Philosophy Article

Power: a New Social Analysis

In Power: a new social analysis, Bertrand Russell tries to establish a new fundamental concept for the social sciences. I have summarized the foundations of the book, and offer my insight as to whether someone should read this book or not. Here’s what I think.

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Philosophy Article

Why Russell Was Wrong About Power

Bertrand Russell believed power would become the new fundamental concept of the social sciences in precisely the same way that energy is the fundamental concept for physics. However, Russell’s arguments fall tremendously short of being persuasive; they are inconsistent, impractical, and absurd. Here’s why.

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Philosophy Article

Peterson and Ideology

In 12 more rules for life: Beyond Order, Jordan Peterson asks us to abandon ideology. Why? Because Peterson believes ideology leads to the oversimplification of problems. Communism oversimplifies inequality, capitalism oversimplifies market performance, and environmentalism oversimplifies the health of our planet. Peterson advises we adopt critical thinking in exchange for ideology. But is he right?

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Philosophy Article

Man and His Symbols Book Review

Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung is a great book. The aim of the book is to be an introduction to Jungian thought, and also a brief exploration of human psychology. In both of those aims, I believe he succeeds; however, there are nonetheless some reasons to not read the book. Here is why.

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Philosophy Article

Jung and Naturalism

Many people reject Jung because they believed his approach to psychology is supernatural or non-material. However, that is. a common misconception of Jung. His views on psychology are indeed non-empirical in many cases, but they fit just fine in a naturalist worldview. Here is how.

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Philosophy Article

The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century

How much of our water is polluted? How much clean water is left? And how many conflicts will arise over fresh water in the future, given that our water sources have become more polluted all while our population has continually grown. Should cities be forced to stop growing? Should water be privatized to encourage more efficient use? That’s what the ripple effect attempts to discuss, and here is a review of how I think it faired.

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Philosophy Article

The Marshmallow Test

The Marshmallow test is a self-help book that doesn’t live up to the hype but remains a good book, nonetheless. For beginners in psychology, the book is filled with tons of new insights; however, for those are more than beginners, the book can be somewhat repetitive and basic. That said, this is a book which I urge people to read, even if they are not into self-help books or are advanced readers in psychology, because the book is easy to misunderstand. The claims made in popular media about this book are wildly inaccurate.

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Philosophy Article

How Values Can Become Pathologies

We often think of values like freedom, loyalty, and generosity as inherently good and preferable. However, when we take a closer look at these values, we can immediately recognize instances of freedom, loyalty, and generosity which are dysfunctional, unhealthy, and overall pathological. In other words, seemingly benign values can also be incredibly harmful. That is the point of this essay.

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Philosophy Article

The Coming Plague: Book Review

The Coming Plague is a terrific book about microbes and their relationship to human society. The book covers many epidemics and pandemics from the past, as well as explains modern problems around drug resistance and health policy! If you are after a good overview book, I highly recommend The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett.

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Philosophy Article

Why I Use Hunger For Focus

Hunger can train our ability to focus; only because focus and hunger are both states to which we must willfully enter. We are instinctive eaters and easily distracted, so we infrequently endure hunger or focus. By learning how to withstand hunger, we can learn how to focus.

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Philosophy Article

Earning Respect

There are differences between the respect earned from a master and the respect earned from an average person. Both are exciting to earn, yet both are not equal. Let’s discuss that difference.

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Philosophy Article

The Psychology Behind Denying Change and Nature

People have reasons other than the ones which they assert for believing one thing rather than another. And those reasons can at times come from rational or irrational fears. In the case of nature and change, there are specific fears which can make us opt for one over the other. Lets explore those.

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Philosophy Article

On Biographies

There is no need to look up at great figures, for we should instead place them on equal footing. They are more similar to us in both professional and personal affairs than we realize. They are not beyond ordinary people, they are ordinary people who have been fetishized by the media. Biographies can help us see that.

