Monthly Archives: May 2009

The 20 “Most Important” Philosophers of the Pre-Modern Era

Posted on May 11, 2009 by shaunmiller

Voted by 531 philosophers: 1. Plato (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) 2. Aristotle loses to Plato by 231–229 3. Socrates loses to Plato by 366–81, loses to Aristotle by 356–122 4. Aquinas loses to Plato by 447–37, … Continue reading →

Posted in Experts, History | 2 Comments

How Much Water do you Use?

Posted on May 9, 2009 by shaunmiller

There’s a nice chart that you can see here along with some good advice.  Notice how much water is needed for meat.

Posted in Environment | 1 Comment

Being vs. Doing

Posted on May 8, 2009 by shaunmiller

“Go out there and be someone.”  This is a line you often hear from parents, teachers, and other peers.  But what does it mean?  People usually mean that you must achieve something in your life and that your very being … Continue reading →

Posted in Empiricism, Epistemology, Paper Topic, Rationalism | 6 Comments

Religion and Happiness Don’t Always go Together

Posted on May 7, 2009 by shaunmiller

A while ago, there was a study showing that the more religious one was, the more happy one was. Religiousity and happiness were proportional to each other.  I was always skeptical of this claim because I thought the numbers were … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion, Values | 4 Comments

Obesity and the Fastness of Food

Posted on May 6, 2009 by shaunmiller

Taken from the article: Here I’ve plotted out the relationship between time the average person in a given country spends eating and that country’s obesity rate (as measured by the percentage of the national population with a body mass index … Continue reading →

Posted in Health | 1 Comment

Relooking at The Post-American World

Posted on May 6, 2009 by shaunmiller

Since Fareed Zakaria’s book, The Post-American World, is coming out in paperback, I thought I’d re-release my review on it here. Also, Zakaria was on the Daily Show talking about the situation in Pakistan.  It’s getting more tricky. In terms … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

20 “Most Important” Philosophers in the Modern Era

Posted on May 5, 2009 by shaunmiller

Brian Leiter had a poll to see which philosophers were the most important meaning influence and ideas.  Results are below from over 750 people polling: 1. Immanuel Kant (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) 2. David Hume loses … Continue reading →

Posted in Experts | 3 Comments

Van Gogh Did NOT Cut Off His Own Ear

Posted on May 5, 2009 by shaunmiller

Apparently, fellow artist Paul Gauguin did.  In the latest art news, there was a dual and Gauguin, who was an expert fencer cut off the ear. But in order to protect Gauguin, they both agreed to tell the police that … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetics, News | 1 Comment

Great Line from a Great Philosopher

Posted on May 4, 2009 by shaunmiller

Reading some Nietzsche and came across a line I really like from his Beyond Good and Evil at the end of section 187: [M]oralities are also only a sign language of the feelings. Concise but powerful.

Posted in Nietzsche | 1 Comment

Gates on Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq

Posted on May 3, 2009 by shaunmiller

Possibly one of the smartest men in our government is Sec. of Defense, Robert Gates.  He talks with Fareed Zakaria on CNN about what he thinks of the situation there and what we can and should do.  I think his … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, News, War | Leave a comment