About Rationally Speaking


Rationally Speaking is a blog maintained by Prof. Massimo Pigliucci, a philosopher at the City University of New York. The blog reflects the Enlightenment figure Marquis de Condorcet's idea of what a public intellectual (yes, we know, that's such a bad word) ought to be: someone who devotes himself to "the tracking down of prejudices in the hiding places where priests, the schools, the government, and all long-established institutions had gathered and protected them." You're welcome. Please notice that the contents of this blog can be reprinted under the standard Creative Commons license.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Blogging as a path to self-knowledge

by Massimo Pigliucci

It is hard to imagine that I started blogging on August 1st, 2005, just a bit over seven years ago. And before that, Rationally Speaking had been a syndicated internet column for a number of years (it began in August 2000, to be precise — there must be something about late summer...), which makes — at last count — for a whopping 978 posts, 25,165 comments, and a total of 1,747,328 pageviews.
No, I’m not listing the stats in order to brag, but because of how humbled I am by the relative success over the years of something that I started for the same reason most people start blogs: to gratify one’s ego and to have an unimpeded platform to rant about things one cares about. Well, that may be a bit too harsh, actually. I am a university professor, and I care about teaching science and philosophy to others, so the blog began as a natural outreach effort to communicate with a public wider than my own students. That effort in turn had been catalyzed by my move to Tennessee in 1996, where I was promptly confronted with an attempt by the local legislature to introduce creationism in public schools. It was the shock of recognizing just what was routinely going on in the aptly named “Bible Belt” that made me take the first timid steps outside the ivory tower.

Blogging, however, soon became something much more interesting than just a new way to teach others. Indeed, it even became something more than just the experience of writing for a given public. The latter — which I have done and continue to do, and which has generated a good number of magazine columns and books — forces the writer to reflect on what he thinks in order to be able to explain it as clearly as possible (in essence, it’s another form of teaching). When you write, you are not just communicating your thoughts to others, the process of writing itself forces you to clarify in your mind what it is that you are thinking and why. Quite often, and quite literally, I think by way of word processing.

But blogging adds yet another layer, one that is usually missing when one writes for the print press, and that is only present in a limited sense while teaching (especially at the undergraduate or pre-college levels): feedback. See, blogs are highly interactive platforms, and even though there are plenty of useless comments, the occasional attempt at advertising commercial products, and even one or two death threats (been there, received that), a gratifyingly surprising number of my readers over the years have contributed very thoughtful, articulated, usually critical commentaries to whatever it was that I was writing.

This sort of feedback has sometimes forced me to re-examine some of my positions, to try harder to see what I was really thinking about certain subject matters, and occasionally even to change my mind. It is this unique combination of communicating one’s thoughts to others, being forced in the process to reflect on why one entertains those particular thoughts, and finally being sharply and intelligently challenged about the content of those thoughts that has turned my blogging into a long, sometimes hard, always welcome, and still ongoing process of self discovery and self knowledge.

As a result, I have just made available a new collection of essays, selected with two criteria in mind. First, they are among the most in-depth posts published at Rationally Speaking, all of them originally put out as multi-part series, each part being significantly longer than a typical op-ed piece. Of course, length per se is no assurance of quality, but it is also true that too often blog posts are so short that one only gets a glimpse into the subject matter and the author’s opinion about it. So, longer posts make for more serious intellectual engagement.

Second, the writings that I selected for the new collection concern topics about which either I changed my mind significantly, or represent instances where I started out with an opinion that was not well formed and yet about which I had deep intuitions, and the process of writing exposed, confirmed and elaborated upon those intuitions once the more sharply focused light of reasoned argument was aimed at them. Accordingly, each of the essays in the volume comes with a brief introduction to highlight why I included them and what impact writing (or reading) about each topic has had on my own thinking, my path to self-knowledge, if you will.

The subject matter covered here is varied, but the reader will easily pick up the common threads: all posts have to do with philosophical issues, particularly as they are informed by science. Whether we are talking about ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, or metaphysics, I believe that a philosophical understanding is paramount, but that such understanding simply cannot afford to ignore the best available scientific knowledge. I hope these entries — which have been edited and updated where necessary — will help people reflect on things and spur them to challenge others and be challenged in turn. As the motto of this blog says (quoting David Hume), “Truth springs from argument amongst friends.”

* The new collection, entitled Blogging as a Path to Self Knowledge is available in a variety of formats at Smashwords, and for Kindle at Amazon.

You may also like to take a look at three other e-collections along similar lines:

* Tales of the Rational: Skeptical Essays About Nature and Science (various formats / Kindle)

* Thinking About Science: Essays on the Nature of Science (various formats / Kindle)

* Rationally Speaking: Skeptical Essays on Reality as We Think We Know It (various formats / Kindle)

34 comments:

  1. Dr. Pigliucci,

    Thank you very much for doing your blog. I learn a great deal from it.

    I know you sometime kvetch that "this is not my full-time job". I'm very aware that blogging can eat up a lot of your time and make you wonder if your time had not been better spent in other pursuits.

    But, you ARE reaching a lot of people. Me for one. So, thanks!

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  2. I wish I could say the same, but I find a lot of posts naive and scholastic. People often bicker in abstract about the meaning of words without reference to realities or expanding connections. In short, dead-ending, so I only started blogging in June this year to give starngers the advantage of reading my own views about most of these matters, discussed in my free book. I did no blogging at all until then, as I would have had little to contribute without ideas of my own. So I hope people will try to have ideas of their own, and embark on discovery rather than repetitious unhelpful mantras, as blogging is a way to develop them.

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    1. However, I do admire your work ethic, Massimo.

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  3. I'm with Tom. I'd say I've learned more from you and Philosophy Bites than I did in my entire undergraduate career.

    While "argumentum ad hominem" is a fallacy in logic, I think it is essential in life that one look at the whole complex and result of an intellectual commitment. You may be motivated to "gratify your ego" but your dedication to rigor, consistency and civility usually carry the day. I rarely see you allowing yourself intellectual expediencies. I trust your generalizations more than most, and that is a lot to trust someone with.

    Many people become de facto public intellectuals , but you, in explicitly picking up the mantle, have stressed the intellectual over the public and done so responsibly. Perhaps that is why I sense in you an appropriate anxiety about the state and direction of the Community of Reason.

    The examined life may be worth living, but it is not easily lived. There is hemlock in every philosophy. I am glad you chose to come down to the Agora.

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  4. I absolutely agree that essay writing, in particular philosophical blogging because of the engagement factor, is a great means to discover what you truly think about things. We are all human, perhaps a bit too human at times, when we start arguing (especially without the face-to-face contact). One of my goals in life is to work on becoming both a philosopher and a nice guy. At the end of the day, what fun would it be if the diversity of opinions on this blog vanished? I can't think of anything more boring than writing for and engaging with an audience that agrees with every single thing I say.

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  5. @ Massimo

    > No, I’m not listing the stats in order to brag, but because of how humbled I am by the relative success over the years of something that I started for the same reason most people start blogs: to gratify one’s ego and to have an unimpeded platform to rant about things one cares about. <

    That and a medium to push your books and "skepticism" agenda.

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    1. This is pretty uncivil for somebody who "enjoys participating in the dialectical process." I don't see why Massimo shouldn't "push" his books if he pleases, after all it's his blog, and furthermore the books contain yet more of his writing, which is exactly what's on offer at RS. Do you demand of musicians in concert that they not mention their albums? Anyway, M barely ever mentions his books.

      I'm also annoyed by the use of the word "agenda" here as though M were hatching some Xanatos-style plot. He is writing out his convictions and inviting criticism, as are most of us. That's the dialectical process for ya!

      Maybe I'm misconstruing your tone here, and it's supposed to be some sort of jovial, backslapping "you ol' bastard!" If not... dude, give the guy a break.

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    2. @ ianpollock

      > This is pretty uncivil for somebody who "enjoys participating in the dialectical process." <

      I fail to see how exactly my post qualifies as "uncivil."

      > I don't see why Massimo shouldn't "push" his books if he pleases, after all it's his blog, and furthermore the books contain yet more of his writing, which is exactly what's on offer at RS. <

      I didn't say that he shouldn't sell his books.

      > I'm also annoyed by the use of the word "agenda" here <

      It would appear that you're easily annoyed.