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Philosophy Article

Explanatory Pluralism

Theories are intended to explain the reality before us. However, we often times have disagreements about which explanation is correct. I herein provide a solution to such disagreements by appealing to a generalist account of human cognition.

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Philosophy Article

Why Selfishness is OK

Altruists are liars and unaware. Altruists are dishonest, deceitful, and manipulative. And egoists are honest, upfront, and self-aware. Despite the common narrative saying otherwise, we are all selfish, and that is ok.

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Philosophy Article

What is Theory-ladenness?

Are all observations influenced by theory? Can beliefs be formed without bias? Is perception laden with theory? These are the questions which relate to the problem of theory-ladenness. And I believe we cannot answer any of them with epistemic certainty.

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Philosophy Article

What Is A Lie?

What is a lie? Do all lies require an intentional element? How do we distinguish deception and omission from a lie? these questions, as simple as they are, don’t have simple answers. So, lets see what philosophers have to say about lies.

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Philosophy Article

Why You Don’t Understand Science

People who argue that philosophy and science are different simply don’t understand science. There are two good arguments for why philosophy and science are the same. One comes from cognition and the other from method; I discuss them herein.

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Philosophy Article

Will Asceticism Save You?

How should we live life? For asceticism, the answer is simple. But to see how, we have to discuss: what asceticism is and the reasons to be ascetic, as well as the confusions about hedonism and asceticism. All that and more is discussed herein.

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Philosophy Article

INFINITE REGRESS

An infinite regress is something used to negate or construct different arguments. Philosophers like Hume, Aquinas, and Aristotle have al used infinite regress arguments to justify things in morality or negate inferential knowledge. So what are they?

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Philosophy Article

Why Take Life Seriously?

Why take life seriously? Despite common beliefs, the answer is not obvious. Do we really have a good reason to take life seriously? And if so, are there any good reasons to not take life seriously? Lets think this through

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Philosophy Article

What Is The Münchhausen Trilemma?

The Münchhausen trilemma is a problem in the branch of philosophy known as epistemology; the Münchhausen trilemma, also known as Agrippa’s trilemma, reveals that any theory of knowledge cannot be certain and that all beliefs are unjustified. In other words, justified beliefs, which are beliefs founded on reason and logic, cannot be obtained, as the Münchhausen trilemma demonstrates the impossibility of justified premises.

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Philosophy Article

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Beauty, the a marvel to ponder and a sight to see; beauty can be found in nearly everything. From mathematical formalisms to poetry of all sorts, beauty resides in multiple forms. But of the vastness of it all, beauty can be boiled down into two broad categories, of which I shall expound upon.

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Philosophy Article

On Anxiety

Anxiety can be understood from numerous perspectives, but some of such perspectives fail to adequately characterize the experience of anxiousness its self. As such, I herein offer a literary analysis of anxiety, so that some may more thoroughly understand its nature.

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Philosophy Article

Your Masochistic Tendencies

To be alive is to not only want fulfillment but is likewise to want pain. We lovers of life are lovers of pain as much as we are lovers of joy; we have a sickness. We willingly subject ourselves to periods of anxiety and pain, those dreadful low points of our lives, all so that we may experience the euphoric high of happiness. We are drug addicts.

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Philosophy Article

On Being Mature

Life can be many things. But the thing which it be depends on the approach we take towards it. A confident person will take more risks and be more domineering over life, whereas the passive person will be more tranquil and consuming of life. There are also various combinations found in between. But what of a life wherein which we adopt a mature attitude towards being, what would that look like?

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Philosophy Article

Your Social Life

The future of human social life is going to have more and more social media based interactions. Therefore, we need to develop a philosophy of social media. I attempt to develop such a framework here.

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Philosophy Article

Soccer: The Philosophy Of

What does philosophy tell us about soccer? Soccer is a sport which involves intentional action, collective intentionality, and culturally bound frames. With these ideas, we can create the philosophy of soccer.

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Philosophy Article

Social Media Herd

Humans, among many, are exemplary models of herd animals; we live in various social groups, assign one another social roles, and often follow a variety social mores and norms.

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