About Arcane Sandwich

Location South America
Posts 201
Joined
Last Active
Invited By Jamal
Site Role Member
Favourite philosophers Mario Bunge, Graham Harman, Daniel Z. Korman
Favourite quotations "For example, the Pythagorean theorem exists in the sense that it belongs in Euclidean geometry. Surely it did not come into existence before someone in the Pythagorean school invented it. But it has been in conceptual existence, i.e. in geometry, ever since. Not that geometry has an autonomous existence, i.e. that it subsists independently of being thought about. It is just that we make the indispensable pretence that constructs exist provided they belong in some body of ideas—which is a roundabout fashion of saying that constructs exist as long as there are rational beings capable of thinking them up. Surely this mode of existence is neither ideal existence (or existence in the Realm of Ideas) nor real or physical existence. To invert Plato’s cave metaphor we may say that ideas are but the shadows of things—and shadows, as is well known, have no autonomous existence." (Bunge, 1977: 157)

"Start with a relatively simple situation. A behavioral biologist is observing a baboon troop. Over a period of several hours he records the episodes in which one of the animals grooms another, carefully noting the names of the animals (who groomed whom) and the time interval through which grooming occurred. Each entry in the notebook records the perceptual acquisition of a belief. Focus on any one.The observer is initially scanning the troop. He sees the male he calls “Caliban” approach the female he calls “Miranda.” There is a sequence of facial expressions and gestures, at the end of which Caliban crouches behind Miranda and plucks at her fur. Our biologist presses a button on his stopwatch and quietly moves to a position from which he can gain a better angle on the interaction. After a few minutes, Miranda shrugs and moves away. Another button on the stopwatch is pressed, and the biologist writes in the notebook,“Caliban—Miranda, 6:43.” That notation serves as an extension of declarative memory, something from which the biologist can later retrieve the belief that Caliban groomed Miranda for a period of six minutes and forty-three seconds.” (Kitcher, 1993: 222)
Home » Arcane Sandwich

Arcane Sandwich

Start FollowingSend a Message