      > He is writing out his convictions and inviting criticism, as are most of us. That's the dialectical process for ya! <

      I know what the dialectical process is. Thank you very much. And since he is "inviting criticism," I'm offering it. Why does that annoy you?

      > Maybe I'm misconstruing your tone here, and it's supposed to be some sort of jovial, backslapping "you ol' bastard!" If not... dude, give the guy a break. <

      I'm not giving him a slap on the back; I'm calling him out.




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  6. Yes indeed Massimo, having philosophical discussions on a daily-to-weekly basis really does change a person. I have noticed the changes in you and in myself. In my own case, I appreciate academic philosophy a great deal more than I did before, to the extent of it being a major interest now. That has a lot of causes but your writing on RS is a major one.

    I could spin this into an emotive appeal for transhumanism, or at least anti-death sentiment. I would love to spend the next 500 years in Humean 'friendly argument' with you and with others here, and elsewhere, and I think all of us would be greatly improved thereby.

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  7. Much appreciated, Massimo. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to learn about other philosophers each time a post comes out. Long health and much strength to you.

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  8. I am thankful that you are writing the blog. I appreciate is that you take positions on the topics you discuss, instead of the somewhat sterile "view from nowhere" that a lot of other philosophy blogs adopt. I may not agree with all your positions, but I appreciate the honesty.
    Really..."skepticism" agenda? I forgot that Massimo is rolling in money while cackling about his evil plan of helping people to think rationally. Because that is what all evil geniuses do.
    And he did write the books. Why shouldn't he sell them?

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  9. @ Yannis

    > Really..."skepticism" agenda? <

    Yes..really. Massimo has a prominent role in the skeptical movement. You were not aware of this?

    "He [Massimo Pigliucci] is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[5]...

    Pigliucci writes regularly for Skeptical Inquirer.
    " (emphasis mine)

    (source: Wikipedia: Massimo Pigliucci)

    > I forgot that Massimo is rolling in money while cackling about his evil plan of helping people to think rationally. <

    He's promoting atheistic materialism (or should I say "immaterialism?") under the guise of science (while charging other prominent figures in the atheistic and skeptical community with "scientism"). If you don't subscribe to this worldview, then you are labeled as "irrational."

    > And he did write the books. Why shouldn't he sell them? <

    I never argued that he shouldn't sell his books. I simply stated that he uses this blog as a means to push his books. That's a factual statement.

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    1. "I simply stated that he uses this blog as a means to push his books. That's a factual statement."

      It is a connotatively loaded factual statement, and I am objecting to the connotations. "Push" connotes selling aggressively, or selling illicit substances. Either way, it implies a negative value judgment on selling M's books.

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    2. You're not wrong, but you're feeding a troll whose primary contribution to the thread was to make a banal observation, followed by a series of "me so innocent" noises.

      I read the post and thought, "Book plug," which it essentially is. But I'd hardly call that a Eureka! realization.

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  10. @ ianpollock

    > It is a connotatively loaded factual statement, and I am objecting to the connotations. "Push" connotes selling aggressively, or selling illicit substances. Either way, it implies a negative value judgment on selling M's books. <

    I see. You have a problem with my employment of the term "push." Let me rephrase: "He also uses this blog as a means to plug his books."

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    1. You see, Ian, you have a problem. Alastair, on the other hand, is so magnanimous that he's altering his behavior to cater to the special needs your hypersensitivity makes necessary. He has gone out of his way to do the equivalent of coating his barbs with hydrocortisone before attempting any further subcutaneous insertions. Such a man deserves thanks, love, and respect, not pushback — excuse me, plugback — from the likes of you.

      /snarkmirror

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    2. Alastair,

      I really don't see why you think it is appropriate to charge Massimo with using this blog to push / plug his books. First, even if he did, so what: he makes a living by writing things people want to read, and it stands to reason that the blog readership are likely to want to read his books, even if some only want to read them so they can level irrelevant criticisms and ad hominems, so advertising them here is only appropriate.

      That said, you are ascribing to Massimo an intention you have absolutely no good reason to ascribe. Massimo has many readers who are interested in his work so he lets them know about impending publications and provides accessible links to them. Grow up, Alastair, please.

