Eagleton On Suicide Bombers

Terry Eagleton has written an interesting article on the suicide bomber, presenting the argument that the bomber is engaging in propaganda of the deed - a line that is nearly one hundred years old, if Conrad's The Secret Agent is taken into consideration - though it seems more plausable than Hondrich's position.

Squashed Philosophers ...

Not a substitute for engaging the Great's ad tandem, but a possible brief introduction: Glyn Hughes' Squashed Philosophers ...

Two Boethius Translations

Erik C. Kenyon has posted tranlsations of two of Boethius' brief theological works De trinitate and Utrum pater et filius et spiritus sanctus de divinitate substantialiter praedicentur.

As works they lack the flair of the Consolations of Philosophy, but are still an interesting read.

DJ Spooky On Loops Of Perception

DJ Spooky, who has just performed in Sydney as part of the Festival, made the following observation as part of an interesting essay:

we use our minds for so many different things that we can only guess at how complex the process of thinking is. Outside, it's a different scenario. Each human act, each human expression, has to be translated into some kind of information for other people to understand it: Some call it the "mind/brain" interface, and others, like Descartes, call it a kind of perceptual (and perpetual) illusion. In our day and age, the basic idea of how we create content in our minds is so conditioned by media that we are in a position unlike any other culture in human history: Today, this interior rhythm of words, this inside conversation, expresses itself in a way that can be changed once it enters the "real" world. When recorded, adapted, remixed, and uploaded, expression becomes a stream unit of value in a fixed and remixed currency that is traded via the ever shifting currents of information moving through the networks we use to talk with one another. It wasn't for nothing that Marx said so long ago that "all that is solid melts into air" - perhaps he was anticipating the economy of ideas that drives the network systems we live and breathe in today. In different eras, the invocation of a deity, or prayers, or mantras, were all common forms, shared through cultural affinities and affirmed by people who spoke the code - the language of the people sharing the story.

Talbot On Philosophy and the Internet

Marianne Talbot, in an article for the Telegraph (English), makes the observation that "Philosophy lends itself extremely well to online study, not least because it is essentially a solitary activity. Philosophy requires serious, sustained thought, and such thinking demands time alone to read and to think about the issues."

The latter part of the observation goes some way to answering Melbourne Philosopher's question on why philosophy is such an individual persuit.

Foucault On Abnormal - Review

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews has published this review of Abnormal, the latest collection of Foucault's Collage de France lectures (1974-1975).

Lentin On Racism

For those of you have do not keep a regular watch over the local politics of Newcastle, the area has seen of late the emergence of a vocal ‘anti-immigration’ organisation. They made an appearance last year when they campaigned contra the University’s International community. They made a further appearance last week when they tried to rally their supporters against the growing Sudanese community. According to the media they were not able to muster more than twenty supporters to their protest on Saturday. There has been a considerable opposition.

Their emergence has caused me to contemplate the nature of racism, in an attempt to do something to combat it. The Gentle’s at The Virtual Stoa were good enough to post this essay on racism and human rights only the other day.

Philosophical Links List

As promised the Philosophical Links list is now underway. At present only up to those Links which start with the letter 'N' have been put up, the othere letters are to follow. The Links are a mixed bunch, gathered during various cyber-wanderings. No assurity is made regarding their quality nor their legitimacy - this is the internet after all!

On Genealogy And Personhood

Having spent time contemplating the nature of personhood, the following comment, from a review by David Hull, made a certain amount of sense:

'A ... reason why so many people are so conservative with respect to species is that we human beings form a species. If something is true of all species, then it is true of our species, and lots of people do not want to visualize the human species as part of a genealogical network. According to the class interpretation, a certain list of characters defines Homo sapiens. Anyone who lacks one or more of these characters is either not a human being or not a normal human being. On the part-whole interpretation, a newborn baby born without plantigrade feet is still a human being. If your parents are human beings, then you are a human being. If you mate successfully with another human being, then you too are a human being. Homo sapiens, like all sexual species, is part of a particular genealogical nexus. That may not sound right, but there it is.'

It must be asked whether or not genealogy forms a viable basis for personhood? Do we want to be able to say that anybeing born of a human being is automatically a person? Conversely, do we want to say than anybeing not born of a human being is not to be accorded personhood?

David Chalmers' Blog

David Chalmers now has a blog. Will add to the blog list shortly.

