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Friday, November 26, 2010

How Do I Know That I Am Not Part of Someone Else's Dream?

This question puts a peculiar twist on Descartes' story of the Evil Demon.

In the First Meditation, Descartes imagines that there is an evil demon deceiving him into thinking that he is awake, in contact with a world of physical objects around him, when in reality he is only dreaming. Yet even if an evil demon deceives me, argues Descartes, there is a "me" being deceived. Deceived about the existence of an external world or not, either way I must exist.

Yet it could be argued that there is a possibility that Descartes does not consider. He assumes that as an existing subject, in a dream world or a real world, I make judgments about my experiences, perform inferences, ask questions, consider doubts. These are actions, albeit mental actions. But what if I did not exist as a subject capable of actions, physical or mental? What if all these thoughts passing through my mind are merely experiences being fed to me? This is a scenario that should not be unfamiliar to readers of science fiction: the idea that one might exist inside the circuits of a supercomputer as a character following the script generated by a virtual reality program.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

What’s Wrong With Lying?

Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative states in effect that we're only morally permitted to do things that we could reasonably will everyone to do. So it's immoral to lie, because if everybody always lied, then communication would become impossible and society would collapse. So for Kant, lying is always wrong, because it violates the categorical imperative.

For a utilitarian, an action is wrong if it has bad consequences. Lying tends to cause bad things and unhappiness — people are disappointed when promises aren't kept, people get angry when they discover they've been lied to, people feel ashamed about having lied, people count on others' word, and suffer from them not following through, etc. For a utilitarian, it's usually wrong to lie, because usually, lying has bad consequences (and it's very difficult to recognize the situations where it won't). In some extreme cases, though, a utilitarian will encourage lying. If, for example, a gun-wielding maniac who is trying to murder your children asks you where they are, you should lie to him. (Kant famously thought you should tell the truth even then.)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Why Must All Things That Live Ultimately Die?

Before answering the question, it might be wise to ask, ‘What is the purpose of life in the first place — why does anything live at all?’ What seems evident to every observer is that living things go through an inevitable sequence of birth, development, decline and death. In other words, birth is the start of the road to death.

Of course, philosophically, this is a materialistic view of life which is adopted by many of the world's human population without question. However, there are those who do not accept the finality of this naive observation. It is, of course, well known that followers of several religious factions believe that life does not end with death of the material body. Some believe in a future material resurrection, some in a spiritual life here-after, and some believe that we are reincarnated in a different body to the one we discard at death.

The unfortunate situation with regard to death is that, although there have been claims for the proof of spiritual survival, most people are fairly certain that no one has been back from the 'other side' to tell us about it. We sometimes hear of those who are brought back from the brink; and, oddly enough, they all relate the same experience of a peaceful drift down a long tunnel towards a bright light, and some are very annoyed at having been dragged back. Of course, neurologists and psychologists do not accept that this indicates transfer to another form of existence; drifting towards a bright light is to them an indication of the last flickering electrical discharges of the dying brain. Until the real truth is revealed it seems that the answer to the question is confined to the simple scientific explanation, that all living things die to make room for the next generation. However, none of us are forced to accept it, and, in philosophy at least, the search for the truth goes on.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Can You Reflect Over Your Own Reflections?

Of course. Try it now. Reflect on what you had for breakfast today (maybe it was oatmeal). Now reflect on why you are reflecting on your breakfast (probably it was because I suggested it). You are reflecting on your reflection. Here's another example: reflect about the last time you made a choice (perhaps it was the choice to have a look at this blog). Now, reflect as to whether it was a good choice. Again, you are reflecting about your reflection.

In this latter example, however, your ‘second-level reflection’ enables you to judge whether your first level action (the choice) was done well or badly, and gives you a chance to be able to do it better in the future. You can go to a higher level again, by reflecting on what makes a choice a good choice.

Second-level reflection is important because it enables us to improve our thinking. Philosophy often involves second-level reflection.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

What is the Relationship Between Happiness and Work?

There probably isn't a direct relation between work and happiness except in the most extraordinary cases. The relation is probably via fulfillment. You cannot be happy in any deep sense without fulfillment. Freud described work as a 'path' to happiness. He noted that work is a source of satisfaction only where it is freely chosen, and sadly this probably isn't the normal case. Even then he talks of 'professional activity' and not manual labor.

Freud said in The Future of an Illusion that civilization rests on a 'compulsion' to work. I don't think people feel, in the main, compelled to do a job. For Freud, the impulse to work is a sublimation of sexual instincts. That is, the impulse to work displaces erotic instincts and provides satisfaction through being involved in reality, or the human community. However, Freud claimed that persons differ and the man who is predominantly erotic will prefer to seek the path to happiness through relationships, whereas a narcissistic man will seek satisfaction in his mental processes. Furthermore, he urges people not to seek satisfaction from a single aspiration.

When we work from necessity, this is because we need money. But there are all sorts of other ways in which we can look at work. It might be bringing up the children or doing the gardening, and in this sense most people are compelled to work because we naturally seek fulfillment and strive for happiness.