Results for 2004-10
27.10.2004 kl. 19:03
I am now doing existentialism in my "Philosophy of Religion" class. Boring.
I found this online transcript of the BBC debate between Bertrand Russell and F. C. Copleston (Jesuit scholar) on the merits and truth of the Christian religion. It's fairly interesting -- Russell doing his typical and oh-so-upper-class-English thing: reserved, cautious, rational, while the Jesuit is using big, ill-defined words and metaphysical mumbo-jumbo.
Also, the photos for October are now online.
I found this online transcript of the BBC debate between Bertrand Russell and F. C. Copleston (Jesuit scholar) on the merits and truth of the Christian religion. It's fairly interesting -- Russell doing his typical and oh-so-upper-class-English thing: reserved, cautious, rational, while the Jesuit is using big, ill-defined words and metaphysical mumbo-jumbo.
Also, the photos for October are now online.
26.10.2004 kl. 13:19
Aha! It seems that someone at the University of Guelph has taken my message to heart, and elevated the anti-Graydon campaign to the next level:
At least it's a step in the right direction, although it doesn't really meet the standards of eloquence and wit I had hoped for. Then again, that's only to be expected. We are, after all, dealing with the subspecies of homo sapiens which stoops so low as to draw political slogans with chalk instead of using the good ol' spray can like all self-respecting bombers.
At least it's a step in the right direction, although it doesn't really meet the standards of eloquence and wit I had hoped for. Then again, that's only to be expected. We are, after all, dealing with the subspecies of homo sapiens which stoops so low as to draw political slogans with chalk instead of using the good ol' spray can like all self-respecting bombers.
20.10.2004 kl. 16:17
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
*cough*
Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
Oh, yes, sorry. You just have to check this out.
Hehehehehehe.....
*cough*
Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!
Oh, yes, sorry. You just have to check this out.
Hehehehehehe.....
20.10.2004 kl. 11:55
I've been doing some serious reading on the topic of semantics and the philosophy of language -- in particular the logical positivist criterion of significance, i.e. the verifiability theory of propositional meaning. When reading a certain article, I came across the following piece of metaphysical nonsense. It's a quote from an English translation of a work of Heidegger's, and it's a typical example of a certain kind of nonsense that some philosophers seem to get away with and still be taken seriously:
Why are we concerned about this nothing? The nothing is rejected by science and sacrificed as the unreal. Science wants to have nothing to do with the nothing. What is the nothing? Does the nothing exist only because the not, i.e, negation, exists? Or do negation and the not exist only because the nothing exists? We maintain: The nothing is more primitive than the not and negation. We know the nothing. The nothing is the simple negation of the totality of being. Anxiety reveals the nothing. The nothing itself nots.
Now, that truly is an amazing text. I don't think I have ever read anything equally nonsensical. The nothing itself nots? What kind of twisted treatment of language is this? What exactly does the verb 'to not' entail? This sort of stuff is bullshit of the highest order, and the positivists were right about wanting to permanently expel it from philosophical debate.
18.10.2004 kl. 04:58
Back from my visit to Toronto. I had a great time, hit the bars and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Toronto is a pleasant city, relatively crime-free and very lively. I passed the grounds of the University of Toronto, which were impressive. The outstanding incident of the evening, however, was our encounter with the street person depicted below:
We stopped and chatted with this fellow for a while. Apparently my companions, Mark and Mike, both from Columbia, had seen him on that very street corner several times before. He was stationed outside a strip club and was pestering the wealthy clientele for money as they came out of their limousines. The guy certainly had the attitude and the heart in the right place, not to mention a humor for his situation. He explained to us that he was 59 years old and had been on the streets for 10 years. Apparently he'd had money once, and had been an automobile enthusiast. Then he'd speculated in some businesses, lost all his money and thrown into great debt. He chose to work the street instead of getting a job because his wages were garnished. A stunning 40% would go straight to his creditors. "They're never, ever getting those 240 thousand dollars from me" he said proudly and told us he'd rather sleep in a dumpster than give those pigs a dime.
Damn straight, that's the spirit!
We stopped and chatted with this fellow for a while. Apparently my companions, Mark and Mike, both from Columbia, had seen him on that very street corner several times before. He was stationed outside a strip club and was pestering the wealthy clientele for money as they came out of their limousines. The guy certainly had the attitude and the heart in the right place, not to mention a humor for his situation. He explained to us that he was 59 years old and had been on the streets for 10 years. Apparently he'd had money once, and had been an automobile enthusiast. Then he'd speculated in some businesses, lost all his money and thrown into great debt. He chose to work the street instead of getting a job because his wages were garnished. A stunning 40% would go straight to his creditors. "They're never, ever getting those 240 thousand dollars from me" he said proudly and told us he'd rather sleep in a dumpster than give those pigs a dime.
Damn straight, that's the spirit!
16.10.2004 kl. 18:54
I'm going to Toronto today. This will be my first time out of Guelph since I arrived in Canada, and about bloody time. Will be hitting the bars tonight and then probably sleeping over in nearby Brampton.
11.10.2004 kl. 07:14
I've just finished the final touches on the latest release of Platypus, which sports some fine new features. This is version 2.6, and furthermore the fifteenth revision of the application. I think I can at this point safely say that Platypus is now a powerful, feature-rich and mature application. Updates should slow down as I move on to something else.
10.10.2004 kl. 23:04
All this homocentrism in philosophy leaves a foul taste in my mouth. For the most part, it seems to me that humans and other mammals are pretty much concerned with the same things: food, shelter, sex and advancement within some power hierarchy.
But (and this is apparently a big 'but' for some people, no pun intended) humans have art and philsophy, it is said. Well, my response to that is that is the following:
Maybe animals (such as squirrels) do too.
That's just silly, I hear you saying. Well, just pause for a moment and think about it. We don't really have access to any consciousness than our own. We have no way of knowing what a squirrel is thinking. Perhaps it is contemplating the nature of nuts, or asking itself how trees came to be, or messing about with leaves in such a way as it finds aesthetically pleasant. This is perfectly possible. The squirrel's thoughts are inaccessible to me, as are the thoughts of other humans.
Of course, inferring from one's own consciousness that other humans also possess it is one thing. Inferring that squirrels have consciousness from the same premise is a much shakier inference. I realise this. However, assuming that only humans possess consciousness and intelligence is just as dangerous an inference. The only way determine this one way or another is by empirical observation of behaviour, and I''m not so sure that the behaviour of humans which I have observed in my time has done much to convince me that they are more intelligent than squirrels ;).
But (and this is apparently a big 'but' for some people, no pun intended) humans have art and philsophy, it is said. Well, my response to that is that is the following:
Maybe animals (such as squirrels) do too.
That's just silly, I hear you saying. Well, just pause for a moment and think about it. We don't really have access to any consciousness than our own. We have no way of knowing what a squirrel is thinking. Perhaps it is contemplating the nature of nuts, or asking itself how trees came to be, or messing about with leaves in such a way as it finds aesthetically pleasant. This is perfectly possible. The squirrel's thoughts are inaccessible to me, as are the thoughts of other humans.
Of course, inferring from one's own consciousness that other humans also possess it is one thing. Inferring that squirrels have consciousness from the same premise is a much shakier inference. I realise this. However, assuming that only humans possess consciousness and intelligence is just as dangerous an inference. The only way determine this one way or another is by empirical observation of behaviour, and I''m not so sure that the behaviour of humans which I have observed in my time has done much to convince me that they are more intelligent than squirrels ;).
10.10.2004 kl. 22:07
It's now Thanksgiving here and I'm all alone in Watson Hall, so to speak. Had a rather unpleasant dream last night. I was a political prisoner in a Russian Gulag camp. It was cold and miserable, and I had to slave in some mines. Altogether horrid. I remember that there was an old couple, man and wife, who had been imprisoned there because they were very thrifty, and the current agenda of the Soviet government was to encourage spending to boost the economy. Only a few weeks of the Gulag had made them pale, gray, "unalive" creatures.
No doubt Freud would have some very interesting things to say about that, most of them complete rubbish, of course. Dreams are interesting though. I can't say this one has been inspired by recent events. I haven't been reading Solzhenitsyn or anything. Maybe it's the oncoming cold here. They still haven't turned on the central heating in Watson Hall so the nights can get a bit chilly.
I think my Thanksgiving dinner will be some sushi. Hardly fitting the occasion, but I don't really care much for turkey.
No doubt Freud would have some very interesting things to say about that, most of them complete rubbish, of course. Dreams are interesting though. I can't say this one has been inspired by recent events. I haven't been reading Solzhenitsyn or anything. Maybe it's the oncoming cold here. They still haven't turned on the central heating in Watson Hall so the nights can get a bit chilly.
I think my Thanksgiving dinner will be some sushi. Hardly fitting the occasion, but I don't really care much for turkey.
8.10.2004 kl. 22:04
It's "Thanksgiving" here now, and people are heading home over the weekend. Apparently the tradition is to sit around the dinner table with your family, gaze at a cooked turkey with greedy eyes, and wait for your turn in sharing with family members what you feel thankful for. What a typically submissive Christian ritual!
Why not be a bit bolder and have something like "Thanksdemanding", where everyone gets to complain about how ungrateful and sleazy the world happens to be?
I think I'll just be staying here (almost) alone in Watson Hall over the weekend, although I have been invited to a family dinner in Toronto. I somehow don't feel like going through the hassle of finding my way to Toronto and back. Maybe I'll just find someone to get drunk with instead.
Why not be a bit bolder and have something like "Thanksdemanding", where everyone gets to complain about how ungrateful and sleazy the world happens to be?
I think I'll just be staying here (almost) alone in Watson Hall over the weekend, although I have been invited to a family dinner in Toronto. I somehow don't feel like going through the hassle of finding my way to Toronto and back. Maybe I'll just find someone to get drunk with instead.
6.10.2004 kl. 18:34
I just handed in my mid-term exam for my "Philosophy of Religion" class. I absolutely smoked it! You can shove your Five Ways upp your arse, Mister Thomas Aquinas.