Raz On Contempory Philosophy

Joseph Raz, a commissioning editor at Oxford University Press, made the following observation in a conversation:

Perhaps in our hyperactive world the mode of progress in philosophy has changed. Perhaps it now lies less with the singular achievements of exceptional thinkers like the classics of modern philosophy: Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, and others, and more in the cumulative products of hundreds of worker ants. This would suggest that the history of philosophy may assume the relation to philosophy that the history of physics has to physics. It would even make the ephemerality and forgetfulness of the age less regrettable. I doubt, however, that that can be the whole story. It is probably yet another manifestation of the lack of clear horizons in contemporary philosophical thought.

On The Status of Contributors

The Editor, in consultation with various members of the Committee, has determined the following guidelines regarding Contributor status.

All members of the University of Newcastle Philosophy Club are welcome to apply to become Contributors to the blog. Applications should consist of three sample posts, and should be addressed to: newcastlephilosophyclub(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)au. Having been considered, applicants may be invited to become Contributors.

It should be noted that there are exceptions to this rule. Members who are honors or post-graduate students in philosophy, or related disciplines, are exempt from having to submit sample posts. All Faculty of the University of Newcastle are invited to become contributors by the Editor, and are exempt from having to submit sample posts. In such cases, a simple application should be sent to the aforementioned address.

Presidential statement thingy

Another year, another.....year?
So much for starting on a profound note. I'm obviously too sober for that. Or maybe it's you that is too sober. Who knows? Back to the point.

Why have a Philosophy Club? What are we here for?

The Club aims to support those who study philosophy at the University, as well as those in the broader community who are interested in philosophy. We also aim to promote and facilitate philosophic, and intellectual, discourse and scholarship on Campus and in the world at large.

I believe that by doing the former, we make a very good start on acheiving the latter. The support that we can give to student of philsophy can come in a range of forms. Mainly, we can provide (a few) people that will listen and argue at great length, about all things philosophical. We are less likely, for example, than the average person in a bar, or commerce tutorial, to tell someone with an anti-realist adgenda that they are crazy. We may give a warmer response to a disbelief in inductive reasoning than say, a chemistry lecturer. We tolerate discussions that most people find annoying, disturbing, boring, irrelavent or offensive (the fools).
This is important, as nothing helps to develop an idea like bouncing it off someone else who knows vaguley (is that spelt right?) what you are talking about. Furthermore, it can stop students of making fools of themselves (well, not completely). Something that might seem like a really good idea at 3:00 am over half a bottle of port/scotch/absinthe/ or several joints/cones/buckets (you get the idea), may sound somewhat less good in the cold light of the Godfrey Tanner Bar the next day when you try to explain it to a sober person.

We also host guest speakers (when we can actually get them).

-Sam Douglas (President)

The 8th Philosopher's Carnival

enwe's meta-blog
is presently hosting the 8th Philosopher's Carnival.

Foucault On Bureaucrats

“Do not ask me who I am and do not ask me to remain the same: leave it to our bureaucrats and our police to see that our papers are in order. At least spare us their morality when we write.”

- Michel Foucault
The Archaeology Of Knowledge
(London: Routledge, 2002), p. 19.

On 'Learning To Write'

Melbourne Philosopher has published some useful notes on the topic of writing philosophical papers - available from: http://melbournephilosopher.blogspot.com/2005/01/learning-to-write.html

Epicurus On Cheese

“Send me a pot of cheese, so that I may be able to indulge myself whenever I wish.”

- Epicurus, Fragments §39.
The Essential Epicurus

(Buffalo: Prometheus, 1993), p. 95.

Links Section

After much experimentation, we now have the seed of a links section. At present there are only a couple of links, but this list will rapidly grow.

First Post - Eleventh Thesis

Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.

- Karl Marx, 'Theses On Feuerbach'

Fragmenta

The Fragmenta were compiled and included at the end of the various Issues of Dialectic.

New Series Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2004.

“Send me a pot of cheese, so that I may be able to indulge myself whenever I wish.” – Epicurus, Fragments §39. The Essential Epicurus (Buffalo: Prometheus, 1993), p. 95.


New Series Volume 1, Issue 2, June 2004.

“Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” – Karl Marx, ‘Theses On Feuerbach’ §XI The Portable Karl Marx (New York: Viking Penguin, 1983), p. 155.

“No, he’ll perceive it in itself and by itself, constant and eternal, and he’ll see that every other beautiful object somehow partakes of it, but in such a way that their coming to be and ceasing to be don’t increase or diminish it at all, and it remains entirely unaffected.” – Plato Symposium §211a,b (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 55.

