A Great Day for Philosophy

[rug]

May 30, 2013, 12:29 pm
By ERNIE LEPORE

Along with the words to be offered here is an interesting artifact— a photograph of an assembly of some of the most important and influential philosophers of the latter half of the 20th century on one fine day in April in 1984 in front of the Hyatt Hotel in downtown New Brunswick, N.J.

And of course there is a story behind it.

It begins with Donald Davidson, who died in 2003 at the age of 86, one of the most important philosophers of the latter half of the 20th century. Though his contributions are rich and widespread, he is probably best known for his work in three areas; The theory of meaning, especially his influential theory of interpretation; the philosophy of action, in particular, his view that our reasons for our actions both cause and justify them; and the philosophy of mind, especially his defense of the thesis that though every mental event is a physical event not every type of mental event may be identified with a type of physical event.

Davidson’s philosophy is unusually unified for someone making contributions to so many areas. But this unity is difficult to appreciate because it is represented exclusively in a series of compressed, even cryptic, articles he wrote over the course of more than 40 years. These essays overlap and often presuppose knowledge of one another; and together they form a mosaic out of which emerges one of the most integrated and elegant bodies of philosophical work of our era.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/a-great-day-for-philosophy/

[struggle4progress]

1. Maybe if they held their conventions at beachfront hotels in Rio

more people would want to be philosophers

"This year, let's all meet up in New Brunswick!" may lack a certain essential je ne sais quoi

[rug]

2. To tan or not to tan . . . .

[Sweeney]

4. Who wants to be a philosopher

has never tried.

The hardest part of it as far as I can tell is knowing what everyone else said so you don't say it twice. As far as doing goes, forget philosophy. There are only a handful of doers in the history of philosophy. One that was too active in English politics, and I forget his name. Socrates, who got way too involved in politics to claim innocence, and Heidegger with the Nazi's.

To me, you may as well sail the boat as go along for the ride. Otherwise it is more safe and sensible to keep all your opinions comfortably general. Marx was another philosopher who could have stayed a tad more aloof. His manifesto just gave the rich the news that we were coming for them. I was trying to keep that as a surprise.

Sweeney

[yallerdawg]

5. "The unexamined life is not worth living."

We should all be philosophers!

That is the ultimate result of Marx.

[Sweeney]

6. Just because the unexamined life is not worth living

does not mean people are not trying like hell to live it. In my book; most people are moralists which is the high point of philosophy any way. People suffer some bumps and bruises every day of their lives, and I think very few take that as reason to pass their pain along. Every child in his first experience of loss and death learns of the unfairness of life. How many become with that wisdom the masters of misery and unfairness?

I do not doubt that people some time live seething, and in rage, waiting only for some one to finish tipping them off their edge; but still they wait, and this waiting is a moral act even when it seems purely passive. So I think most of us are moral and moralists. I think that all children are philosophers and this fact is neglected so that most children resort to religion, or gather about themselves aphorisms as a small p Philosophy. I try to teach my eldest granddaughter Philosophy, and if she knows what I know she will quickly surpass me because she is sharp.

Thanks...Sweeney

[Dworkin]

7. Can philosophers do?

I remember some thing about Nietzsche trying to rescue a horse, and another about Wittgenstein threatening Popper with a poker. Then, there is always the motorcycle maintenance. But, admittedly, it is practically thin gruel overall, apart from the Nazis and Lenin etc.

[imsarvan]

8. Excellent article

I really love to read this article and want to say thanks for producing such a nice article

[marble falls]

9. Hello Sarvin! Welcome to DU! How did you find this discussion?