Ian Smith on why Ockham thought the Pope wasn’t a Catholic. William of Ockham is readily acknowledged as one of the most preeminent philosophers of the medieval period, and is known primarily for his work in metaphysics and logic. But in 1328 it was controversy over his political writings that forced him to flee Avignon, …
William of Ockham: Defending the Church, Condemning the Pope Read More »
Three hundred and fifty years ago, Spinoza was excommunicated. This affords Peter Cave the excuse to remind us of this most tolerant philosopher – of his life, metaphysics and humanity. Spinoza’s name does not trip off the lips of many people, and those from whose lips it trips typically know only that he was a …
Spinoza: Cursed be he by day; and cursed be he by night Read More »
Rebecca Glass on the importance of fables of ‘the really real world’. John Dewey criticizes our desire for the transcendental and supernatural as inimical to growth and education. Yearning for an otherworldly reality is “vicious in the separation of desire and thought,” an “asylum from effort,” and thus also from development (Human Nature and Conduct). …
Michael J. Brown finds assumptions challenged in his Philosophy Club. I had planned on five, perhaps six students showing up – nothing I’d have to prepare too much for; just a few extemporaneous remarks on philosophy and the usual haggling over scheduling a weekly meeting to talk about it. I was surprised, even panicked, when …
Imadaldin Al-Jubouri considers how some Muslim fundamentalists justify their aggressiveness – by misreading the Qur’an, among other things. Since September 11 2001, the West has faced a series of attacks, from New York and Washington to Madrid and London. Why did this confrontation reach the big cities of the West? Who authorised al-Qaeda to act …
Grant Bartley lays down the law in favour of the ‘right’ sort of heresy. “Religions are kept alive by heresies, which are really sudden explosions of faith. Dead religions do not produce them.” Gerald Brenan Thoughts in a Dry Season. “A heretic is a person who offers too good a criticism of the authorities,” Brant …
Matei Tanasă imagines the sort of conversation about change, motion, appearance and reality that philosophers were having in ancient Athens. (Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno, and Pyrrhon are sitting at a table in Athens. A worried looking Athenian approaches.) Athenian: Oh, you who are the wisest of men, I long for freedom from illusion, the hardest of …
Neel Burton asks why the master reasoner turned to launching legends. Perhaps the most famous allegory in philosophy is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, in which Plato, via Socrates, compares people who lack philosophical training to prisoners who have spent their entire lives in an underground cave and don’t realise that there is a vast …
Tim Madigan on the curmudgeon who preached compassion. “Poor Schopenhauer had this secret guilt, too, in his heart, the guilt of cherishing his philosophy more than his fellow men.” So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche in his incisive essay from Thoughts Out Of Season, ‘Schopenhauer as Educator’ (1874). Nietzsche goes on to say: “He often chose falsely …
Could advances in technology soon give us perfect knowledge of other minds? Bora Dogan investigates. I may not know what you’re thinking, but I know a machine that can – several, in fact. With names like Cerebus and BrainGate, these machines wouldn’t sound out of place in a sci-fi movie, but they’re real and they’re …