I was thinking today about the idea of choice. The existentialists talked about choice all the time- How every human has the "burden of choice". In other words, we all have the "burden" of free will, the choice to do something or to not do something. I know my philosophy knowledge is rudimentary at best, but I guess my question is: when did this idea of choice emerge? Primitive man had no luxury of choice, everything was about survival- So at what point did humans develop the idea of having a choice?
posted on Jul 22, 2008 - 22 answers

Where did the universe come from in the first place? [more inside]
posted on Jul 12, 2008 - 39 answers

What is the most readable translation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason? [more inside]
posted on Jun 19, 2008 - 10 answers

Looking for some good christian apologetics podcasts. I listen to Stand to Reason but was curious if anyone liked or could recommend others.
posted on Jun 13, 2008 - 10 answers

What kind of computing power would be needed to simulate consciousness? [more inside]
posted on Jun 11, 2008 - 21 answers

What is "living life to the fullest"? How to do it? [more inside]
posted on May 23, 2008 - 18 answers

What's the big deal with JL Austin's "How To Do Things with Words"? [more inside]
posted on May 20, 2008 - 10 answers

A Crisis of Identity? All my life, I've been the sort of person to avoid my faith to a certain extent (I would pray and try and be as good a muslim as I could, but there was always so much more I could do, and I knew it). Recently, I've met someone who's awakened that desire in me to finally make the commitment, and it feels great to have begun to do so, but there's another side of me that feels like I'm (I don't even know how to say it...) cheating on it... [more inside]
posted on May 20, 2008 - 38 answers

In Buddhist philosophy, how is one supposed to do anything? [more inside]
posted on May 18, 2008 - 44 answers

20-something INTP, bored to death in his corporate gig, asks: What should I do with my life? [more inside]
posted on May 8, 2008 - 28 answers

I am looking for online magazines to submit art/literature/experimental/fun articles to. I think 'The Believer' magazine is a good example of the type I crave. UK based would be best, but not completely necessary. [more inside]
posted on Apr 23, 2008 - 9 answers

I'm writing a monstrous paper on the "cross-curricular" teaching method for middle school and high school. I have searched ERIC, JSTOR, and psycINFO with all kinds of keyword combos, and I'm still not coming up with decent theoretical or empirical articles. I really need the help of the Collective BrainFilter. I'll explain further inside... [more inside]
posted on Apr 19, 2008 - 10 answers

How do I pronounce POGGE? [more inside]
posted on Apr 16, 2008 - 9 answers

I have read Richard Rorty's "Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity" and I find it fascinating. I would like to read "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" but I can't find it in e-text format. Help me out green!
posted on Apr 7, 2008 - 2 answers

Help me persuade a small philosopher's 'circle' to use the Philosopher's Research Network to distribute papers given at our annual meeting. [more inside]
posted on Apr 1, 2008 - 8 answers

What is the relevance of Socrates' last words? [more inside]
posted on Mar 29, 2008 - 13 answers

I am interested in finding a good, interesting online academic community—discussion boards, chat rooms, and the like. I am primarily interested in Literature and Philosophy. Do these places exist, or are internet fora pure lulz?
posted on Mar 23, 2008 - 9 answers

Lately I have been playing many strategy board games and not winning that much. I feel I need to become a more adept strategic / tactical thinker. What books, mental exercises or other things could help me? [more inside]
posted on Mar 18, 2008 - 17 answers

I am looking for writings on the infinity of definition. [more inside]
posted on Mar 13, 2008 - 32 answers

Does anyone speak Heidegger? If so, which of his terms might be used to describe coffee drinking? [more inside]
posted on Mar 7, 2008 - 7 answers

What's an easy-to-read introduction to ethics? [more inside]
posted on Mar 4, 2008 - 10 answers

Philosophy book that mentions King Lear in the introduction? [more inside]
posted on Feb 20, 2008 - 2 answers

Do any podcasts exist that deal (fairly) rigorously with literary/media theory and/or continental philosophy? [more inside]
posted on Feb 5, 2008 - 2 answers

I'm looking for labels for ways of knowing, in particular, the kind of knowledge that you won't understand until you've experienced it. [more inside]
posted on Feb 5, 2008 - 29 answers

I am interested in the mimetic and narrative capacities of artefacts, how cultural remnants transmit information through time and how meaning is translated once an artefact is re-appropriated or examined from a new perspective. I have several avenues of study at the moment (a list in extended explanation), but would like some more ideas. Areas of critical theory, linguistics, evolutionary psychology and poetics are all relevant. [more inside]
posted on Jan 27, 2008 - 12 answers

Looking for a (essay, book) source for the quote, "Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend" by Albert Camus. [more inside]
posted on Jan 10, 2008 - 14 answers

