Michel de Montaigne in the 16th Century wrote this:
It is evident to me that there is no enmity like the Christian. Our zeal does marvels when it seconds our bent for hatred, cruelty, greed, and rebellion. But when it comes to kindness and moderation, our religion will neither fly nor walk: it is not there, [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Philosophy'
Religion and Instincts and War
February 21st, 2009 · No Comments
Tags: American Culture · Foreign Relations · Philosophy · Politics · Psychoanalysis · United States
Depression?
February 17th, 2009 · Comments Off
One of the current pundits of our time, Richard Posner, asserts “that it is a depression, and not a mere recession, that the country is in–that a depression is a political rather than just an economic event.” I suspect Posner is going to tell us that the downturn of world economic affairs is due not [...]
Tags: American Culture · Economics · Philosophy
Judge Posner and Human Nature
February 14th, 2009 · Comments Off
Richard Posner, gadfly, law professor, pontificator, interesting thinker and sometime United States Circuit Court judge said this in a recent post on his blog with Gary Becker:
But the responsibility for preventing catastrophic risks to the economy caused by a collapse of the banking industry lies with the Federal Reserve, other regulatory bodies, and the Treasury [...]
Tags: American Culture · Economics · Law & Justice · Philosophy
Israel, Population Statistics and Freud’s Wisdom and Truth
January 26th, 2009 · Comments Off
What is Israel going to do? If statistics prove true, Arabs will outnumber Jews in the areas in contest. The Jewish people will not be able to secure control democratically. It will have to use power. This means Arabs will not be entitled to have any say. The Arab people will have to be regarded as [...]
Tags: Determinism · Israel/Palestine · Middle East · Psychoanalysis
Capt. Sullenberger and Determinism Explained
January 25th, 2009 · Comments Off
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who landed a disabled passenger jet in New York’s Hudson River on January 15, 2009, saving 155 lives, (Flight 1549) commented about he event yesterday in his hometown of Danville, California. His truths about the event help us understand the phenomenon of determinism. Determinism is the simple phenomenon [...]
Tags: American Culture · Determinism · Evolution
Determinism and Its Vicissitudes
January 24th, 2009 · No Comments
In determinism it is argued that there is no room for free will. That there is no responsibility of human kind for anything which, in the course of cause and effect in the process of all that which is determined. I tend to disagree. There is an element of free will but it is a [...]
Tags: Determinism · Psychoanalysis
Determinism and Law:
January 24th, 2009 · No Comments
One of the wonders of the Internet is access to thought and creativity of so many people one would not have access to were it not for the Internet. Here are some thoughts about determinism and law by Travis Morgan.
Laws and penalties are in place to condition us to act a certain way, if one doesn’t act [...]
Tags: Determinism · Law & Justice · Psychoanalysis
Determinism: A Quote from Prof. Ted Honderich
January 22nd, 2009 · Comments Off
Professor Ted Honderich (UK) said this in an interview:
Determinism is true. Everything that happens is just an effect — despite the stuff to the contrary in philosophical interpretations of Quantum Theory. All our decisions and actions are just effects. Thinking anything else is dreaming. So we aren’t free in the sense of being uncaused in [...]
Tags: Determinism · Psychoanalysis
Free Will and Judges and Juries
January 18th, 2009 · Comments Off
Seems the law is based on the notion there is complete free will, that there is no determinism which an individual does not have control over. When the law says there is criminal or civil liability it is saying the actor has made the wrong choice – that in the exercise of his or her [...]
Tags: Determinism · Law & Justice · Lawyers and Judges · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis
Free Will or Not?
January 18th, 2009 · Comments Off
Free will or not? At this point I am inclined to think all of our actions are determined. That is to say, everything we do or not do is the result of necessity. Along with this I think deep logic could tell us why we do that which we do, that it could explain the [...]
Tags: Determinism · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis