Official Website for Amitabha Palmer
The Demarkation Problem: Notes and Discussion of Karl Popper’s Falsificationism OverviewOne issue in the philosophy of science is known as the demarkation problem. That is, where do we draw the line between genuine science and pseudo-science? What’s the difference between astronomy and astrology? Chemistry and alchemy? Medicine and homeopathy? Psychology and Freudian psycho-analysis? Evolutionary biology and creation […]
Read More Thaaat’s Not Science!Notes and Thoughts on H. L. A. Hart’s Grudge Informers and the Rule of LawOverviewWithin philosophy of law, the traditional main positions are what’s know as natural law and legal positivism. Simply put, natural law is the idea that there is some sort of relationship between the law and morality (usually, law arises out of […]
Read More Is it Ever OK to Break the Law?Welcome back to my philoso-posts er’body. This semester I, and by extension you, will be learning about the philosophy of law (amongst other things). Since, the last philosophy of law course I took was in the summer of 1998 I’m basically starting from scratch. Until I get further into the course my first few entries […]
Read More Are We Better Off Without A Constitution?PreambleHappy new year, everyone! Now is the time of year when gyms make all their money from people signing 1 and 2 year contracts and only showing up for the first 2 or 3 weeks. Don’t become a statistic! I’m here to help you avoid this fate and to help share some ideas on how […]
Read More No Nonsense Fitness GuidePreamble (Warning: I haven’t proof read this entry yet) For those of you who haven’t been following or have forgotten what I’ve written about Kant here are some technical terms that will allow you to understand what I’ve written here. This is a section of my paper that I’m working on. For some reason […]
Read More Can I Reason My Way To Moral Principles? Or Do I Need Some Other Kind of Knowledge?Locke’s Complex Ideas Most of what we’ve talked about so far (in relation to ideas) concerns ideas, generally considered, and simple ideas. Recall that all ideas have as their source either perception or reflection on the operations of the mind; and in the case of simple ideas the mind is always passive (II. xii. […]
Read More Why Are Locke’s ‘Complex Ideas’ Easier to Comprehend than his ‘Simple Ideas’?Wrestling vs Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine so I apologize in advance for any incoherence beyond the usual. My whole life (20 years of it, anyway) I’ve been a wrestler but in the last 2 weeks I’ve finally started to understand what it means to be a Brazilian […]
Read More The Psychology of Grappling: Wrestling vs BJJThe Prolem: Are All Locke’s Ideas Necessarily Imagistic? Those of you who are facebook friends know I that I recently posted about a little issue I’m having wif my Locke paper. Here’s the prolem: most of my analysis and criticisms of Locke’s epistemology rest on the premise that, for Locke, all ideas are images […]
Read More What Does "Bigger Than" Look Like in the Mind? Part 1 Locke’s Ideasp.sdfootnote { margin-left: 0.5cm; text-indent: -0.5cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; }p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }a.sdfootnoteanc { font-size: 57%; } Having Ideas What does it mean to have an idea? Does it require we have some image in the theatre of our mind? Where do ideas come from? Can we make our own or do […]
Read More A Bird Is a Word: Having Locke’s IdeasOverview For the research paper for my 17th century philosophy class I’ve chosen for my topic Locke’s notion of simple ideas and their role in his epistemology. So, what’s all this mumbo jumbo about? And who is John Locke? As most of you may know, John Locke was trapped on a strange island with […]
Read More Mommy…Where Does Knowledge Come From? Locke’s Empiricism
Wrestling with Philosophy 