Thursday, September 23, 2010
Department Of Philosophy Colloquia Series: Wild Bodies!
I just wanted to give those of you who are not philosophy majors a heads up, since you likely did not receive an email about this event. Dr. Jordan from the Psychology Department will be giving a talk on Wild Bodies: Toward A Metaphysics Of Meaning next Monday. If you're interested, stop by and check it out. See the image below for details.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Second Meeting
Our next club meeting will be at 5:30pm on Monday, September 20 at the Coffehouse in downtown Normal. If you need directions, check out the embedded map below:
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Hope to see you all there!
Monday, September 13, 2010
This blog title is false!
Thanks to everyone who came out to the first meeting and congratulations to our new officers! Here are the results of the elections:
President: Weston Love
Vice Presidents: Eric Burns, Justin Lowe
Secretary Treasurer: Connor Allen
As you may have guessed from the title, we spent some time on the Liar Paradox. Have a look at this Star Trek episode that kicked off our discussion.
I'm sure if you were standing outside the room you would have seen a fair bit of smoke making its way out from under the door as we thought about this circuit-melting paradox. Think about it. "This sentence is false." But, if it's false, then it's true. But, if it's true... anyway. While its truth value is debatable, the fact that there is something strange going on in particular self-referential sentences, such as the Liar Paradox, is not. It's important to note that we said something strange is going on with particular self-referential sentences. Consider the following sentence: "It is true that this sentence is composed of eleven words." The sentence makes reference to itself but it seems like a perfectly normal thing to say. It makes sense. It's not some semantically random, syntactically correct combination of words. So, among other things, several of us agreed that the problem with the Liar Paradox does not lay merely within the fact that it is self-referential. If you'd like to learn more about the Liar's Paradox, check out the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on it.
What do you think? If you have an opinion you'd like to share, leave a comment or, even better, meet up with us next Monday at 5:30pm. The location is still pending but as soon as it is determined you'll find it here and if you're a member of the Listserv, you'll get an email. If you're an Illinois State University student and you'd like to join the ISU Philosophical Society Listserv, send Eric (ejburns@ilstu.edu) or Wes (wtlove@ilstu.edu) an email.
There is no set topic of discussion for the upcoming meeting but it has been suggested that we talk about Stephen Hawking's new book The Grand Design. If you have any ideas, bring them along! We're also looking for good, thought-provoking movies, so keep an eye out.
President: Weston Love
Vice Presidents: Eric Burns, Justin Lowe
Secretary Treasurer: Connor Allen
As you may have guessed from the title, we spent some time on the Liar Paradox. Have a look at this Star Trek episode that kicked off our discussion.
I'm sure if you were standing outside the room you would have seen a fair bit of smoke making its way out from under the door as we thought about this circuit-melting paradox. Think about it. "This sentence is false." But, if it's false, then it's true. But, if it's true... anyway. While its truth value is debatable, the fact that there is something strange going on in particular self-referential sentences, such as the Liar Paradox, is not. It's important to note that we said something strange is going on with particular self-referential sentences. Consider the following sentence: "It is true that this sentence is composed of eleven words." The sentence makes reference to itself but it seems like a perfectly normal thing to say. It makes sense. It's not some semantically random, syntactically correct combination of words. So, among other things, several of us agreed that the problem with the Liar Paradox does not lay merely within the fact that it is self-referential. If you'd like to learn more about the Liar's Paradox, check out the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on it.
What do you think? If you have an opinion you'd like to share, leave a comment or, even better, meet up with us next Monday at 5:30pm. The location is still pending but as soon as it is determined you'll find it here and if you're a member of the Listserv, you'll get an email. If you're an Illinois State University student and you'd like to join the ISU Philosophical Society Listserv, send Eric (ejburns@ilstu.edu) or Wes (wtlove@ilstu.edu) an email.
There is no set topic of discussion for the upcoming meeting but it has been suggested that we talk about Stephen Hawking's new book The Grand Design. If you have any ideas, bring them along! We're also looking for good, thought-provoking movies, so keep an eye out.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
First Club Meeting!
Welcome to the first ISU Philosophical Society (Club) blog! Keep checking back to stay updated on club related information and events. If everything goes according to plan, we will also be posting interesting videos, interviews, and thought experiments.
The first club meeting will be Monday, September 13th, at 5:30pm in room 126 Stevenson. If you have any questions about the location and/or time, please email Eric (ejburns@ilstu.edu) or Wes (wtlove@ilstu.edu). The future meetings are likely to be on the same day of the week (Monday) but this is subject to change. If this date is inconvenient for you, please send us an email or show up to the first meeting and let us know what works for you. Our intention is to work out a date that works best for the majority of the members.
In case you weren't able to stop by our table at the ISU Festival this semester, we'd just like to let you know that we welcome all ISU students. The club is not just for philosophy majors. The Philosophical Society is just a group of individuals who like to get together, informally, and really think about different issues, ranging from current affairs to ancient philosophical inquiries. We also like to watch movies (who doesn't?). So, if you've seen any interesting, though-provoking movies, let us know. We'd love to watch it and discuss it with you.
The first club meeting will be Monday, September 13th, at 5:30pm in room 126 Stevenson. If you have any questions about the location and/or time, please email Eric (ejburns@ilstu.edu) or Wes (wtlove@ilstu.edu). The future meetings are likely to be on the same day of the week (Monday) but this is subject to change. If this date is inconvenient for you, please send us an email or show up to the first meeting and let us know what works for you. Our intention is to work out a date that works best for the majority of the members.
In case you weren't able to stop by our table at the ISU Festival this semester, we'd just like to let you know that we welcome all ISU students. The club is not just for philosophy majors. The Philosophical Society is just a group of individuals who like to get together, informally, and really think about different issues, ranging from current affairs to ancient philosophical inquiries. We also like to watch movies (who doesn't?). So, if you've seen any interesting, though-provoking movies, let us know. We'd love to watch it and discuss it with you.
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