If I want to show up for the program on time, it's better that I think that it will start at 10 a.m., when it will start, than 11 a.m., by which time it will be over. This is certainly true in life's mundane affairs. But philosophy is also, as we like to say on Philosophy Talk, devoted to questioning everything (except your intelligence), then we are committed to questioning the central aims of philosophy, including truth, and the value of questioning everything.įrankfurt makes the point that truth is often of practical significance. Of course, love of, or devotion to, truth, is not peculiar to philosophy. Modern analytic philosophers might find "wisdom" a little pompous, and prefer "love of truth" as an articulation of the central aim of philosophers. Philosophy literally means "love of wisdom," or so I am told. The first decries and defines bullshit it assumes we care about the truth, the second tells us why we should. Today we'll focus on, or at least begin with, his two best-selling little books, On Bullshit, 2005, and On Truth, 2006. He has written important work on Descartes and the Cartesian Circle (see Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen, 1970), freedom and free will (see Freedom of the Will and the Concept of the Person in the Journal of Philosophy, 1971) and related issues of caring, love, identity and much else (see The Importance of What We Care about: Philosophical Essays, 1988, Necessity, Volition, and Love, 1999 and Taking Ourselves Seriously & Getting It Right, 2005). Frankfurt has been around a long time, even longer than me, I think. On today's show (i.e., Sunday January 28, 2007) Ken and I will interview Harry Frankfurt, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |