Analytic Philosophy Question

Does the practice of analytic philosophy ‘major on the minors’? By which I mean, in the drive for careful analysis and detailed understanding of complex issues, does the practice tend to shy away from dealing with some of the ‘bigger questions of life’? Are we missing the forrest for the trees?

Busy

The academic year has begun here at Oxford and that means that I am really quite busy. Unfortunately, I will not be able to be too diligent in posting so don’t come with high expectations. Luckily, the quality of what is posted will hopefully gradually improve.

Economic Ethics and the Opaque Language of Fashion

I apologize for the long delay in posting. I hope to post a bit more in the near future. For now I would like to simply point any readers still poking around out there to two items I recently uncovered.

First, I came across an article discussing the ways that insurance firm AIG got itself into trouble. Apparently it was through a fairly complex insurance tool called a credit derivative. These little buggers almost brought down the company. The impact of complex financial tools is twofold: it makes it increasingly difficult to understand the highest end of economic discourse, and also, by means of the intensive jargon, it keeps the rich wealthy since only they have access to such financially lucrative and ethicaly questionable products. This is not to mention that the credit derivatives in question were nearly the cause of another global economic downturn. Link

Also, I discovered a few things regarding Paris Fashion Week. The lessons I have learned are twofold, one that high fashion is intensely impractical, and two, that fashion critics apparently speak another form of English than anyone in the world. For example (the caption is my own):

The first model is apparently trying very hard to fly. The second is wearing a victorian style ruff. The third is sporting the newest trend this season, a ream of paper.

I also uncovered this little tidbit, which makes me think that there is a future for the philosophy of language. I will include the image with the caption provided by the website from which it came.

So intertwined with futurism and in contrast to the rigidity of a single gauntlet or plastic triangles poking from eyelids, was a watery softness: stiff square plates collapsed into a drowned world, emerging as a hooded coat.

I apologize if I am offending the critics of high art and high fashion, but that caption is not an intelligable sentence. I believe that this would qualify as ‘bullshit’ under the more technical, philosophical definition offered by Harry Frankfurt (further info). I furthermore believe it would also qualify for less technical definitions, but I will leave that decision to the reader.

In England

I have now made the transition to my new residence in the UK. It was a bit harrowing, but I made it. I apologize for the dearth of material on this site. I have been reading Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy and might post some quotes in a bit. For now, I will just simply point you to three links.

First: Peter Enns is responding to some of his critics via his blog. Link

Second: I found this a very enlightening article about tips for academic publication. Link

Third: Here is a link to the most recent Philosophers’ Carnival. Link

I will try to formulate a response to Dean Robert Gonzales over the next few days. Stay tuned.

Quiet

I am unable to post for the next week or two as I am in the process of relocating to the UK. Please be sure to read the post by Dean Robert Gonzales in the most recent addition to the dialoge he and I have been having. Here is the link. Link

Wow

Playstation 2 Component Incites African War

Antony Flew vs. Richard Dawkins

The Evangelical Philosophical Society has posted an article on its blog about Flew’s response to Richard Dawkins. For those who don’t know, Antony Flew is a philosopher who argued for atheism most of his life and has recently relaxed his view and might be considered a deist. Dawkins is an Oxford scientist who is ardently atheistic and in his book “The God Delusion” accused Flew of giving into fear at the end of his life and thus says he believes in God.

It is a very interesting article, especially if you are familiar with the whole exchange. Link

New Philosophers’ Carnival

Link.

Two Things

First, why would a man who is using the restroom, with a perfectly good urinal available, choose to use a normal commode when he only has to pee. There wasn’t even anyone using the other urinals, so privacy is not an issue. Instead, he stood in a stall and forced the other people in the restroom to listen to his business.

Second, how in the world does someone expect to drive on a freeway, going 65 miles an hour, whilst flossing his teeth. He was using both hands and was even using his rear-view mirror to accomplish this task. And he is flying down the road. If you ask me, this is a very bad idea.

New Philosophers’ Carnival

Link