable his organs to be donated.A, after this declaration, is involved in an

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1137242236060747732006-01-14T23:35:00.000+11:002006-01-14T23:37:16.093+11:00

Some ideas and arguments should be proscribed because of their implications.[I’ve been thinking about a comment Samuel made regarding science and religion …]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1137213550971203342006-01-14T15:34:00.000+11:002006-01-14T15:39:10.973+11:00

A reading taken from the works of Arthur Schopenhauer:the life of the individual is a constant struggle, and not merely a metaphorical one against want or boredom, but also an actual struggle against other people. He discovers adversaries everywhere, lives in continual conflict and dies with sword in hand. – Arthur Schopenhauer.On the Suffering of the World(London: Penguin, 2004), pp. 4, 5.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1137215658118572662006-01-14T15:30:00.000+11:002006-01-14T16:14:18.140+11:00

Just to get Samuel all fired up (he’s been a bit quiet of late, though his rants on ID are collected at Philosophy Hurts Your Head), Leiter is reporting the ‘evolution’ of ‘Philosophy of Design’ … Is it just me or has something gone horribly wrong with ‘Western Civilisation’?[As an aside, is it even possible to consider the suburban sprawl ‘civilised’? I’ve been pondering this on my evening walks

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1137213241225036152006-01-14T15:26:00.000+11:002006-01-14T15:34:01.263+11:00

In addition to the earlier notice, the new issue of Contretemps (out of the University of Sydney) is now on-line. The issue considers ‘Democratic Futures’ (I’ve just typed in ‘tortures’, by mistake, am not sure if there is something to be made of that error …).[Thanks to pas au-dela for the notice. The schematic, on boredom, in the post is worth a gander …]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1137214545244695882006-01-14T15:20:00.000+11:002006-01-14T16:26:12.723+11:00

"To illustrate his point Isocrates effectively invented a whole new genre of rhetoric. This was the so-called ‘epideictic’ or ‘display’ rhetoric, which now took its place in the canons of the art alongside the established branches of ‘forensic’ and ‘deliberative’. It is true that this was not quiet such a new thing, as there are earlier examples, such as Gorgias’ partly extant encomium on Helen,

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1136936195089293052006-01-11T10:35:00.000+11:002006-01-11T10:36:35.090+11:00

The 24th Philosopher’s Carnival is being hosted by Rad Geek People’s Daily.This Carnival is worthy of commendation, given the extensive commentary provided on each of the accepted posts by the host.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1136936006070404162006-01-11T10:28:00.000+11:002006-01-11T10:33:26.146+11:00

The latest issues of Foucault Studies and the International Journal Of Baudrillard Studies are available on-line.[Thanks to Theoria for the notice.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1136764732805512152006-01-09T10:38:00.000+11:002006-01-14T15:11:26.986+11:00

Peter, over at Dialectic, has started a discussion on whether or not atheism should be considered a religion …Meanwhile Leiter has put out a call for references on religious toleration …[UPDATE: The discussion at Dialectic is still running, having taken a rather winding course, which seems worth noting. (MH 14/01/2006)]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1136593202754454862006-01-07T11:10:00.000+11:002006-01-07T14:52:23.263+11:00

New South Wales Young Labor has, according to media coverage, proposed mandating some form of national service for high school students. While the term ‘national service’ with its connotations of the Draft is being employed, the proposal is to make students undertake some form of community service – be it serving as a cadet or in ‘volunteering’ for a community organisation – as part of the

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1136521405640612642006-01-06T15:18:00.000+11:002006-01-06T15:23:25.643+11:00

A reading taken from the works of Arthur Schopenhauer:The most effective consolation in every misfortune and every affliction is to observe others who are more unfortunate than we: and everyone can do this. – Arthur Schopenhauer.On the Suffering of the World(London: Penguin, 2004), p. 4. A comment by Burkard Augustine Hase on Schopenhauer, recorded by Helen Garner: “Is it suspicion? Do you know

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1136520065918791892006-01-06T14:57:00.000+11:002006-01-06T15:01:05.943+11:00

Dolan Cummings has reviewed Penelope Deutscher’s How To Read Derrida and Peter Osbourne’s How To Read Marx (from a series published by Granta) for New Statesman.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135895032371961452005-12-30T09:19:00.000+11:002005-12-30T09:23:52.386+11:00

A reading taken from the works of Arthur Schopenhauer:A quick test of the assertion that enjoyment outweighs pain in this world, or that they are at any rate balanced, would be to compare the feelings of an animal engaged in eating another with those of the animal being eaten.– Arthur Schopenhauer.On the Suffering of the World(London: Penguin, 2004), p. 4.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135896574764231592005-12-30T09:10:00.000+11:002005-12-30T09:49:34.780+11:00

Care of Long Sunday, a picture of something that I’ve felt like doing on numerous occasions this year (Dare I say RB and SD have felt the same?) …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135647886836832002005-12-27T12:38:00.000+11:002005-12-27T12:44:46.853+11:00

“This city is haunted by a spectre … the spectre of capitalism.” – I scribbled this down, on the back page of a paperback since it was the most conveniently placed piece of paper, one recent night and have been meaning to post it since.It conjured the image of capitalism, as a fog that nuzzles against window-panes, hanging in the air, and spilling into open spaces.It also pointed to a fundamental

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135638519915952102005-12-27T10:05:00.000+11:002005-12-27T10:08:39.916+11:00

Philosophy Conferences And Calls For Papers – a compendia of conference notices and calls for papers, maintained by a grad-student. A useful reasource. [Hat tip – T.A.R.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135390618753061942005-12-24T13:14:00.000+11:002005-12-24T13:16:58.753+11:00

Being Christmas Eve, sources outside the philosophical canon have been chosen for the sermonette and to embrace the spirit of the season psalms have been selected. Firstly, a psalm from Jonathan Larson’s Rent:Christmas bells are ringingChristmas bells are ringingChristmas bells are ringingHow time fliesWhen compassion dies …- Jonathan Larson,‘Finale’,Rent.Secondly, a psalm from Ahrens and

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135214737856726592005-12-22T12:16:00.000+11:002005-12-23T11:15:13.880+11:00

"In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice. Those who have money will display it in every imaginable way. If their ostentation does not exceed their fortune, all will be well. But if their

Samuel Douglasnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135205173557871032005-12-22T09:43:00.000+11:002005-12-22T09:46:13.556+11:00

Long Sunday is running a discussion of the following thought experiment:“Imagine the following: Someone is driving through Pennsylvania and all the lights are out. This person pulls into a gas station to buy some gas and some gum, but here, too, the kind of darkness that points to a power failure. The gas pumps don't work. Hoping to get some gum, the driver walks into the appropriately small

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135204927406985492005-12-22T09:34:00.000+11:002005-12-22T09:42:07.460+11:00

The Trial that decided ‘Intelligent Design’ is theology – the (139 page) opinion in Kitzmiller et al versus Dover Area School District et al … The problem is the spotfires of debate are still burning bright, and may yet gain the strength to become a bushfire capable of burning away science …While on theology, Over Three Hundred Proof’s Of God’s Existence as compiled by the Atheists Of Silicon

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134980494781987842005-12-19T19:13:00.000+11:002005-12-19T22:51:31.870+11:00

May be paraphrased, and not in chronological order (am working from memory … should have jotted down some notes)1. ‘I’ve been thinking of writing a manifesto …’‘You’re a manifesto bi-polar. One minute your posting on how you can’t write manifestos any more and the next your trying to write one …’2. ‘It’s the expansion of the disciplinary gaze … since the disciplinary gaze needs to see everything,

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135035898664893402005-12-19T18:35:00.000+11:002005-12-20T10:44:58.663+11:00

Unideal Observers – A new graduate student philoblog dealing with ethics, and authored by the philosophic progeny of those residing in PEA Soup. [Hat tip – Leiter Reports]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135035682995093242005-12-19T18:30:00.000+11:002005-12-29T00:35:06.463+11:00

