Again, following on from clarity.
In 1894 Gustav Klimt was commissioned to do three paintings for the University of Vienna entitled Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence.
This is the picture he presented for Philosophy:
The philosophy professors were outraged when they saw this and refused to accept his paintings. They wanted an image showing “The triumph of light over darkness” [...]
I recently realised that one of the big goals in my life is the pursuit of clarity. Clarity in all things, in my understanding of myself, my relationships and those around me. Clarity in an intellectual sense; that I have clear justified opinions crafted out of deep and sound knowledge. Clarity in an emotional sense, that I am [...]
I’ve been learning about the brain over the last few days and it has helped me re-realise the magnificent complexity of the human body and the ethical issues surrounding scientific progress. Resources have been piled into brain research over the past 100 years or so, yet we are still totally clueless about how most of the [...]
Just a couple of links this week:
Ask PhilosophersThey have a "Question of the day" which is normally pretty interesting; there's a lot of good stuff in the archives too.
New Scientist - Last WordA similar thing, but more science based; interesting questions about trivial things.
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, [...]
I think it is easy to forget what memories, reality, science and “fact” really are. Just because you can remember something doesn’t mean it’s true, just because experimental theory points to something doesn’t mean it’s true. There is no such thing as absolute certainty, almost any hypothesis is ultimately as viable as any other. I [...]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4647142.stm
Makes me wonder…