Anyhow, as I sat in my "Contemporary British and American Philosophy" class today, poring over Wittgenstein's Tractatus, I came to realize just how important it is to have philosophy explained to you by a clever person. When I read philosophy on my own, I have a tendency to be too gullible; Provided that the philosopher in question has a convincing style and (seemingly) fairly logical arguments, I tend to agree with him when I put the book down.
I most definitely need to develop my critical thinking faculties. Ironically enough, I just dropped my "Critical Thinking" class. It was kind of lame (the course, that is) -- taught me nothing I didn't already know. Also, as I see it, no serious course would be using a textbook called "The Pocket Guide To Critical Thinking". What is this, a DIY for philosophy newbies? In any case, I don't think you can really teach people to think critically. It's just probably just one of those things you have to figure out for yourself -- more of an attitude than memorizing a set of arbitrary guidelines.
I slept two hours last night. Yes, I went to bed at seven in the morning and woke up at nine for class. I swear, I would have sold my soul to some malignant religious entity for a few hours of extra sleep, but alas, that was not an option. At the very moment I'm typing this, my eyes are watery and hurting from the hostile, glaring light of my PowerBook's Liquid Crystal Display. I'm pale and I look like a quasi-animated corpose. That's it. I'm off to class to do a presentation in my "Philosophy and Literature" seminar.
Anyhow, as I sat in my "Contemporary British and American Philosophy" class today, poring over Wittgenstein's Tractatus, I came to realize just how important it is to have philosophy explained to you by a clever person. When I read philosophy on my own, I have a tendency to be too gullible; Provided that the philosopher in question has a convincing style and (seemingly) fairly logical arguments, I tend to agree with him when I put the book down.
I most definitely need to develop my critical thinking faculties. Ironically enough, I just dropped my "Critical Thinking" class. It was kind of lame (the course, that is) -- taught me nothing I didn't already know. Also, as I see it, no serious course would be using a textbook called "The Pocket Guide To Critical Thinking". What is this, a DIY for philosophy newbies? In any case, I don't think you can really teach people to think critically. It's just probably just one of those things you have to figure out for yourself -- more of an attitude than memorizing a set of arbitrary guidelines.
I slept two hours last night. Yes, I went to bed at seven in the morning and woke up at nine for class. I swear, I would have sold my soul to some malignant religious entity for a few hours of extra sleep, but alas, that was not an option. At the very moment I'm typing this, my eyes are watery and hurting from the hostile, glaring light of my PowerBook's Liquid Crystal Display. I'm pale and I look like a quasi-animated corpose. That's it. I'm off to class to do a presentation in my "Philosophy and Literature" seminar.
6.10.2004 kl. 08:22
David Hume was a great philosopher. I could not more wholeheartedly agree with him on the following:
If we take in our hand any volume of divinity or school metaphysics . . . let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.
If we take in our hand any volume of divinity or school metaphysics . . . let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.
4.10.2004 kl. 16:40
4.10.2004 kl. 04:34
Who would have thought things would come to this? I'm sitting in my bed reading Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus while the other people in Watson hall are playing some loud and stupid game in the hallway. Damned ruckus!
The Canadians are politically correct to the extreme, just like their neighbour in the South. I was admonished the other day for referring to something as "retarded". "You might offend somone who has a handicapped relative" was what I was told.
All right! The line shall be drawn here. I will not stop saying that things are retarded. Since when has it been a good thing to be retarded? It's from French and it means "slow" or "late". It's a negative word and I'm using it in a negative context. So what?
This paranoid fear of offending people makes me sick. Don't the expounders of political correctness realize that if their doctrines are taken to their logical conclusions, we will eventually be unable to say anything. I might go up to someone and say that I loved dairy products, only to find out that the person's father drowned in a great pot of milk and that I just aroused horrible, horrible memories and grievously offended the person in question. Yes, the example is ridiculous, but it should get my point across: once you start limiting people's vocabulary, you'll soon have some sort of Orwellian Newspeak nonsense in place. As if changing out words made hatred and intolerance go away...
The Canadians are politically correct to the extreme, just like their neighbour in the South. I was admonished the other day for referring to something as "retarded". "You might offend somone who has a handicapped relative" was what I was told.
All right! The line shall be drawn here. I will not stop saying that things are retarded. Since when has it been a good thing to be retarded? It's from French and it means "slow" or "late". It's a negative word and I'm using it in a negative context. So what?
This paranoid fear of offending people makes me sick. Don't the expounders of political correctness realize that if their doctrines are taken to their logical conclusions, we will eventually be unable to say anything. I might go up to someone and say that I loved dairy products, only to find out that the person's father drowned in a great pot of milk and that I just aroused horrible, horrible memories and grievously offended the person in question. Yes, the example is ridiculous, but it should get my point across: once you start limiting people's vocabulary, you'll soon have some sort of Orwellian Newspeak nonsense in place. As if changing out words made hatred and intolerance go away...
1.10.2004 kl. 05:42