Ethical Life Here is an interesting fact about the ethical life: it is not optional. Any satisfactory ethical theory ought to explain this fact, and I’m not sure any do. It isn’t a life-style choice, or a personal preference, or even a vocation; it’s non-negotiable. You have to be moral—no ifs, ands, and buts. You […]
Mind and Substance A materialist like Hobbes would say that the soul is a material substance. This proposition has two parts: material and substance. What does the first part mean, or what does an avowed materialist mean by it? Presumably, that the mind is extended in space, solid, corpuscular, has a weight, and is perceptible […]
This is in regard to my “Meaning and Reality”. Great piece, Colin; I read and save them all. Are you planning a book of ~75-100 of these? New Scientist feature on Landscape of Consciousness, just published online, magazine forthcoming. Web: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2498968-what-350-different-theories-of-consciousness-reveal-about-reality/ Magazine: attached. Warm regards, Robert From me: I’d love to publish a collection […]
Meaning and Reality I am going to drill right into the heart of twentieth-century analytical philosophy, which includes its antecedents going back at least to the seventeenth century. This will be a major operation: the body of philosophy will be laid open on the operating table. I will not be pussyfooting around. The question is […]
Hospital Grammar I went to the hospital yesterday for my yearly check-up with my head and neck surgeon, Dr. Civantos. I waited awhile reading The Naked Ape. Eventually he came in and remarked how well I looked (this is good to hear from a cancer doctor). He had operated on me for twelve hours over […]
Existence and Essence Essence is usually defined in terms of existence: an essential property is one without which the object could not exist. For example, water couldn’t exist without being H2O and Aristotle couldn’t exist without being human. A contingent or accidental property is one that is not required for the object’s existence—for example, water […]
