COMMENSAL ISSUE 90
The Newsletter of the Philosophical Discussion Group
Of British Mensa
Number 90 : January 1998
ARTICLES
26th November 1997 : Eric Hills
COMMENTS & QUESTIONS ON C89
I have belonged to several SIGs, from two of which I received
no communications, and I have left them all because they were so
disappointing as regards their declared purposes. Now I have
joined PDG and I have received my first Commensal, No. 89. I
have been very pleased to read it - except for some things which
were obscure and I think should be clarified. I should like to
ask several questions and to offer a few comments.
Philip Lloyd Lewis (
C89, p.13
) :
- What is the evidence to justify
TTR
in dividing reality into two tiers?
- What do you mean by current
pseudo-scientific
theorising about the creation of the universe?
- Why do you say that
primary reality
is not open to scientific investigation ?
- The recommendation to ignore knowledge of the
laws of nature
in favour of swimming in uncertainties seems to be a recipe
for unnecessary suffering and probable disaster!
Michael Nesbit (
C89, p.16
) :
- How does human reflexive awareness create the
subject-object
dichotomy of religion and of science?
- Why does the act of reflexive recognition involve a partial
disidentification
of the nascent self with its body? It suggests to me a greater
realisation of their identification.
- In any case, why potentially disastrous consequences to the
ecosphere
?
- Would not regaining the perspective of an
unselfconscious
organism be an undesirable loss?
- I do agree that it is the intention or tendency of all
moral and ethical systems to create or facilitate a
coherent society
.
Alan Carr (
C89, p.24
) On Ireland : It is probably practically impossible to accommodate all sides. So, if some bodies refuse to participate in the talks, why not reach a consensus (which respects the position of minorities) among those who do participate and implement that ? Why should subsequent hostile acts by deliberate non-participants be tolerated ? I feel sure philosophers of democracy from Locke to Popper would agree.
Vijai Parhar (
C89, p.26
) : I am surprised that anyone should think that everything is
determined and there is no free will. I am surprised also when
anyone says that nothing is determined and there is only free will.
Common sense suggests that there are some things which we can and
cannot do and others about which we have choices.
Rick Street (
C89, p.31
) : A book by Steven Mithen published last year, "A Prehistory
of the Mind. A search for the origins of art, religion and science",
describes archaeological discovery and research which show that
art originally was probably
functional
. There is evidence that
paintings and carvings from about 40,000 years ago were intended
to store, transmit and retrieve information.
Eric Hills