“Do not ask me who I am and do not ask me to remain the same: leave it to our bureaucrats and our police to see that our papers are in order. At least spare us their morality when we write.” – Michel Foucault The Archaeology Of Knowledge (London: Routledge, 2002), p. 19.


New Series Volume 1, Issue 3, July 2004.

“Men being all naturally inclined to sexual intercourse, and the consequence of this being the birth of children, whenever one of those who have been reared does not on growing up show gratitude to those who reared him or defended him, but on the contrary takes to speaking ill of them or ill treating them, it is evident that he will displease and offend those who have been familiar with his parents and have witnessed the care and pains they spent on attending to and feeding their children.” – Polybius The Histories VI.6 (London: William Heinemann, 1954), p. 279.

“When sight is taken away along with association and intercourse, erotic passion ceases.” – Epicurus, Vatican Sayings §18. The Essential Epicurus (Buffalo: Prometheus, 1993), p. 78.

“Sexual intercourse has never conferred a benefit; one should reckon oneself glad if it has not brought any harm.” – Epicurus, Fragments §8. The Essential Epicurus (Buffalo: Prometheus, 1993), p. 89.

“In one of his books of Exhortations, he [Chrysippus] says that sexual intercourse with mothers or daughters or sisters, eating certain food, and proceeding straight from childbed to deathbed to a temple have been discredited without reason. He also says that we should look to the beasts and infer from their behaviour that nothing of this kin is out of place or unnatural.” – Plutarch, On Stoic Self-contradictions 1044F–1045A in A. Long and D. Sedley [Ed.] The Hellenistic Philosophers, Vol. I 67F (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), p. 430.

“La sexualité, c’est assez monotone!” – Michel Foucault Dits Et Écrits II, 1976 - 1988 (Paris: Gallimard, 2001), p. 1428.


New Series Volume 1, Issue 4, August 2004.

“Only he [the wise man] is free, but the inferior are slaves. For freedom is the power of autonomous action, but slavery is the lack of autonomous action. There is also a different slavery which consists in subordination, and a third consisting in possession as well as subordination; this last is contrasted with despotism, which is also a morally inferior state.” – Diogenes Laertius 7.121-2 in A.A. Long and D.N. Sedley [Ed.] The Hellenistic Philosophers, Vol. I 67M (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), pp. 431, 432.

“Quite a few men have even been awarded cults before now because of the immortality of their children, where as no human child has ever yet earned his father a cult.” – Plato Symposium §209e (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 53.

“For if A and B are friends, then the collaboration of each is for the sake (at least in part) of the other, and there is community between them not only in that there is a common interest in conditions, and common pursuit of the means whereby each will get what he wants for himself, but also in that what A wants for himself he wants (at least in part) under that description ‘that-which-B-wants-for-himself’, and vice versa. Indeed, the good that is common between friends is not simply the good of two successfully achieved coinciding projects or objectives; it is the common good of mutual self-constitution, self-fulfilment, self-realization.” – John Finis, Natural Law And Natural Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 141.


New Series Volume 1, Issue 5, September 2004.

“Pindar turned it into a law of nature – which meant that he ‘justified the use of force extreme’, to quote his actual words.” – Plato Laws §713 (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972), p. 173.

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” – Albert CamusThe Myth of Sisyphus (London: Penguin, 2000), p. 11.

“killing is an act which of itself does nothing but damage the basic value of life.” – John Finis, Natural Law And Natural Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), p. 119.


New Series Volume 1, Issue 6, October 2004.

“Enlightenment is mankind’s exit from its self-incurred immaturity” – Kant, Immanuel, ‘An Answer To The Question: What Is Enlightenment?’ in James Schmidt [Ed.] What Is Enlightenment? (Berkley: University of California Press, 1996), p. 58.

“Each individual also requires, according to his status and vocation, different theoretical insights and different skills to attain them – a different degree of enlightenment. The enlightenment that is concerned with man as man is universal, without distinction or status; the enlightenment of man as citizen changes according to status and vocation. The destiny of man remains always the measure and goal of these efforts.” – Moses Mendelssohn, ‘On The Question’ in James Schmidt [Ed.] What Is Enlightenment (Berkley: University of California Press, 1996), p. 55.

“Man, it turns out, can lose all so-called Rights of Man without losing his essential quality as man, his human dignity. Only the loss of polity itself expels him from humanity.” - Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Meridian Books, 1960), p. 297.