Philosophy Society Archives - Daniel Aaron Lazar Fri, 12 Jun 2020 20:12:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Social Animal: How the new sciences of human nature can help make sense of a life. https://daniellazar.com/2013/02/28/social-animal-how-the-new-sciences-of-human-nature-can-help-make-sense-of-a-life/ Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:01:52 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=4271 We are living in the middle of a revolution in consciousness. Over the past few decades, geneticists, neuroscientists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, and others have made great strides in understanding the inner working of the human mind. Far from being dryly materialistic, their work illuminates the rich underwater world where character is formed and wisdom grows. … Continue reading Social Animal: How the new sciences of human nature can help make sense of a life. →

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]]> Emserson: Self-Reliance https://daniellazar.com/2012/11/11/emserson-self-reliance/ Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:54:50 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=3993 Self-Reliance is an essay written by American Transcendentalist philosopher and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson’s recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas.

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]]> On Robert Nozick https://daniellazar.com/2011/07/18/on-robert-nozick/ Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:01:34 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2512 Slate’s Steven Metcalf offers insight into the evolution of Nozick’s thoughts on libertarianism.

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]]> Free Will? https://daniellazar.com/2011/05/20/free-will/ Fri, 20 May 2011 10:00:47 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2484 Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the problem of free will – the extent to which we are able to choose our actions.

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]]> A Physicist Explains Why Parallel Universes May Exist https://daniellazar.com/2011/05/20/a-physicist-explains-why-parallel-universes-may-exist/ Fri, 20 May 2011 09:58:43 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2480 Our universe might be really, really big — but finite. Or it might be infinitely big. Both cases, says physicist Brian Greene, are possibilities, but if the latter is true, so is another posit: There are only so many ways matter can arrange itself within that infinite universe. Eventually, matter has to repeat itself and … Continue reading A Physicist Explains Why Parallel Universes May Exist →

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]]> Fun with Kant https://daniellazar.com/2011/04/13/fun-with-kant/ Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:14:37 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2409 The Kant Song: Kant Attack Ad:

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]]> Stephen Hawking: The Grand Design https://daniellazar.com/2011/03/30/stephen-hawking-the-grand-design/ Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:36:45 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2405 If nature is governed by laws, three questions arise: 1. What is the origin of the laws? 2. Are there any exceptions to the laws, i.e., miracles? 3. Is there only one set of possible laws? Print and read The Grand Design demandingly (highlight and take notes). Come to our next session prepared to unpack it.

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]]> The Anosognosic’s Dilemma: Something’s Wrong but You’ll Never Know What It Is https://daniellazar.com/2010/12/23/the-anosognosics-dilemma-somethings-wrong-but-youll-never-know-what-it-is/ Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:45:29 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2307 Errol Morris is a filmmaker whose movie “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara” won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2004. He has also directed “Gates of Heaven,” “The Thin Blue Line,” “Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control,” “A Brief History of Time” and “Standard Operating … Continue reading The Anosognosic’s Dilemma: Something’s Wrong but You’ll Never Know What It Is →

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]]> Consider the Lobster https://daniellazar.com/2010/12/23/consider-the-lobster/ Thu, 23 Dec 2010 19:56:21 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2304 Read Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace and consider the following questions before our next session: What are the ethical dimensions of Wallace’s piece? What connections, if any, are there between ethics and morality? Would the “knife in the head” or the slow boil method strike you as more ethical? “Why is a primitive, … Continue reading Consider the Lobster →

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]]> What Does Technology Want? https://daniellazar.com/2010/12/23/what-does-technology-want/ Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:22:26 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2301 Are new ideas and new inventions inevitable? Are they driven by us or by a larger force of nature? In this conversation recorded as part of the New York Public Library series, Steven Johnson (author of Where Good Ideas Come From) and Kevin Kelly (author of What Technology Wants) try to convince Robert that the … Continue reading What Does Technology Want? →

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