When we experience the world and interpret its meaning, it is not so much "I'll believe it when I see it", it is rather "I will see it if I believe it". And - in the way that I believe it to be. Curious? Then you might be interested in this short BBC Ideas video: …
Continue reading Spreading the Word: Different Worlds We Experience
What's the temperature outside right now? How would you check it - look out the window, perhaps open it to get a feel, or look into your prefered weather app? I'm from a generation that still remembers life without mobile phones and the internet, but that got quickly used to all the comforts these technologies …
Continue reading What is More Real – Experience or Measurement?
There are different views about this question. Some scholars see the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant as one of the central Enlightenment thinkers, while others claim that in him we can already see the shift away from the self-confident optimism about the power of human reason that marked the Enlightenment age. However, any answer to …
Continue reading Philosophical Notes: Is Kant an Enlightenment Thinker?
The tea bag has a curious story. The typical tea bag of today is an invention of the 20th century. It became popular towards the second half of the last century. Before that, all tea that was consumed in the world was loose-leaf. How very different the tea-drinking experience used to be. It required more …
If you had a free evening and were offered to read either Romeo and Juliet or a scientific research paper about neurochemical processes people refer to as love, which would you choose? Image from Pixabay It depends on your mood, I suppose, and on your priorities at that particular moment. But I believe I would …
Last year around this time I wrote about miracles. More specifically, the 18th century Scottish philosopher's David Hume's views on them. It is that season again when my thoughts, at least sometimes, turn to the topic of miracles. Perhaps especially this year. Wouldn't the world really need a few good miracles now! It turns out, …
In the first part of this article (published last week), I stopped at the appearance on the stage of Plato and his ideas of what is real, as expressed in his famous cave allegory. Now, I jump right in and pick up from exploring Plato`s thoughts on the topic of reality. Afterwards, I offer some …
Continue reading The Meaning of Objectivity, Reality, Truth – Part II (Final)
Real life. Objective reality. True fact. We all confront these and similar short phrases in our daily lives. They are powerful because they are meaningful to us. Yet, do we really, objectively, truly know the meaning of these words? Do we understand that it is us who endow them with meaning? If we are ready to contemplate …
Continue reading The Meaning of Objectivity, Reality, Truth – Part I
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