In the new Edge question Karl Sabbagh talks about how he used to think there were experts and non-experts, and an experts judgment was superior to his own... but he has since changed his mind. [more inside]
posted on Jan 8, 2008 - 9 answers

I heard about a book that covered philosophical questions at the core of mathematics. This interests me, but I'm really interested because if I remember correctly it used understanding of euler's identity as an example. What was this book?
posted on Jan 6, 2008 - 9 answers

Need some advice about reading philosophy [more inside]
posted on Dec 20, 2007 - 8 answers

Advice for reading Being and Time? [more inside]
posted on Dec 9, 2007 - 3 answers

Two questions about the necessity of self-deception. (1)I recall that Jesuits believe that you can build faith by engaging in external acts; what is the source of this? (2)Also, are there any famous philosophers that maintain that while certain propositions are not true, it is imperative to act as though they were? [more inside]
posted on Dec 5, 2007 - 19 answers

I am searching for examples of The Infinite, or the immeasurably large, in our mythologies and archetypes. I am also interested in the categories of Truth which came out of the emergence of Western, ontological thought. Does the trust in a rationally conceivable reality deny us the infinity of the mythological realm? By rooting ourselves in the present, and denying atemporal mythologies, do we also deny the infinite origins from where we came? [more inside]
posted on Nov 28, 2007 - 22 answers

Bernard Williams had a pretty low opinion of evolutionary biology. Are there any essays where he directly or indirectly criticizes the field? What about 'Shame and Necessity'? [more inside]
posted on Nov 27, 2007 - 12 answers

I need to write a paper about Hegel. An eleven-page paper. I have the knowledge, I have the skills, and I sort of have the time. But what about? [more inside]
posted on Nov 26, 2007 - 13 answers

Looking for some source of a quote about, or the general idea that, we are all slowly dying, but some are closer than others. [more inside]
posted on Nov 20, 2007 - 12 answers

I'm looking for a book that will serve as a good introduction to Buddhism. [more inside]
posted on Nov 8, 2007 - 21 answers

What reputable graduate (MA or PhD) programs in the philosophy of education are out there? I know of the ones listed here, and of Columbia. Do you know of any others?
posted on Nov 5, 2007 - 2 answers

[Philosophylter] Where can I find books/material that examine the nature/logic of universal truth?(1) and/or Where/when/how logic is inapplicable?(2) [more inside]
posted on Oct 15, 2007 - 12 answers

Wittgenstein filter: Tractatus 6.43 (end) "The world of the happy man is a different one from that of the unhappy man" What does this mean? [more inside]
posted on Oct 14, 2007 - 22 answers

Fifty years from now, people will look back at 2007 and say "That was the golden age of ________." [more inside]
posted on Oct 12, 2007 - 85 answers

Is there such a thing as Mormon philosophy? [more inside]
posted on Sep 26, 2007 - 20 answers

If a man’s wit be wandering, let him post a question about mathematics and reasoning to MetaFilter. [more inside]
posted on Sep 25, 2007 - 20 answers

Video clips that demonstrate the difference between rules and morals/ethics? [more inside]
posted on Sep 22, 2007 - 10 answers

In order to be saved, you must accept Jesus's salvation. Huh? Explain? [more inside]
posted on Sep 3, 2007 - 43 answers

Someone quoted to me a quote last night that was along the lines of, "War is a brutal and horrible thing, and the more brutal and horrible it is, the faster it's over." He used this both in defense of using nuclear bombs in WWII and in support of a similar approach for Iraq. I don't agree. [more inside]
posted on Aug 18, 2007 - 30 answers

Name some prominent converts to either atheism or theism. [more inside]
posted on Jul 24, 2007 - 45 answers

I need help putting together reading material for a philosophy course. [more inside]
posted on Jul 11, 2007 - 29 answers

After being baptized, Jesus immediately went into the desert for 40 days, where he was tempted by the devil. When he came back, he was a transformed man. He was suddenly spouting very clever things (still quoted 2000 years later), and in a few weeks, he had a constant crowd of hundreds to thousands of people around him. What can happen in 40 days that transforms a man from an uneducated carpenter to the greatest philosophical influence that ever existed? [more inside]
posted on Jun 13, 2007 - 48 answers

I love podcasts, but it very difficult to find new, quality programs. I am looking for broadcasted material on a range of topics - including philosophy, the mind, avantgarde arts and lectures by creative, original thinkers (see my list of current podcasts for detail)... Can you help? [more inside]
posted on May 31, 2007 - 20 answers

Is science a philosophy? Is philosophy a science?
posted on May 14, 2007 - 18 answers