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| Friday, October 19th, 2007 | | 7:45 pm |
blog
I'm starting a blog that will be related to ethics and philosophy. It may interest those of you who like these subjects or are just bored... here's the url: http://anemptybasket.blogspot.com. I already have an essay on abortion up, so go and critique my work! | | Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 | | 9:04 pm |
Wow, ethics is kind of hard. Here I have an article that comes to the conclusion that everyone in the First World is morally obligated to give money to relief organizations for people starving in the Third World ("Famine, Affluence, and Morality" by Peter Singer). But not just a little money, every person has a moral obligation to give money until he or she is down to "marginal utility" – essentially until he or she is at the point of mere survival. Here are the basic premises: 1. Suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medicine are bad. 2. If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought morally to do it. 1. Small amounts of money make a huge difference: 50 cents can save a person's life. 2. There are relief agencies and it's easy to give away money. Also, most of these agencies are very good. Essentially, every time we buy something we like, we are responsible via inaction for killing many many people. Morally, the indication is that it is just as bad letting people die in the Third World as it is to let a little kid drown in a fountain you are walking by. Just because starving people are far away it does not mean that the moral weight is lessened; also, the easy access to relief organizations gives people no excuse for not donating. And why does this mean that we have to become poor ourselves in order to be morally responsible? Every time we buy something we don't need we are indirectly responsible for death. It becomes regressive, starting with it being morally repugnant to waste money on clothes we don't need; next, we find that human life is more important than our access to the internet or our indulgence in movies, music, dates, et cetera. Even indulging in something like ice cream or chocolate after a meal is murder by inaction. A person's life is more morally important than your gelato. Now I just need to come up with a good counterargument.. why is it so hard? | | Saturday, April 28th, 2007 | | 10:08 am |
Zizek/300
So, I came across an article about 300 from one of my favorite contemporary philosophers, Slavoj Zizek. It's quite interesting in that he completely turns the argument that the movie is anti-Iranian or racist. On the contrary, he sees the Persians as representing the US (with our multiculturalism and will-to-dominate) and the Spartans as representing a country such as Afghanistan, or even Iran (with their honor, will-to-die, and monoculturalism). It's a pretty interesting read, and Zizek is always fun... and you don't want to study AP's right now anyway. http://www.lacan.com/zizhollywood.htm Current Mood:  content | | Friday, February 23rd, 2007 | | 11:26 am |
Enelow
Anyone happen to have the details for the Enelow essay? (the link online is broken). I'm gonna read the Machiavelli now, and when I get back I hope to see either (a) someone freaking out that she doesn't have the details or (b) someone has the details and commented on this, giving me the details. Edit: I just got the details.. I can forward them to whoever wants them. | | Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 | | 9:33 pm |
Meh
I really just don't care. Really. Current Mood: content | | Sunday, February 11th, 2007 | | 10:24 pm |
Love and Realism
So, I was reading Apotheosis of Groundlessness by the Russian philosopher Shestov, when I came across a passage that relates to love. And, as Valentines Day is coming up, I find it better to get realism out of the way now before becoming romantic, which this coming week is all about.. Light reveals to us beauty but also ugliness. Throw vitriol in the face of a beautiful woman, and the beauty is gone, no power on earth will enable us to look upon her with the same rapture as before. Could even the sincerest, deepest love endure the change? True, the idealists will hasten to say that love overcomes all things. But idealism needs be prompt, for if she leaves us one single moment in which to see, we shall see such things as are not easily explained away. That is why idealists stick so tight to logic. In the twinkling of an eye logic will convey us to the remotest conclusions and forecasts. Reality could never overtake her. Love is eternal, and consequently a disfigured face will seem as lovely to us as a fresh one. This is, of course, a lie, but it helps to preserve old tastes and obscures danger. Real danger, however, was never dispelled by words. In spite of Schiller and eternal love, in the long run vitriol triumphs, and the agreeable young man is forced to abandon his beloved and acknowledge himself a fraud. Light, the source of his life and hope, has now destroyed hope and life for him. He will not return to idealism, and he will hate logic: light, that seemed to him so beautiful, will have become hideous. He will turn to darkness, where logic and its binding conclusions have no power, but where the fancy is free for all her vagaries. Current Mood:  cynical | | Saturday, January 6th, 2007 | | 10:07 pm |
Dreams
Disney: All dreams can come true. Science: Anything can come true, in your dreams. Philosophy: Reality may just be a dream. 5-Year-Old: I had a bad dream. 13-Year-Old: I can't control what happens in my dreams. 16-Year-Old: I can't get out of bed. What if life is a scary reality where anything is possible and nothing is under your control. | | Sunday, December 24th, 2006 | | 1:27 pm |
| | 12:52 am |
Santa
I hope everyone is using our nation's (and Canada's) sophisticated satellite and anti-missile technology to track Santa! Happy Holidays everyone. http://www.noradsanta.org | | Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 | | 9:05 pm |
Star Wars Episode III
