Official Website for Amitabha Palmer
Before reading this post it is recommended but not necessary that you read the prior post on Berkeley since, in the first part, Russell is responding to his arguments.Introduction and ContextRussell is doing two things in Ch. 2 of The Problems of Philosophy. The overall project can be viewed as a proposed solution to Descartes’ skepticism: i.e, […]
Read More Russell’s Argument for Matter and Criticism of Berkeley’s IdealismIntroduction and Context: Locke and Primary and Secondary PropertiesTo really understand Berkeley’s arguments, you have to understand what issues and positions he was responding to. Descartes left us with a problem: Since we can never “get out of our own heads,” how do we know that our ideas and perceptions of the external world of […]
Read More Berkeley: The Argument for Idealism and the Argument Against SkepticismIn order to get a better understanding of what Berkeley and Russell are talking about when they refer to primary and secondary qualities, lets look at each in turn.When we perceive (or imagine) an object, it has a whole collection of properties. For example, when I look at my car I perceive the following properties […]
Read More Quick Overview of Primary and Secondary QualitiesIntroduction to Descartes Meditation IDescartes’ Meditations is one of the most important works in modern philosophy (i.e., 17th Century philosophy). It is the point of departure for many philosophical issues and debates up to and including the present. The overall aim of his project is to determine what we can know beyond any possible doubt; […]
Read More Descartes and the First Meditation: What Can We Know for Sure?Libertarianism: IntroI’ve been wanting to write a post on libertarianism for a while and since I have a ton of things I’m supposed to be doing right now, I thought now would be an excellent time. When I was philosophically naive I found libertarianism quite compelling. I think this is common for most youth–especially young […]
Read More Libertarianism and Moral Obligation to OthersOriginsOk, so lets start from the start. A few months before my brother’s (Ezra) wedding, his future sister-in-law wrote me an email asking me if there were any Canadian traditions we might want included in the wedding. Here is my response:Canadian Wedding TraditionsThere are several Canadian wedding traditions you should consider making time for. We […]
Read More My Ceremony for Ezra’s "Canadian" Wedding in GermanyMy good friend David asked me to construct a custom secular wedding ceremony for his wedding. He and I share a similar sense of humour, so–although it wasn’t explicitly discussed–I figured there was no need for it to be very serious. For those of you reading this who don’t know David, he has lived in […]
Read More My Ceremony for David’s WeddingThe voices in my head have been asking me to make this post for a while, so now that I have a few moments, I will oblige them. A couple of notes before I procede. These complaints/points apply to beginners–and regulars who should know better. If you’re new to the gym and you are […]
Read More Gym Etiquette Rant/List for Beginners (and Others) and How to SpotIntroductionIn the previous posts we looked at argument schemes that are typically employed in factual matters: generalizations, polls, general causal reasoning, particular causal reasoning, and the argument from ignorance. In this next section we’ll look at common argument schemes used in normative (i.e., having to do with values) arguments. Check. it. aus…Slippery-Slope ArgumentA slippery slope […]
Read More Critical Thinking: The Slippery Slope Argument, Argument from Analogy, the Argument from Design, and Gay Marriage.Introduction to the Scientific Method in the Context of Critical Thinking http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/OXO2azb3_PE&source=uds (For an example of real science in action, watch the video)In the last few lessons we’ve looked at 5 common argument schemes: Generalizations, polling, general causal reasoning, particular causal reasoning, and arguments from ignorance. As luck would have it, these are the most […]
Read More Critical Thinking: The Scientific Method in 5 Steps
Wrestling with Philosophy 