What If Chimps Are Granted Human Status?

I just found out about a court case that would be important on many fronts. The primatologists who brought up the case may be primarily concerned with the biological resemblance between humans and apes. However, if this chimp is granted human rights, it will shift our perspective on humanity on quite a few fronts. Religion [...]

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Long, Philosophical Musings about Multiplicity

Yesterday evening, I decided to read a philosophical article on multiplicity written by Daniel C. Dennett and Nicholas Humphrey – because I like philosophy and I am still interested in the concept of multiplicity. Finally, I seem to have found an article I philosophically agree with – even though it’s not wholly about my own [...]

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Musings on Identity and Purpose

If we create and maintain our identities and self-images because of a need to provide our lives with a sense of unity and purpose… why do we have such a need in the first place? This is a difficult subject for me. Why would one need an identity, a self-image, in the first place? Why [...]

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Does Morality Come from God?

I am seeing some extremist Christians claim that all morals come from God, and specifically their God, or Jesus. They say that morals have to come from somewhere, since otherwise there would be no Absolute Truth and if there weren’t, nothing would be good or evil. Agreed, there have to be some universal values that [...]

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Thoughts on a Theory of Multiple Selves

I found this article. It’s quite cool. It makes clear how all of us “wear different hats” as we encounter different situations. Everyone has several different roles and, if you liked, you could see them all as different Selves, as the writers of this article are doing. I learnt about the structurialist protrayal of mankind [...]

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Peter Singer on Animal Rights

I was just reading the article All Animals Are Equal by Peter Singer. In this article, the Australian-born philosopher and professor at Princeton argues for equality between humans and nonhuman animals. He argues that the capacity to suffer and enjoy should be the only requirement for consideration of one’s interests (which is what counts in [...]

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Philosophical Thoughts on Natural Multiplicity

I always used to be very interested in what separates what is called the “self” from the “other”. As a child, I used to imagine what it would be like if I had someone else’s mind, like my sister’s or cab driver’s, or what it would feel like to be something I wasn’t, like male [...]

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Thoughts on Existentialism

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” – Jean-Paul Sartre From the time I learnt what existentialism meant, I’ve hated it and yet been fond of it. But isn’t that what existentialism is for? For no-one would want to be thrown into this [...]

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Hobbes on Religion and Evolution Theory

Hobbes says in his Leviathan that people believe in God because they want to explain things and cause they have fear for the future. In the nature state, people have to fear everyone else (hence the war of all against all). They have a God to project their fears upon. Hobbes is seen as an [...]

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Project on British Idealism

I suddenly realise how stupid it is that I passed this year! Now I’ll have to work my entire summer holiday. That f*cking final project on British Idealism, you know? September 1st will be discussion of the “research phase”. Well, it won’t be cause P. doesn’t do a f*ck of it except when I remind [...]

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