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    3. @ Eamon

      > I really don't see why you think it is appropriate to charge Massimo with using this blog to push / plug his books. <

      Because I am SKEPTICAL of his self-articulated intentions for blogging. I don't think he is simply "blogging for self-knowledge."

      > First, even if he did, so what: <

      There's no "if." He is also "blogging as a profitable venture" (among other things).

      > That said, you are ascribing to Massimo an intention you have absolutely no good reason to ascribe. Massimo. <

      I have a very good reason. I asked him to furnish me with evidence for the existence of these (nonphysical and acausal) mathematical objects which he posited in a recent blog. When he realized that he couldn't meet this request, he attempted to evade the issue with the following response.

      " You may not have noticed, but I [Massimo Pigliucci] spend an inordinate amount of (UNPAID) time engaging on this blog." (emphasis mine)

      (source: "Surprise! Naturalistic metaphysics undermines naive determinism, part I ")

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    4. Objects are material, so the evidence would be in the subjective mind that forms them as abstracts, but nowhere else. I suppose that makes them material in one sense (part of a neuro-physical process), and they can certainly inspire debate in the real world about how they might be applied to reality to guide it (including Moral Ideals or Values). I would say they do not otherwise exist, so evidence might be hard to find, but the advantage of having them to explore the limits of engineering of all kinds (and social engineering of all kinds) makes them important nonetheless.

      When is an abstract Ideal worthwhile? might be a better question than asking for evidence beyond one's subjective acceptance of them as abstracts that help one to model the world. They are worthwhile as abstracts, as long as we concentrate on their application to reality and do not raise them to being real (and becoming fanatics in the process). If they do not apply to reality or help us model it in reality, they are just more of the same old fluff that goes through one's head from time to time.

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    5. @ Marcus Morgan

      > Objects are material, so the evidence would be in the subjective mind that forms them as abstracts, but nowhere else. I suppose that makes them material in one sense (part of a neuro-physical process) <

      The point is that Massimo argued that mathematical abstractions are immaterial - a point that I agree with wholeheartedly. In fact, he argued that "everything" reduces to and/or emerges from mathematical abstractions or structures (a view known as "ontic structural realism" and formally expressed by physicist Max Tegmark as the "mathematical universe hypothesis").

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    6. I don't understand how Tegmark can say reality is mathematics, rather than reality is mathematical, getting back to my comments in Parts 1 & 2 of Massimo's's article. I would say particles & fields are mathematical, rather than mathematics. My brief analysis above was to show that any abstract (mathematical or moral) is not real except in the mind of the abstractor. However, real objects have mathematical patterns (and moral ones too in human form) as properties of objects.

      Consequently, neither physical objects nor their physical properties (including the physical patterns they have - measurable mathematically) are abstract. However, we can create abstractions about them by putting the cart fractionally ahead of the horse in drawing a blueprint for house construction without ever really making a perfect straight line or a perfect right angle (which are abstractions about reality). Same with moral ideals.

      So, abstractions are by definition immaterial (being abstract), but that would be a red herring to the point that objects at the base level of reality (in my view) have real mathematical patterns that are not abstract. Mathematical patterns would be real properties of particles & fields (rather than vice versa), and would not exist independently of those objects. So, I cannot go so far as Tegmark (independent reality) or L&R (base level of reality).

      Independent reality (Tegmark) would be abstract, and maths at the base level (L&R) would be taking information too far, as in my view maths informs us "about" particles & fields (the real objects). Tegmark would be in greater error, as L&R remains useful in describing fundamental mathematical reconciliations of real objects (reversing their emphasis back to mine). I propose in my book that there is a fundamental reconciliation of particle & fields by their mathematical properties, as a Design, GUT or TOE.

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    7. @ Marcus Morgan

      > My brief analysis above was to show that any abstract (mathematical or moral) is not real except in the mind of the abstractor. However, real objects have mathematical patterns (and moral ones too in human form) as properties of objects. <

      Okay. Then you basically agree with my argument - namely, that abstractions (mathematical, moral, formal, logic, etc.) cannot exist independently from a mind that abstracts.

      > So, abstractions are by definition immaterial (being abstract) <

      Agreed. But you do believe that these immaterial abstractions exist in the mind of the abstractor. Right?

