Making Up People
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about the link between the way we classify and conceptualize actions and how we define those actions, as well as how we act. He notes that these methods of classifying and conceptualizing change over time, which means t...
Is Truth an Idealization of Rational Acceptability?
Philosopher Hilary Putnam explains how his thinking has changed from the time when he stated that truth is an idealized rational acceptability. He now believes that attempting to find one characterization of truth that covers every kind of truth is ...
Is the Real World Independent of Our Minds? (Part 2)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam continues his discussion of whether or not the external world is independent of our minds. At one time he made the statement that there is no real world independent of our conceptual system--a statement which he now regrets...
Is the Real World Independent of Our Minds? (Part 3)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam continues his discussion of whether or not the external world is independent of our minds. At one time he made the statement that there is no real world independent of our conceptual system--a statement which he now regrets...
Is the Real World Independent of Our Minds? (Part 1)
Philosopher Hilary Putnam talks about whether or not the external world is independent of our minds. At one time he made the statement that there is no real world independent of our conceptual system--a statement which he now regrets. Professor Putn...
Kierkegaard: The Temporal and the Eternal
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus continues his discussion of Kierkegaaard, whose views embody what Kierkegaard calls the temporal and the eternal. The temporal refers to living day-to-day in time. The eternal refers to one's unconditional commitment. Kier...
Kierkegaard and the Infinite
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about Kierkegaard's views of the self, observing that for Kierkegaard, one's whole world is organized in terms of what is relevant, significant and important, and that is tied up with one's unconditional commitment t...
Kant and the Distinction Between Scheme and Reality
Philosopher Ian Hacking talks about the distinction Immanuel Kant made between reality and scheme, a word used to describe "...the conceptual organization which we either socially or individually bring to raw sensation in order to organize it into s...
Developing Ethics From Childhood
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum talks about ethics as part of character development starting from early childhood. She points out that there are multiple perspectives on early childhood and it can be difficult to focus on the "right account."
Artificial Intelligence
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about initial efforts in the late 1950's to give computers human-like intelligence, which came to be known as artificial intelligence, or "AI."