So, I just watched Star Wars, which I had previously avoided because of the horrible reviews I heard of it.. Now, after watching it, all I can say is that it was much better than Episodes I and II, and that I liked it. Liked it a lot. I mean, who could not love the twist? His dreams of Padme's fate make him cause that fate to be realized – classic Oracle of Delphi stuff. I won't go into how it all fit in well with Virgil and what we learned in History, but I will say this: Eliminating Jar-Jar – good move. And that does it for this anachronistic journal entry. | | Monday, December 18th, 2006 | | 1:16 pm |
| | 12:39 am |
| | Sunday, December 17th, 2006 | | 3:57 pm |
Leading On
What is it with girls and leading guys on? I mean, seriously.. It almost seems like that's the only thing that ever happens anymore. We have the obvious Anne and the oblivious Jeff, we have me at the beginning of the year, and now one of my good friends just got shut down. This time it's not even funny though, she gave him the impression that they had already been dating; in fact, I believe there was some formal asking out and accepting involved. I talked to one of her friends; apparently, the girl in question never liked my friend in that way, but was waiting for him to say something first – for the last couple months – what. the. fuck. mang. Here's some simple reasoning for y'all: Observation: Hanging out with girls does not make them like you. Observation: Girls keep hanging out with you even if they know you like them, but don't like you. Inference: Hanging out with a girl indicates nothing. Observation: Girls will tell you how it is after you do something. Observation: People start going out after a simple physical act. Inference: Kissing a girl causes her girl to say how she feels. Conclusion: Kiss the girl on the second date, save yourself the time.Remember Kierkegaard: Either do it or don't do it, you'll regret both. | | Saturday, December 16th, 2006 | | 4:08 pm |
Woman
Okay, so this Nietzsche quote kind of got me thinking: "Man created woman – but what out of? Out of a rib of his God, of his 'ideal'...". So obviously I, and every other guy, possess this image of women as being clean, beautiful, nice, polite, warm, etc [unless you just want to get laid, sexy etc. comes second]... And, at least to some degree, it would seem that the majority of women follow this image and act accordingly [subconsciously, consciously, whatever – it happens]. So, my question for women – what is your ideal man? Somehow I don't think being clean and polite are at the top of your list.. so what is. Or would your ideal man be more feminine, and it just so happens that you personally don't like those kinds of guys? | | 1:49 pm |
Stripes
Why is it that it seems like only girls can wear shirts that have stripes.. It's really aggravating because I really like stripes and kind of want to wear a nice white and black t-shirt with, perhaps, 1 inch stripes.. but nooooooooooo, they only make shirts for girls like that.. fuck. that... And even if I did find the shirt I want, because it isn't plainly seen anywhere, no one buys it. And, because no one buys it, no one wears it. And, because no one wears it, no one knows it exists [except for girls, of course]. Lastly, because no one knows it exists, everyone will think it's a girl shirt.. but it's not. I JUST WANT SOME STRIPES, IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!?! | | Thursday, November 23rd, 2006 | | 10:43 pm |
Rhetoric, Seinfeld, and Enelow
Note to Self: George's use of persuasion during the episode "The Subway," in Season 3 of Seinfeld is dangerous. In my essay on persuasion, for Enelow, I said that rhetoric is safe as long as the logic of it is sound, regardless of whether the speaker deceives about emotion or character; however, I no longer believe this view of persuasion is accurate. In "The Subway," George is on a train flirting with a random woman who gets his attention by rubbing her leg. After she asks him if he is looking for a job (which he is), he responds that he is "doing quite well" and is in the stocks & bonds industry: This act establishes his (false) character and paves the way for him to persuade her to give him her number (or something of the sort). After several stops, the woman says that she is about to get off and asks if he wants to come with her; George complies and winds up in her hotel room, where she tells him to "make [himself] comfortable." He decides to take his shoes off and lie down on the bed. Then, she comes out of the bathroom in lingerie and proceeds to handcuff him to the bed. Next, she comes out out of the bathroom, fully clothed, and looks through his wallet. As he is not a stockbroker, she only finds $8, gets very upset, and decides to take his clothes instead. The woman then leaves George in the hotel room, naked and humiliated. If George had not initially deceived the woman about his character, his persuasion (an implied enthymeme: I'm interested; therefore, sleep with me) would have failed and he would not have wound up tied to a bed and robbed... | | Friday, October 27th, 2006 | | 8:39 pm |
Sometimes I think nihilism is the way to go – everything tends to go back to the way it was before with me anyway. Doing nothing may actually be better. | | Sunday, September 17th, 2006 | | 11:16 pm |
music
for now, im sick of your typical trance, techno, club, house, etc. music. i started listening to some industiral (kmfdm and combichrist) and it kinda makes the other electronic genres seem weak.. i think im sick of girly girls singing trance cuts and bad male voices taking over house cuts. granted, most industrial males suck at singing.. from what i can tell, you have to be german to be worth anything anyway, back to junior year. | | Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 | | 12:07 pm |
I'm so sick of complicated shit. Note to Self: I think finally fully comprehend the existentialist "HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE"... which brings some personal reflection into Sartre's "No Exit".. | | Friday, August 11th, 2006 | | 10:14 pm |
My class is over!! the final wasn't bad at all; writing 3 essays is a piece of cake apparently.. tomorrow i leave for Minnesota.. the last couple entries have been pretty similar.. ill have interesting stuff when i get back from MN c ya in a week. -setz |
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