      > Mathematical patterns would be real properties of particles & fields (rather than vice versa), and would not exist independently of those objects. <

      I believe the basic argument for OSR ("ontic structural realism") would be something like the following: According to contemporary physics, matter is dualistic (wave-particle duality). The wave aspect is a "probability wave" (abstraction); the particle aspect is a geometric point, having location in space (abstraction) and time (abstraction) but dimensionless (abstraction). There are no "things" (just abstractions). Of course, any measurable property of these thingless abstractions would be a mathematical abstraction in and of itself. (Information is an abstraction too. And to "in-form" is to "give form.")

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    8. Yes, abstracts would not exist independently of the mind that abstracts, and they would exist in the mind of the abstractor, as an abstract concept (whether closely or not at all connected to reality). But as for OSR, I wouldn't say that "any measurable property of these thingless abstractions would be a mathematical abstraction in and of itself", whether or not they would put it that way.

      I would say that the spatial and temporal forms of particles & fields (whether described as a temporal wave pattern or as a state that has three spatial dimensions) are real, not abstract. They are real properties of an electron, which has a motion (space & time ) and position (space or time). Don't worry about wave-particle duality or probabilistic wave functions, just basic motion and position measured spatially & temporally would be fine as examples.

      These are real properties of real objects (particles & fields). Three dimensionality is a reality, as is temporal periodicity, in my view. They are not abstractions when applied to the properties of particles & fields to describe or define them. Space & time are abstractions when considered independently of those particles & fields rather than as the dimensionality & periodicity of those particles & fields.

      I wouldn't worry about the status of the spatiality and temporality of things, I would say it is secure even if we cannot yet define all things spatially & temporally in a TOE or GUT. Space & time are accompanied by cause & effect, as interactive sequences binding particles & fields by their properties for cause & effect, also. These, likewise, would be real properties of things even if we cannot yet define them with precision for all things in a TOE.

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    9. I just noticed a contradiction in your post when saying that in contemporary physics, matter is dualistic. Matter (particles & fields) is dualistic (or spatial & temporal in my simpler example), thus you recognize matter and that it is dulistic (or has the properties of space & time in my example). One cannot really escape that logic, as hard as Tegmark, OSR or you might try. Work from four forces across 20 constants, and their properties. Its more secure than properties with matter absent.

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    10. @ Marcus Morgan

      > Yes, abstracts would not exist independently of the mind that abstracts, and they would exist in the mind of the abstractor, as an abstract concept (whether closely or not at all connected to reality) <

      If abstractions exist in the mind of the abstractor (and if abstractions are deemed to be immaterial - a point you have conceded), then it logically follows that immaterial entities or objects (for lack of a better word) really exist.

      > They are real properties of an electron, which has a motion (space & time ) and position (space or time). Don't worry about wave-particle duality or probabilistic wave functions, just basic motion and position measured spatially & temporally would be fine as examples. <

      But an electron does not have absolute motion and position (the uncertainty principle).

      > These are real properties of real objects (particles & fields). Three dimensionality is a reality, as is temporal periodicity, in my view. They are not abstractions when applied to the properties of particles & fields to describe or define them. Space & time are abstractions when considered independently of those particles & fields rather than as the dimensionality & periodicity of those particles & fields <

      There's nothing inherently physical about a field; it's another abstraction.

      The part (particle) has no independent existence except as it relates to the whole (field).

      The bottom line is that both the theory of relativity and quantum theory have rendered the original materialistic idea of the world being comprised of permanent solid particles obsolete. There's an objective material world. We can measure objective properties. But the only permanent "objects" or "structures" appear to be mathematical abstractions.

      By the way, time is symmetrical on the quantum or micro-level.

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    11. Your first point is clearly wrong if you read my comment again. I allowed for the reality of the neuro-physical pocess and the consequences of that in human behavior (also real). The obvious issue is whether the abstract in thought is real beyond the fact that it exists, which it isn't. I would call that a poor attempt at finding a contradiction, which sets a bad tone, but I sall continue.

