tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post9015553545076294579..comments2023-10-29T10:32:36.914-04:00Comments on Philosophy, et cetera: Big QuestionsRichard Y Chappellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-2834131583445631602008-12-13T10:02:00.000-05:002008-12-13T10:02:00.000-05:00I would be interested to know who think the most i...I would be interested to know who think the most important thinkers in these eight areas are..<BR/>But really interesting, key questions you are spending your time answering. Good on ya!Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17197722605633212963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-67265753265604489342008-12-06T21:23:00.000-05:002008-12-06T21:23:00.000-05:00Amos - interesting question! (But why? Maybe recur...Amos - interesting question! (But why? Maybe recursion is inherently interesting.)<BR/><BR/>(1) is especially significant from a consequentialist standpoint. It has all sorts of implications for applied questions from population ethics (should we prefer more people, driving down average welfare, if the sum is thereby greater?) to longevity research and the rationality of suicide (under what conditions would living longer make one better or worse off?).<BR/><BR/>'Rational normativity' may be the closest thing to a common thread running through (many of) my questions. For example, (3), (4), and (5) might all be understood as asking, in their various ways, about the stringency of rational normativity, and what sorts of ideals can guide non-ideal beings like ourselves. And if rational pluralism (6) is possible, that will have significant implications for the constructivist claim (8) that a priori truth <I>just is</I> whatever would be ideally rational to believe.Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-42812666610714274242008-12-06T20:45:00.000-05:002008-12-06T20:45:00.000-05:00My primary philosophical interest is free will/mor...My primary philosophical interest is free will/moral responsibility and related issues in agency. I can't quite explain why I'm so interested in it.AnlamKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01899302900723576110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-52122740194703365472008-12-06T20:39:00.000-05:002008-12-06T20:39:00.000-05:00At the moment, I'm interested in what makes a phil...At the moment, I'm interested in what makes a philosophical question interesting. Why, for example, are you interested in (1)? I can see that as philosophical questions go it's interesting in the sense of being a) complex and b) not intuitive. But those features only turn up in a question that's already been posed, so I'm left wondering what it is that led you to pose it. Also, is there a common thread directing your interest in any or all of the eight questions you posed? That is, is there some more general issue at stake in some or all of them?Amos Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00262758674894498892noreply@blogger.com