Philosophy never takes a vacation!

If any philosophical issues arises this week, let your fellow bloggers know about it! Describe the situation or event that made you recall one of our themes or discussions and post it here.

Bonus Blog!

Discuss any differences that you have encountered so far in the film. You can talk about any devices used to build suspence that were not available to Henry James, or specific directorial changes. Have fun!

The Turn of the Screen

As we mentioned in class, The Turn of the Screw has been adapted many times in many different forms. Imagine that you were asked to cast a new film version of the novel. Who would you choose to play the Governess, Mrs. Grose, Peter Quint and Miss Jessel? Select at least three of the roles and then explain why you would choose the actors in question.

Turn of the blog...

Our study of The Turn of the Screw suggests that philosophers aren't the only people interested in philosophical issues. Can you think of another novel that explores some deeper philosophical issues? Identify the book and the issues it explores.

Quote the Raven...

Here is a philosophical problem adapted from Martin Cohen’s 101 Philosophy Problems. See if you can offer a solution to it or at least some kind of comment on what the problem suggests or implies.

A king once got into an argument with his brother. The king insisted that all ravens were black, but his brother asked, “How do you know that that is the case?” The king was annoyed, so he called his royal philosopher. “Listen, philosopher,” the king said. “I need you to prove that all ravens are black. We may say we know that all ravens are black, but I have to win this argument with my brother. Get hopping."

The philosopher returned to his study and thought about the proposition. On his chalkboard, he wrote:

All ravens are black.

To prove this, he realized, he would have to find all the ravens in the world and check that they were black. This, obviously, would take a long time. Plus, he thought about all the ravens that once were and all the ravens that would be. How was he supposed to deal with that? Then he had the idea of finding all the non-black things and checking that there were no ravens among them.“Find all the non-ravens and check that they are not black,” the philosopher told his assistant. Then he realized that this wouldn’t work, either, since lots of things that are not ravens (like iron pots and coal and panthers) are black anyway.

The problem still was that, even if they did find at the time of checking that every raven in the world was indeed black, it was possible that the next raven they found might be, say, green.

But the philosopher tried to tough it out anyway and returned to the king, who was having lunch with his brother. He then proclaimed, “My lord! The way to win the argument is to say that we simply define ravens as being black. In which case, a green raven is not a raven at all, but simply a green bird with all the characteristics commonly associated with ravens except that of its color. And such a bird cannot be a raven. All ravens are really black!”

The king was overjoyed and the philosopher was delighted. But then the king’s brother left the room and returned with a cage containing a ghastly, sick-looking bird. “OK, then, philosopher,” the king’s brother asked. “But what is a raven with a disease which makes its feathers temporarily go green?”

What should the philosopher say?

Kavka's Toxin Puzzle

Here's a semi-famous thought experiment that asks us to consider the issue of determinism. It comes from Gregory S. Kavka's book The Toxin Puzzle (1983). Read the puzzle and then speculate on its implications. Do not use any outside sources or google. Being confused is fine--plagiarism is not.

Here it is:

There is a toxin which, upon consumption, will make you violently ill for a few hours. You will receive a sizeable lump of money if you are able to intend, at present, to drink this toxin a few days into the future. If the intention is truly and successfully formed, you will be awarded the money without ever having drunk the toxin, and whether you fulfill your original intention or not will not change your reward.

So what's the problem here? This is a tough one. Try to work it out.

My Fair Bentham

The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (whom you may know as the author of Pygmalion) was famous for his one-liners. (Any quotation dictionary will feature hundreds of Shavian remarks.) Here's one that relates to what we've been discussing in class:

"You have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it."

Consider the language of this remark and comment on its implications and applications to daily life.