blackburn simon think a compelling introduction to philosophy

This led to the Special Theory of Relativity (and Einstein himself acknowledged the importance of preceding philosophers in sensitizing him to the epistemological complexities of such a measurement). He realized that the results of our measurements would depend upon the way we are travelling compared to the events we are clocking.

Einstein's reflection on how we know whether two events are simultaneous had the same structure. Here reflection on the nature of knowledge-what philosophers call an epistemological inquiry, from the Greek episteme, meaning knowledge-generated the first spectacular leap of modern science. So the apparent motions of the stars and planets might arise because they are not moving as they appear to do, but we observers move. Copernicus (1473-I543) realized that how we perceive motion is perspectival: that is, whether we see things as moving is the result of how we ourselves are placed and in particular whether we ourselves are moving. So this bit of thinking, getting clear about the right categories with which to understand human motivation, is an important practical task. But this may be based on a philosophical mistake-looking at human motivation through the wrong set of categories, and hence misunderstanding its nature. If your philosophy is to doubt everyone's motives, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) memorably called this 'the war of all against all.' In the market-place, because they are always looking out to be cheated, they will incur heavy transaction costs. Economic man looks after himself, in competitive struggle with others. The leading paradigm in the social sciences is homo economicus-economic man. Fatalism, or the belief that the future is fixed whatever we do, is a purely philosophical belief, but is one that can paralyze action. If your reflections lead you to believe in a life after death, you may be prepared to face persecutions that you would not face if you became convinced-as many philosophers are-that the notion makes no sense. How you think about what you are doing affects how you do it, or whether you do it at all. So here is a middle-ground reply-Reflection matters because it is continuous with practice. The problem with it is not that it is wrong. And our mental health is just good in itself, like our physical health. It is the time in which we cosset our mental health. The time we take out, whether it is to do mathematics or music, or to read Plato or Jane Austen, is time to be cherished. A lot of life is indeed a matter of raising more hogs, to buy more land, so we can raise more hogs, so that we earn buy more land. There is no eye on any practical applications.

Why not just toss the reflective questions aside, and get on with other things? The kinds of answers: high ground, middle ground, and low ground: The high ground questions the question.

Blackburn simon think a compelling introduction to philosophy