Tag Archives: Philosophy

Universals: An Opinionated Introduction by D. M. Armstrong

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This is an excellent introduction to the philosophical problem of universals: what is it for two things to be of the same type? Armstrong discusses the pros and cons of six theories: 1) natural classes as primitives; 2) resemblance nominalism; 3) universals; 4) natural classes of tropes; 5) resemblance classes of tropes; and 6) tropes plus universals. He also discusses substance-attribute and bundle theories of universals and tropes.

Armstrong’s own position is that the world consists of states of affairs, which are made up of substances with attributes, that is, particulars that instantiate universals, which have differing degress of resemblance. Although he believes that universals are preferable to tropes, Armstrong sees resemblance classes of tropes as a strong competitor to universals. He also suggests that the differences between universals and tropes may be merely terminological.  (3/9/10)

Truth: A Guide by Simon Blackburn

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This is an excellent discussion of the philosophical issues concerning truth.

Blackburn argues for a minimalist version of truth: assertions of any kind fit into the schema “‘P’ is true if and only if P”, even ethical and aesthetic assertions.

He then navigates between four philosophical views regarding truth: 1) eliminativsm (get rid of it!); 2) realism (get it right, and then talk of truth, ontology, reality, fact…); 3) quietism; and 4) constructivism (also fictionalism, pragmatism, instrumentalism, expressivism…). In the end, he supports realism of a modest sort: a realism that is comfortable saying science and most everyday beliefs are true, which is why they bring us success in our endeavors.  (2/15/10)

Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit by Jonathan Foa Dienstag

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A history of philosophical pessimism, concentrating on Leopardi, Camus, Schopenhauer, Freud, Nietzsche and Cervantes. Philosophical pessimism results from consideration of the human condition, stuck in time, with everything eventually disappearing. The author says philosophical pessimism can be life-affirming, at least for Nietzsche and Cervantes.  (1/14/10)

This Whole World

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Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life is surely a beautiful film, but it raises the question whether this world of ours is a good place to live. Is it a vale of tears, the best of all possible worlds or something in between?

Any generalization to the effect that the whole world is either good or bad seems misguided. Overall, the whole world just is. There is no other real world to compare it to (certainly none that we can observe).

When people used to say that the world is a vale of tears, they meant that this world is one of pain and suffering compared to the next world, the heavenly one. Although we can imagine worlds that are better or worse, like heaven or hell, that’s really irrelevant. We’re stuck with this one.

Or else lucky to have this one. But really neither.

We probably think, however, that living in this world is better than not living at all. That’s the common point of view, although not universal. In this case, we aren’t trying to compare this world to some other one. We’re just concluding that being here is better than not being anywhere.

Brian Wilson offered a positive view of the situation 40 years ago: