tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post8158197225785563772..comments2024-02-20T12:26:24.682-05:00Comments on language goes on holiday: Far-fetched examples in applied ethicsDuncan Richterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-55503235305612919772012-06-28T17:11:08.348-04:002012-06-28T17:11:08.348-04:00Yes, it is refreshing. I mean to read some his wor...Yes, it is refreshing. I mean to read some his work too, although I haven't managed to yet.<br /><br />Thanks for the Weil quote. There are few philosophers indeed by this standard.Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-9233721133107491512012-06-28T12:37:43.526-04:002012-06-28T12:37:43.526-04:00Oh, I just found it refreshing. I should read some...Oh, I just found it refreshing. I should read some of Chappell's work. I did send him an e-mail, inquiring about the Weil quote (the reference for it), and so I'll pass along his response. The translation is his own; the original is in: Simone Weil, <i>Oeuvres Complètes</i> edd. André Devaux, Florence de Lussy (Paris: Gallimard 2006), Vol VI, p.362. <br /><br />Here's the French (of the whole passage in the review): "La méthode propre de la philosophie consiste à concevoir clairement les problèmes insolubles dans leur insolubilité, puis à les contempler sans plus, fixement, inlassablement, pendant des années, sans aucun espoir, dans l’attente.<br /> D’ après ce critère, il y a peu de philosophes."Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-22948076934025025932012-06-27T18:23:02.610-04:002012-06-27T18:23:02.610-04:00That sounds intriguing (perhaps more than you mean...That sounds intriguing (perhaps more than you mean it to). I agree that it's certainly worth reading (but I suppose that goes without saying).Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-91028184910936804352012-06-27T16:04:20.724-04:002012-06-27T16:04:20.724-04:00Ah, I just read Chappell's review, and I'm...Ah, I just read Chappell's review, and I'm glad I did. (I'll leave at that for now.)Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-40254759271751319662012-03-28T14:12:56.921-04:002012-03-28T14:12:56.921-04:00Yes, that's what Chappell suggests, and I'...Yes, that's what Chappell suggests, and I'm very much inclined to agree. It takes a certain sort of imagination to come up with outlandish cases, but if we then insist on taking them as given in some very narrowly specified way what we're actually doing is stifling the imagination. Science fiction writers often have the ability to dream up outlandish situations, but the good ones also bring those situations to life. They make them real, not merely thought experiments. So maybe the problem is not so much that we cannot apply our intuitions to strange cases, although I think that's sometimes the case, but that we are forbidden by the terms of the exercise to apply our intuitions (or to explore the example enough to find our intuitions, perhaps).Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-176576502331531732012-03-28T12:24:52.077-04:002012-03-28T12:24:52.077-04:00I read the Elster paper awhile back. I remember no...I read the Elster paper awhile back. I remember not being entirely in agreement with his criticism of (1)--the first reason for rejecting "outlandish" cases--but I also found myself thinking about (2) that: isn't this what exceptional fiction and science fiction writers (Philip K. Dick) do? Could it be, as with Coleridge, that too much philosophy (of a certain sort) kills the imaginative capacity?Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-82728705543336880002012-03-28T09:38:24.819-04:002012-03-28T09:38:24.819-04:00I had heard of him, but I don't think I've...I had heard of him, but I don't think I've ever read anything by him. It looks as though he's written several books that would be worth reading. <i>Ethics and Experience</i> is probably at the top of my list too.Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-40197130976198481902012-03-28T06:20:55.247-04:002012-03-28T06:20:55.247-04:00I cannot recall having read anything by Tim Chappe...I cannot recall having read anything by Tim Chappell before. But I like his take on moral philosophy. As I write this I am leafing through his <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethics-Experience-Understanding-Movements-Thought/dp/1844651479/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332929926&sr=8-2" rel="nofollow"><i>Ethics and Experience</i></a>. Looks one for the Easter holiday bag, alongside Malcolm Pryce and perhaps Houellebecq.vhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16887661953741578765noreply@blogger.com