Polarizing Street Propaganda

Recently, I was in San Francisco on vacation. I was walking down the street downtown in order to get to the nearest BART station. Anyway, some guy approached, clipboard in hand, and asked me if I support Planned Parenthood. Not wanting to get into a discussion on the street, I said, "No." [most specifically, I was saying no to the conversation.] And then, he proceeds to say something like, "When you start caring about women's rights, then come talk to me."

A Lesson from the Martial Arts for Academics

I have recently started taking Kenpo/Jujitsu. And, like many academically-minded people, I have begun reading many things about my new interest. I was particularly interested in reading about practical reasoning derived from martial arts principles. So, the above book came highly recommended to me. I approached the book with the attitude of a very famous Bruce Lee quote: "Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own."

Autonomy is Valuable only when pursuing the Good

In his book, The Morality of Freedom, Joseph Raz makes the following statement: "No one would ever deny that autonomy should be used for the good" (380). This might not seem like a contentious statement at first glance. But Raz is basically saying that autonomy is not valuable unless it is used in the pursuit of the good. In other words, does autonomy have any value when it is used in the pursuit of evil? Some people might think that autonomy is equally valuable, regardless of what one chooses to do with it. But Raz, a professed liberal philosopher who values autonomy, offers an explanation of why this is not the case.

Beardsley's notion of Aesthetic Experience

Monroe Beardsley defended a view of aesthetic experience, which was the subject of a series of exchanges between him and George Dickie. The idea of aesthetic experience is considered by many to be vague, from which some conclude that it is uninformative or unhelpful. Anyway, I want to present Beardsley's last attempt, before he died, to explain a view of aesthetic experience that he believes could be successful. So, in his book, The Aesthetic Point of View (288-289), Beardsley presents the following notion: "an experience has aesthetic character if and only if it has the first of the following features and at least three of the others." I will present and explain these features in turn.

The Concepts of Expressing and Evoking in the Realm of Art

I have recently been reading (and teaching) the book, The Philosophy of Art by Stephen Davies. Chapter 6 is called "Expression and Emotional Responses"; in this chapter, Davies talks about the possibility of art 'expressing' emotion or the idea of emotion. Using this term 'express' seems to be normal in the literature on aesthetics, rather than using the term 'evoke'. So, I am wondering if 'evoke' should actually be preferred. I am willing to admit that it is possible that I am involved in some sort of semantic game; that is, there is no significant difference. However, I am inclined to believe that there is a difference between these terms, especially when looking at their definitions; and, further, this difference is significant. I will suggest that, perhaps, it is better to think of art evoking emotion, rather than expressing it.

What is the Relationship between an Idea and a Work of Art?

Can a work of art be merely an idea?

In 1964, Ben Vautier (pictured above) sat down in a chair with a placard that read: "Look at me. That's all it takes; I'm art." Did Vautier really transform himself into a work of art simply be 'declaring' himself to be one? If yes, then other questions arise. Was his placard necessary for him to be the work of art? Also, does he continue to exist as a work of art for the rest of his life?

Questions about forgiveness.

Forgiveness shows up in a variety of contexts and relationships. People forgive each other. People forgive themselves. People claim that God forgives them, and that God can forgive other people as well. But there are some kinds of situations that I am not quite sure what forgiveness means.