Cognitive-biases-a-visual-study-guide

Peter Millican on Hume\’s Significance

http://www.slideshare.net/designfutures/the-philosophical-discussion-of-the-body-mind-problem-04122009

So, in conclusion, I would argue that there are three levels of meaning to human life. One is misguided and two are legitimate. First is the misguided search for a ‘Great Meaning’ that gives significance to life as a whole. Next is the meaning conferred on a life that cares for something more than the simple satisfaction of personal desires. Examples are political or humanitarian causes in which we join together with others to do something beyond the power of any individual. Finally, there are the little meanings of everyday life that come from living with others and acting in the world. These include the memories and anticipations of daily life, as well as the things of personal significance that surround us. On these lower levels of meaningfulness, there is no doubt that human life has meaning. On the higher level, the question of whether human life is meaningful is itself meaningless.

Click here to be redirected to the rest of this article by Jeff Mason from http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com.

Do you agree first of all with the three categories of meaning he discusses? Secondly, do you agree that the first is misguided? Why/why not?

http://www.philosophyslam.org/

The Mission of the Kids Philosophy Slam is to give kids a voice, and to inspire them to think by unlocking their intellectual and creative potential through a unique yet powerful philosophical forum.

The Kids Philosophy Slam is an annual program designed to make philosophy fun and accessible to all kids in grades K—12, as well as to help promote critical thinking skills and encourage dialogue with other students and adults. The Philosophy Slam asks kids to answer a philosophical question such as “What is the meaning of life?” Depending on their age, kids can express themselves in words, artwork, poetry or song. Each grade level has its own national winner, and the top four high school students debate the question at the national finals. The winner earns the title of “The Most Philosophical Student in America” Schools from across the country compete for the title of “The Most Philosophical School in America.”

The Kids Philosophy Slam is much more than an academic competition. It provides resources for teachers and students, internship opportunities for younger kids and volunteer and mentoring opportunities for high school students, college students, parents and teachers.

Click here for rules.

Here is the direct link to the website, which you should definitely take a look at:

http://www.justiceharvard.org/

Here is the preview to the course on YouTube

To prepare for the discussion, you might want to consider the following issues. First of all, what is your definition of free will? It seems that most people hold the idea that free will is something like the ability of humans to do anything at any moment, without cause. Most people like to think that they could, at any moment, choose to do anything. When you think about it that way, it may seem like the world would be a pretty crazy place if we really had the ability to perform uncaused, random, maybe even chaotic actions at any given moment. Maybe you disagree?

Or maybe that is not the right idea to hold about the nature of free will. What else could it mean? Possibly that humans have real choices, and are free to make them, but with constraints. Maybe it’s not really true that anyone can do anything at any second. Maybe within our frame of reference, and our universe, we can choose from a certain range of options. But then are we really free?

Or worse yet (at least it seems according to most people), maybe what we perceive as free will is just an illusion. If we understand our universe to be governed by certain physical laws, that occur and interact as a causal chain through time, aren’t we just part of that chain? Why would we have any more free will than a tree blowing in the wind? The rest of our environment reacts in a predictable way given what we understand. We don’t really believe that a monkey can, at any second, just “chose” to build a car from scratch. We believe the monkey has certain choices available that it can freely make given its circumstances. But we don’t believe the monkey has complete freedom in the sense that it can randomly act in any way.

To take it a step further, if we discover that physical determinism is actually true (which no one has actually decided yet), and we really do not possess the kind of freedom we think we do – how can we hold people responsible for their actions? When it comes down to it, if no one can actually freely chooses to do anything, why would be blame or punish anyone for anything? Think about it – in our legal system, we generally do not blame people for an accident they did not cause. Along the same line, there have been cases where people have had brain tumors that cause them to act inappropriately and differently than they would have without the tumor. When the tumor is removed, they suddenly lose the desire to act inappropriately. We do not blame someone for acting in a wrongful manner if they had no control over the physical cause of their situation. The same usually goes for certain diseases that affect the mind. We discussed a case about a man with Alzheimer’s. Would we blame such a person for wrongful acts when there is an unavoidable, physical cause for their behavior beyond their control?

It seems like we would be in a similar situation for all of humanity if we figured out that no one has free will. What would be the point of punishment or blame? Or could it be that there is something different about humans? Maybe for some reason, because we have self-aware minds, it puts us in a different position than the rest of the universe. But how? Do we really have any choice but to follow the rules of the universe?

Why do most people get upset when you imply that they may not possess the kind of free will they imagine themselves to have? What does that say about us as humans, or even as Americans? How important is it to you that you possess some kind of freedom of will?

Scroll back to our first post about free will from May 1, 2009, or click on the tag free will.  I found another video for your viewing pleasure regarding this topic:

Let’s meet next Friday, September 4 after school in the art room. It will be very informal – we can just reorganize and plan some ways to get new recruits!

I am really excited to get started, especially because I have been jamming ideas into my head all summer! I listened to a great podcast from Yale on the Philosophy of Death, read through a couple books, and listened to many other podcasts. Most of my thoughts have been circling around morality, free will, and Epistemology – and let me tell you, it’s exhausting! Now I have even more questions for all of you!

Well, I can’t wait to hear your ideas and thoughts on the many topics available for discussion. You guys never disappoint!