Philosophy Now Forum

Thanks for the link, Phillip. The film is both very interesting, and very well put together. It was also fun to see Rush Limbaugh making a complete idiot of himself because he hadn't bothered to check the facts - my sympathies to Erin McKenna.

So the central question is, have American history and geography created philosophies that would not have arisen elsewhere? It is a question we can sensibly ask about philosophy, but that we could not sensibly ask about mathematics and physics - if an advance in those disciplines is not made in one place, the same advance will, sooner or later, be made in another place. The most striking comments were those on growth, openness, possibility and risk in section 5. All of those things seem to go with a big country, where there is (or was) room for expansion. A few years ago, after seeing an exhibition of Russian landscape paintings, I commented to an American friend that it seemed to be fundamental to the Russian psyche that the country was so big. She thought the same was true of the American psyche.

Just came across this video on the James Randi Educational Foundation website and thought it was worth posting.

It features neuroscientist Steven Novella speaking about consciousness and relating two-substance dualism to creationism and attempts to bring the supernatural into science. Well worth a look.

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/component/content/article/44-amazing-meeting/1255-video-steven-novella-from-tam-6.html

Silence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz9AHXgZ ... re=related

Stephen Fry on Philosophy and God (or not).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqyXgvvzJQM&feature=related

Always worth a look by those interested in phenomenology, epistemology or philosophy of mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKQQAmQ5 ... verified=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dODn_k_ ... verified=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq73kqnz ... verified=1

Are there alternative sources available?

Apologies Ron,
I did not realise that there were blocks between Europeon countries.

I have no idea how to get around this as they used to just be on youtube but I can't find them now.

Best I can say it that they were links to - Derren Browns, Trick or Treat TV series upon the UK's C4 TV channel.

http://www.channel4.com/search/?q=derren+brown

Specifically;

Series 2 episodes 1 & 5 and Series 1 episode 5.

But all his works display amazing questions for the interested philosopher so I'd recomend taking a look as much is still on youtube. Don't be put-off by the showmanship as he is displaying great skills and raising important issues about the mind I think.

No problem, there was no way of knowing that.

I just saw Series 1 Ep 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTLPB3exGyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TCLOQXGTz4&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjRz-PnKyCw&NR=1

Amazing. However, one by one all these magic tricks are being explained, for example (unrelated)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnLnAIgsGvg

So I was looking for magnets in the table, pre-selected audience members etc. Cannot explain the number 136 being the average of everybody's guesses though but I am sure there must be a simple out-of-the-box thinking trick behind it. The mind is misled, that is nifty but that is all.

Which series was this from Ron? Do you have the name so I can go look.
Thats the thing Ron, what he's doing is not 'magic' tricks in the old sense I think, although I do understand this response as he has grouped together all the 'tricks' and he likes his showmanship, but he himself says that what he's trying to show is how language, mind, memory and the 'unconscious' work in human thought and communication and his books explain how he does it. Nothing he does, he says, is not what we do naturally and that all could do what he does. You can get a good understanding of his approach from the ideas of NLP, which again I recomend to any philosopher interested in phil of mind, etc. http://nlpuniversitypress.com/ and Grinder and Bandlers original books, The Structure of Magic I & II.

I seriously recomend that you find and watch as much of his stuff as you can to get a good idea of what he's doing. His trip to America to 'debunk' the psychics and religious converters is very intersting as he shows how he can instantly convert people back to their faith. His 'tricks' where he shows others how to 'read anothers mind' in seconds are amazing. On the whole I find him very ethically sound, especially since with his abilities he could cause much mischief if he wished. Although I think in the past he might have not been so, e.g. if you can find it take a look at the one where he teaches a punter/better at a dog-track to get paid-out on losing tickets, its hysterical and scary how others can influence one with the power of suggestion.

That “not available” screen is what I get when I click on the first link you provided Tue Aug 02 10:35 am. Don’t you think that what he says is part of the trick, as it always is, to deflect attention and to buy time for setups behind the screens?

Hi Ron,
And the screen I posted was the one I get when I click upon your links.

No, I seriously don't think he is using the old magicians and hypnotist tricks of presenting his audience as a random group of people but are really a selected set of those susceptible to suggestion. As amongst his 'works' are examples where he does them with whole theatre audiences and theres no way he could have pre-selected them. He also works with ad-hoc members of the public. I truly think he is a living embodiment of the principles that NLP suggests underlie 'thought', 'mind', language and communication. I don't doubt that his showmanship can give he impression that its just cons and tricks in the old way but he's fairly sound in his wish to explain what he's doing and how its a based upon how we actually think and communicate. As such he has spent much time demonstrating and debunking how 'pyschics', 'faith-healers', et al, do their stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xswt8B8-UTM
Hope this one works.

Hi Arising,
Yes I must say I am more impressed by what you suggested I should see and have seen now, although I see basic psychology at work and not (so much) NLP, spoiling over into magic tricks, very professionally prepared by the BBC. The link worked and although I do not agree with Dawkins' anti-theistic position I do respect and understand what he says. Derren Brown is doing brilliantly and is humbly unaffected by his own success, which I like most about him. I will surely want to see more of his work.
Thanks.

Clown Philosophy

I hope these two (short) humerous philosophy vids are appropriate for this thread --

These are from a satirical animated series on YouTube which usually features debates between The Atheist and The Christian, but these two vids feature "The Clown Philosopher" as one of the debaters

Video #1 -- The Atheist and his guest debater, The Clown Philosopher....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HM-bS4qMk

Video #2 -- The Christian's turn to co-host with The Clown Philosopher...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYxKYpZwInc&feature=related

rebecca

Hi all,

The iai (Intitute of Art and Ideas) organises http://www.howthelightgetsin.org/ - the world's largest philosophy festival! Most of the videos from the previous years are available on the website to watch for free.The talks cover all the most cutting-edge philosophical subjects and debates and I'm sure you'll find something to your taste! To give you a taste of the festival, here is a talk by Simon May:

http://iai.tv/video/what-s-love-got-to-do-with-it

I hope you enjoy it!

Emily x

that's my kind of philosophy