      The second is an issue of absolute measurement and nothing to do with whether the electron has properties of motion and position. How do you freeze frame an electron and at the same time measure its motion? Don't try to answer that, but its an interesting question, and a different issue from what is abstract and real. Perhaps one day we will figure out a way to do it and complete a TOE, or perhaps not. A totally irrelevant point.

      The third answers your earlier contradiction about dualism being material by limiting matter to nothing more than dualism, and saying dualism is our only concern. You have not explained how matter, a real thing we can touch, is abstract at its most fundamental level. Reallity based on abstraction is not a faith I hold. My position is nicely balanced, as I allow both real objects and real properties (or real properties to have real objects in a safe interpretation of L&R without abstracts).

      The topography of the universe is more than simply variation across a state of abstract spatio-temporality. The variations are from distinct objects adding something to their shared spatio-temporality in their real measurable aggregations. You will need to show how Relativity & QM also hold your view, if they hold your view, rather than purport to use a reference scholastically.

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    12. I should have mentioned about fields, a photon is clearly emitted and absorbed as an object, adding something to the topography of the universe by its participation. Your problem may be with what is abstract and what is real, and intepreting L & R using the final paragraph quoted by Massimo in Part 2. L & R are more secure if "structures" are real, and not secure if structures are abstract, which is the position you prefer. Read my book to see how it all fits together www.thehumandesign.net and then we can chat some more.

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  11. Speaking of plugging books, did anybody notice that Massimo's only asking a measly two bucks apiece for most of these?

    Two bucks!

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  12. @ perspicio

    > I read the post and thought, "Book plug," which it essentially is. <

    Agreed.

    > But I'd hardly call that a Eureka! realization. <

    Agreed. (I thought I was stating the obvious.)

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  13. I've been staring at the Amazon page for "Thinking About Science: Essays on the Nature of Science" for a number of days now. How much overlap is there between that collection and Nonsense On Stilts?

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    1. Kel, there is no overlap at all between the Nonsense on Stilts and Thinking About Science. Of course some of the broad topics are similar, TAS is more focused on philosophy of science for skeptics.

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  14. Massimo, I was planning to do some blogs of my own:

    * I was going to do a FOUNDATIONALISM blogsite, but I didn't know where to begin.

    * I was going to start my own blog for SOLOPCISTS -- but I didn't know how other people would feel about that.

    * I was going to start a blog about CONTEXTUALISM, but I thought that conditions weren't right.

    * I did start a website about MOORE'S PARADOX, but I don't believe I did.

    * I decided against doing a DIALLELUS blogsite, because I decided not to.

    * I was going to do a blog about CONSEQUENTIALISM, but I wasn't sure what the ramifications would be.

    * I was going to start a blog about PANPSYCHISM, but I thought my local computer servers might not like it.

    * I was going to do a "philosophy of HEDONSIM" blogsite, but I thought it would be more fun to go get drunk.

    * I was going to start a blog about DETERMINISM, but then I decided that it's really not my decision to make.

    * I was going to start my own blog for hard-core SKEPTICS, but I felt that I didn't really know anything about it. Then I realized that knowing that I didn't know was ITSELF a piece of knowledge, so I doubted THAT. Then I realized that knowing that I didn't know that I didn't know was ALSO a piece of knowledge, so I doubted THAT too. Then I got a headache and gave up.

    Had enough?

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    1. Tom,

      ahem, sure. No idea what this list is about...

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    2. A distinction between arguing from a position and being true to your position. Its irony (on the basis that irony reveals hypocrisy) is in the distinction between principle and practice. By practising what we preach, we can sometimes give up preaching before we start (I'm not sure if Socrates applied that base-level objection to peoples' arguments relying on self-knowledge, but I wouldn't be surprised).

      Its a good execrise in knowing your position well before embarking on argument. This base-level dovetails with Kant (although, like my reference to Socrates, he might or might not have stated it as I do). As our positions are our own construct, we need to treat them as such and not as secure statements about "reality", so the first question should be to oneself as a constructor of that reality.

      The way to use Kant rather than wallow in his ideas is to say that I reason in my construct, and my constrcut informs me that my eyes detect light waves off objects accurately etc, and I have evolved to construct something corresponding to reality. So one can treat a position as a purportedly accurate construct and argue the purportedness of it all, if one can stomach the Socratic irony.

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