Atopian.org – A philoblog, presently authored by a UK based student, dealing with ethics and political philosophy. [Hat tip – Unideal Observers]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135035546774915482005-12-19T18:29:00.000+11:002005-12-20T10:39:06.776+11:00

Common Sense Philosophy – Philoblog dealing with metaphysics, among other topics. [Hat tip – Atopian]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135035185342764832005-12-19T18:28:00.000+11:002005-12-20T10:35:05.140+11:00

The ABD Club – A graduate blog dealing with political theory and philosophy. [Hat tip – Unideal Observers]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1135035058520052102005-12-19T18:27:00.000+11:002005-12-20T10:30:58.520+11:00

Ratiocination – A philoblog dealing with metaphysics and epistemology. [Hat tip – Common Sense Philosophy]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134870110862150092005-12-18T12:28:00.000+11:002005-12-18T12:41:50.886+11:00

“These riots are made by an unidentifiable mob—rebellious bodies whose existence is reduced to bare necessity, and who have not found any other language than that of destructive gestures.Let us not fool ourselves; in everyday life many of this mob are detestable; some are numbed by religion, many alienated by consumerism, or enthusiasts of masculine values, sharing with the masters of society the

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134871000661191512005-12-18T12:26:00.000+11:002005-12-18T12:56:40.660+11:00

Foucault.info – The blog attached to Michel Foucault.info, an information repository on Foucault, it acts as a notification service.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134683118054119812005-12-16T08:42:00.000+11:002005-12-16T08:45:18.063+11:00

A reading taken from the works of Arthur Schopenhauer: I therefore know of no greater absurdity than that absurdity which characterizes almost all metaphysical systems: that of explaining evil as something negative. For evil is precisely that which is positive, that which makes itself palpable; and good, on the other hand, i.e. all happiness and all gratification, is that which is negative, the

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134708984051772272005-12-16T08:40:00.000+11:002005-12-16T15:56:24.056+11:00

Brown Feeling – new philoblog, authored by Mischa Benoit-Lavelle, that appears to be in the Continental (or ‘humanist’, if you’re going to subscribe to this presently vogue ‘re-branding’) vein. [Hat tip – Infinite Thought.][There really should be some directory that all philosophy blogs register with at their inception, would make the process of keeping track of them easier …]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134709415216808022005-12-16T08:38:00.000+11:002005-12-16T16:03:35.216+11:00

The University of Winnipeg Department of Philosophy Blog – The blog of the University of Winnipeg philosophy department (the name is really self-explanatory), primarily a forum for up-coming events and conference notices. [Hat tip – Dialectic.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134709970470868652005-12-16T08:36:00.000+11:002005-12-16T16:15:29.706+11:00

archive : s0metim3s – a blog, not strictly philosophical though worthy of note, dealing with politics.[Yes, there are going to be occasional reviews on non-philoblogs worthy of note, such blogs will not be added to the Directory.]

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134710226468936232005-12-16T08:34:00.000+11:002005-12-16T16:17:06.470+11:00

Bill Pascoe, a contributor at Dialectic, has posted a paper – ‘Strategies for freedom from the work of Foucault’ – articulating an account of freedom drawn from the power theory of Michel Foucault.

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134522244701200872005-12-14T11:59:00.000+11:002005-12-14T12:52:46.136+11:00

Over at Dialectic, Michael has been posting on the philosophical usefulness of love (among other things) – this is slightly irrelevant to the rest of this post, but why not litter posts with pointless links? Isn’t that the reason for the ‘web’ being web-like?During my recent reading – trying to make some headway into the small library that has collected over the course of the year – I came across

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19401464.post-1134508449211073832005-12-14T07:53:00.000+11:002005-12-14T08:14:09.233+11:00

The 23rd Philosopher’s Carnival, that venerable institution of the philoblogosphere, is presently being hosted at Right Reason.The Carnival, this time, has been divided into three categories: ‘free will’, ‘bullshit’, and ‘miscellany’, though creating an entire category for reviews of Frankfurt’s On Bullshit seems a little pointless …

MHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09068975650320612418noreply@blogger.com0