Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thomas Nagel on the Mind, Computers, and Wasting Time
Best philosophy books of all time! "Eventually, I believe, current attempts to understand the mind by ana ... http://bit.ly/dGQJ87
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Karl Marx on History, Man, and His Ends
"It is not history which uses men as a means of achieving - as if it were an individual person - its own ends. Hist ... http://bit.ly/ggV52Q
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Epicurus on Societal Ills, Death, and Security
"It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls."
-Epicurus
Philosophical Media's video on happiness: Epicurus on Happiness:
Primary Source: The Essential Epicurus: Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments by Epicurus
Secondary Source: Epicurus: His Continuing Influence and Contemporary Relevance edited by Dane R. Gordon and David B. Suits
Best Philosophy Books
Friday, April 8, 2011
Sigmund Freud on America
"America is a mistake, a giant mistake."
-Sigmund Freud A three-part documentary on Sigmund Freud: ; Primary Source: The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud (Psychopathology of Everyday Life, the Interpretation of Dreams, and Three Contributions To the Theory of Sex) by Sigmund Freud Secondary Source: Freud: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Anthony Sorr -Best Philosophy Books
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Jacques Derrida on Philosophers, Scientists, and their Inaccessibility
A great source for philosophy books.
"Why is it the philosopher who is expected to be easier and not some scientist who is even more inaccessible?"
-Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida explains his "Deconstructionist" theories in a Q&A session:
Primary Source: Of Grammatology by Jacques Derrida
Secondary Source: Derrida For Beginners by Jim Powell
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Atoms And Leucippus Of Miletus
The origins of Leucippus of Miletus are a mystery. The exact dates of his birth and death are not known. We know only that he was alive during the fifth century BCE. It is thought that his date of birth was between 440 and 430 BCE. He is said to have started the School of Abdera in the land of Thrace. Some people have argued that the man never existed in the first place.
Many sources give him credit for the first atomic theories, which were later elaborated on by one of his students, Democritus. The theories held that two different elements, known as the "void" and the "solid", made up all matter in the universe.
The void and the solid atoms contained within the void were both considered by the ancient Greek philosopher to be infinite. These two elements constituted the whole of the universe.
The Greek philosopher was attempting to combine two opposing schools of thought about reality by Parmenides and Heraclitus. Parmenides said reality was unchanging and permanent. Heraclitus in contrast believed that the real world was in a ongoing state of flux.
The philosopher from Miletus took Parmenides' ideas and included an infinite amount of particles, also called atoms, and taught that these atoms were unchanging. These unchanging pieces, though, were themselves subject to flux on a grand scale through decomposition, rearrangement and the motion of the atoms.
He believed that atoms would lock to one another and then later fly apart, to rebound against some atoms and lock up with others. This was how he explained the changing nature of the real world. He felt that each type of atom had its own unique shape. For example, atoms of metal had hooks in order to form connections, where atoms of water were smoother.
The student Democritus would go on to expand the atomist model further to such an extent that Epicurus, another Greek philosopher, said that the teacher had never been there at all and was just an alias for Democritus. In any event, the teacher and pupil appear often mentioned side by side in surviving writings.
Not everyone accepted atomist theory. Aristotle chose to reject the idea that reality boiled down to a haphazard collection of particles moving through a void, choosing to believe that this theory was a violation of natural law. He felt rather that the real world experienced change because matter itself underwent transformation. In addition, Aristotle gave credit to Leucippus for the creation of atomism in some writings but credited Democritus in others.
Regardless of which man first came up with atomism, Democritus is widely considered to have fathered modern science, which makes Leucippus of Miletus the grandfather of modern science. Together, these two Greek thinkers pioneered the first inquiries regarding atomic reality, and they had a big impact on how the scientists that followed would investigate the real world.
Find more Philosophy Books now! If you find this article interesting or helpful, check out our Best Philosophy Books site.
Many sources give him credit for the first atomic theories, which were later elaborated on by one of his students, Democritus. The theories held that two different elements, known as the "void" and the "solid", made up all matter in the universe.
The void and the solid atoms contained within the void were both considered by the ancient Greek philosopher to be infinite. These two elements constituted the whole of the universe.
The Greek philosopher was attempting to combine two opposing schools of thought about reality by Parmenides and Heraclitus. Parmenides said reality was unchanging and permanent. Heraclitus in contrast believed that the real world was in a ongoing state of flux.
The philosopher from Miletus took Parmenides' ideas and included an infinite amount of particles, also called atoms, and taught that these atoms were unchanging. These unchanging pieces, though, were themselves subject to flux on a grand scale through decomposition, rearrangement and the motion of the atoms.
He believed that atoms would lock to one another and then later fly apart, to rebound against some atoms and lock up with others. This was how he explained the changing nature of the real world. He felt that each type of atom had its own unique shape. For example, atoms of metal had hooks in order to form connections, where atoms of water were smoother.
The student Democritus would go on to expand the atomist model further to such an extent that Epicurus, another Greek philosopher, said that the teacher had never been there at all and was just an alias for Democritus. In any event, the teacher and pupil appear often mentioned side by side in surviving writings.
Not everyone accepted atomist theory. Aristotle chose to reject the idea that reality boiled down to a haphazard collection of particles moving through a void, choosing to believe that this theory was a violation of natural law. He felt rather that the real world experienced change because matter itself underwent transformation. In addition, Aristotle gave credit to Leucippus for the creation of atomism in some writings but credited Democritus in others.
Regardless of which man first came up with atomism, Democritus is widely considered to have fathered modern science, which makes Leucippus of Miletus the grandfather of modern science. Together, these two Greek thinkers pioneered the first inquiries regarding atomic reality, and they had a big impact on how the scientists that followed would investigate the real world.
Find more Philosophy Books now! If you find this article interesting or helpful, check out our Best Philosophy Books site.
Sir Isaac Newton on Truth, Apprehension, and Understanding
"A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true, for if the things be false, the apprehension of them is not understanding."
-Sir Isaac Newton
Not really a philosophical video, I just found it interesting when I was searching. See if Sir Isaac Newton really discovered gravity by an apple... or was it a comet? The BBC explores this question:
Primary Source: The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Sir Isaac Newton
Secondary Source: Isaac Newton: And the Scientific Revolution (Oxford Portraits in Science) by Gale E. Christianson
Friday, April 1, 2011
Charles Sanders Peirce on Generality, Existence, and Chaos
"Generality is, indeed, an indispensable ingredient of reality; for mere individual existence or actuality without any regularity whatever is a nullity. Chaos is pure nothing."
-Charles Sanders Peirce
No video on Charles Sanders Peirce, per se, but here's a short introduction to Semiotics, the study of signs, that Peirce and Ferdinand de Sassure semi-indepedently originated:
Primary Source: Peirce on Signs: Writings on Semiotic By Charles Sanders Peirce by Charles Sanders Peirce
Secondary Source: The Cambridge Companion to Peirce (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) by Cheryl Misak
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