The most profound philosophical concepts tell us something like this: ‘If you want your life to have some meaning, you must accept the event, you must remain at a distance from power, and you must be firm in your decision.’ This is the story that philosophy is always telling us, under many different guises: to be in the exception, in the sense of the event, to keep one’s distance from power, and to accept the…
Here is a link to Brad Jesness’s review of my book, which I read with interest. The review is posted on ResearchGate as a “comment”, and I decided to respond to it here for the sake of convenience. Brad (and others) could continue the thread either here or on RG. I wasn’t expecting much of a reaction to my book, so I am grateful to have received Brad’s thoughts. He is very generous in his…
I am making a video series (“study guide”) about Brian Haig‘s Book, Investigating the Psychological World: Scientific Method in the Behavioral Sciences. We are reading the book with my students in the course, Systems & Theories in Psychology. Most of the students in that class are in their final year and are doing a final-year research project. I will be going through the book chapter by chapter, devoting two videos to each chapter. Feel free…
This term, when I am listening to student presentations, I find myself wanting to give feedback more and more on the form and style of presentation. What kind of feedback? Look at your classmates (at least occasionally). Don’t dismiss yourself and your presentation at the outset. Don’t dismiss the possibility that someone might be interested, that someone might be actually listening to you. Be responsive to what you are saying. Highlight what is important with…
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…