October 2005
October 2005
Fiction and Imaginative Resistance
Ken Taylor
19
Oct 2005
I recall saying during our on-air conversation that we are inclined to go along and imagine whatever the author of a well-constructed fiction invites us to imagine. Without the slightest resistance, we accept invitations to imagine scenarios that contradict the known laws of nature or that rewrite some large or small fragment of the history of the world. We have no resistance to imagining scenarios that, on one way of measuring, might be seen as altogether metaphysically impossible.
Read moreWe’re All Crazy (Prelude to Tuesday’s show “Art and the Suspension of Disbelief”/follow-up to John’s most recent blog)
Neil Van Leeuwen
16
Oct 2005
Have you ever watched a foreign film without subtitles in a language you don’t speak ? You probably didn’t watch the whole thing, because—no matter how worked up the actors got—you didn’t follow it and they’re just actors anyway. Contrast that feeling of lack of interest with the intense feeling of engagement you get watching your favorite film. For me that would be American Beauty or The Godfather, Part I. Let’s call the first kind of feeling the this-is-lame feeling and the second the this-is-awesome feeling.
Read moreFiction and Belief
John Perry
13
Oct 2005
I read somewhere that when the boat with the latest installment of The Old Curiosity Shop arrived in New York, there was a crowd a block deep waiting to find out what happened to Little Nell. Those closest to the boat found out that she had died, and as the message filtered back through the crowd a visible wave of horror and despair followed, with people breaking down in tears.
Read moreBackstage Live with Philosophy Talk
Philosophy Talk
03
Oct 2005
On Sunday, November 6th, 11:30 - 1:30, we will be produce an episode of Philosophy Talk in front of a live audience on the Stanford Campus. Our guest will be Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. The episode will be taped and broadcast at a later date. Our topic will be Legislating Values.
Read moreThe Costs of War
John Perry
02
Oct 2005
Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the New York Times did its best to run an informative obituary of each of the victims, those at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the airplanes that were hijacked. So there were in the neighborhood of 2000 of these obituaries. Reading them, day after day, made a very deep impression.
Read more