Top News, Articles, and Interviews in Philosophy

How to use the existential “there”

1. December 2019 Philosophy News News
When I read something, one of the things I notice right away is overuse of non-referential there as a means of sleepwalking from topic to topic. Also known as the existential there, this grammatical form asserts the existence (or non-existence) of something and is often used to introduce new information, to shift the topic of discussion or to call something to mind. The post How to use the existential “there” appeared first on [More]
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Jaegwon Kim (1934-2019)

30. November 2019 Philosophy News News
Jaegwon Kim, professor emeritus of philosophy at Brown University, has died. Professor Kim was known for his writings in philosophy of mind and metaphysics, as well as action theory, epistemology, and philosophy of science. You can view a list of some of his research here. He worked at Brown in the 1960s and then from 1987 on. He also taught at the University of Michigan, Swarthmore College, Cornell University, the University of Notre Dame, and Johns Hopkins University. Born in Korea, he received his Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, French, and mathematics from Dartmouth and his Ph.D. from Princeton. In his last book, Mind in a Physical World: An Essay on the Mind-body Problem and Mental Causation, he critiqued attempts to downplay the significance of certain philosophical problems with views regarding the mind or to believe they “can be solved in a simple and easy way, without having to pay a heavy metaphysical price”: There are no free lunches in philosophy any more than in real life, and I believe the cheap ones aren’t worth the money. We might as well go for the real stuff and pay the price. Professor Kim died on Wednesday, November 27th. (via Robert J. Howell) The post Jaegwon Kim (1934-2019) appeared first on Daily [More]
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The Importance of Gratitude

29. November 2019 Philosophy News News
By Andrew Fiala Gratitude lubricates social relations. To say thanks is to express gladness. But gratitude is also a spiritual capacity that lightens and energizes. Some call it the wine of the soul. When we drink it, we want to share it with others. Social rituals revolve around thankfulness. We thank people throughout the day [More]
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APA Member Interview: Bob Beddor

29. November 2019 Philosophy News News
Bob Beddor is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Singapore. He works on issues at the intersection of epistemology, philosophy of language, and metaethics.  What are you working on right now?  I have a few projects that I’m working on. One of these explores the role of certainty in epistemology. Contemporary [More]
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Hello.

28. November 2019 Philosophy News News
Read another response about Philosophers Philosophers Share Hello. I have a question regarding Plato's Ideas or Forms. I wanted to understand where Plato believes the existence of these forms are. So I'm looking for their location for the lack of a better term. And regarding morality, I'm assuming "good" and "evil" are real forms/ideas according to Plato. Would this be an accurate statement? If they're not, where would they exist? My hypothesis is because they espouse Emanationism, the ideas or Forms originated involuntarily from the Divine along with the cosmos, in which case they would be a part of the cosmos. Any help would be greatly [More]
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On The October Awakening(s) and the Condor: Notes from Ecuador and the Region

28. November 2019 Philosophy News News
by Catherine Walsh These notes began as a need—my need—to reflect on the two-week peoples´ rebellion and protest in Ecuador, a rebellion-protest that I lived and that continues to trouble my body, mind, spirit, and soul. Different from many of the analyses circulating in the “critical” intellectual world, they do not intend to impose a [More]
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