Philosophy

Out of Service

Here is a sentence by Alva Noë (2015) which hints at the distinction between philosophy and practical problem-solving. … if there is a pornographic art, whatever else is true of it, it will not be good for masturbating. (from Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature, p. 116) The “function” of art, similar to the “function” of philosophy, involves being anti-functional, as it moves us against the ways we assume we ought to serve and be served. Philosophy (like art) refuses to serve our taken-for-granted purposes. To…

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Culture Philosophy Writing

Marginal Figure

In early February, Peter Limberg and I discussed possible ideas for a writing collaboration. Peter is the friend I mentioned at the beginning of the post Margins & Vitality. The idea of writing about the Marginal Figure appealed to both of us. The article is now available on Medium. Peter runs the podcast, Intellectual Explorers’ Club, where he demonstrates his rare style of open-minded and insightful conversation. Unlike professional academics, Peter sees intrinsic value and…

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Peirce Philosophy

Peirce Series: Preface

“Postscript” would be more accurate than “preface” since I am writing this at the end of the thread. I’ll be continuing my reading of Peirce, though my upcoming summer posts will not continue in this thread. What I have done here is the following: Pragmatic Maxim Settled Opinion Principles of Inquiry Signs: Part 1 Signs: Part 2 Grant Franks’ lecture Metaphysics: Part 1 Metaphysics: Part 2 Reality Outside the Mind (Psychology Today) The series was…

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metaphysics Peirce Philosophy

Peirce: Metaphysics 2

We find another triad in Peirce’s categories. They are opaquely named Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness (Atkin, 2016, Chapter 6). In earlier works Peirce more descriptively calls them, respectively, quality, relation, and representation. The term “relation” might be misleading, because–as we find in Peirce’s treatment of signs–there are relations that cannot be reduced to two terms. That is why Peirce considers replacing relation with reaction. He also admits to have stretched “the meaning of the word…

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metaphysics Peirce Philosophy

Peirce: Metaphysics 1

In this post and the next, I am concerned with C. S. Peirce’s metaphysics (Atkin, 2016, Chapter 6) and–as it has been my aim throughout this Peirce series–with drawing connections between the philosopher’s work and the recent work in general psychology (Jens Mammen and Niels Engelsted). Peirce’s method for metaphysical inquiry has something to do with phenomenology or, perhaps more accurately, introspection. Given that phenomenology taps into what every person can find in their experience,…

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