Clipmarks | ophelia_in_red's clips

Squashed Kant: On the Nature of a Good Will

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:51:31 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Aw, Kant! I take it all back; you're a cutie.

I don't usually like Kant, but Glyn Hughes' squashed version of his understanding of the inherent goodness of a good will makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside...

Clip Source: www.btinternet.com

Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except a good will. Intelligence, wit, judgement, courage, resolution, perseverance, power, riches, honour, even health, are undoubtedly good; but these gifts may also become extremely bad and mischievous if the will which makes use of them is bad. It is the coolness of a villain which not only makes him far more dangerous, but also more abominable in our eyes.

A good will is good not because of what it performs or effects, but simply by virtue of the volition; that is, it is good in itself. Even if, through the disfavour of fortune, or the niggardly provision of a step-motherly nature, good will should yet achieve nothing, then, still, like a jewel, it would shine by its own light. Its usefulness or fruitfulness can neither add nor take away anything from this value.

Tags: kant, essays, philosophy, ethics

Squashed Kant: Glossary and Maxims

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:41:31 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: A neat summary of Kant's terminology and his moral maxims.

Clip Source: www.btinternet.com

GLOSSARY
Maxim: A subjective principle of action
Kingdom of ends: The union of different rational beings in a system by common laws.
A Priori Knowledge: That knowledge which is inate and necessary, needing no reference to things outside.
Analytic Propositions: Statements which prove themselves
Synthetic Propositions: Statements which are proved by things outside themselves.

KANT'S MORAL MAXIMS
The categorical imperative: Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
The imperative of duty: Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature.
The practical imperative: So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as means only.

Tags: kant, philosophy, ethics, essay

Squashed Kant: From Common Rational Knowledge of Morality to the Philosophical

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:25:20 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Glyn Hughes' excellent summary, in Kant's own words, of the first part of the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals.

Clip Source: www.btinternet.com

1: FROM COMMON RATIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF MORALITY TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL
The only thing that can be completely good is a good will. Even good acts and good things can be put to bad use. Yet even if we fail utterly, our acting with good will yet still shines like a jewel, for it has value in itself alone. The basis of morals seems to be the rule that I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law. Can I be deceitful? No! Because if that became a universal law, if everyone was deceitful, it would pay me back in my own coin. Hence my maxim would destroy itself.

Tags: kant, essays, ethics, philosophy

Decline in NHS Trusts Offering Homoeopathic Remedies

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:54:23 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: ... because they don't work. What a surprise.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

An increasing number of NHS trusts are no longer offering homoeopathic treatments to patients because of a lack of evidence that they work.

Figures reveal that only 37 per cent of 132 primary care trusts in England still have contracts for homoeopathic services. More than a quarter of trusts have stopped or reduced funding for the therapies over the past two years, while surviving homoeopathic clinics are in crisis, researchers say.

The Prince of Wales and the Queen are known to be supporters of homoeopathy, which is based on diluting in water or alcohol substances that could otherwise be poisonous. Most scientists argue that homoeopathic solutions are diluted so many times that they are unlikely to contain any active ingredients at all.

Tags: health, annoying, rant

G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica: The Basis of Intuitionism

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:47:25 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Moore's characteristically succinct assertion of the basis for his ethical intuitionism.

Clip Source: fair-use.org

My point is that good is a simple notion, just as yellow is a simple notion; that, just as you cannot, by any manner of means, explain to anyone who does not already know it, what yellow is, so you cannot explain what good is.

Tags: language, ethics, essays, g. e. moore, paedophilia

G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica: 'What is Good?'

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:41:13 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Moore puts forward his famous answer to the question 'What is Good?'

Clip Source: fair-use.org

If I am asked, What is good? my answer is that good is good, and that is the end of the matter. Or if I am asked How is good to be defined? my answer is that it cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about it. But disappointing as these answers may appear, they are of the very last importance. To readers who are familiar with philosophic terminology, I can express their importance by saying that they amount to this: That propositions about the good are all of them synthetic and never analytic; and that is plainly no trivial matter. And the same thing may be expressed more popularly, by saying that, if I am right, then nobody can foist upon us such an axiom as that Pleasure is the only good or that The good is the desired on the pretence that this is the very meaning of the word.

Tags: essays, ethics, g. e. moore, philosophy

G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica: The Nature of Casuistry

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:30:37 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Moore comments on the role of Casuistry, its relationship with Ethics, and the reason for its frequent inability to fulfil its purpose.

Clip Source: fair-use.org

Casuistry forms, therefore, part of the ideal of ethical science: Ethics cannot be complete without it. The defects of Casuistry are not defects of principle; no objection can be taken to its aim and object. It has failed only because it is far too difficult a subject to be treated adequately in our present state of knowledge. The casuist has been unable to distinguish, in the cases which he treats, those elements upon which their value depends. Hence he often thinks two cases to be alike in respect of value, when in reality they are alike only in some other respect. It is to mistakes of this kind that the pernicious influence of such investigations has been due. For Casuistry is the goal of ethical investigation. It cannot be safely attempted at the beginning of our studies, but only at the end.

Tags: ethics, essays, philosophy, g. e. moore, casuistry

Plato's Euthyphro: Socrates on the Gods and Piety

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:59:01 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Socrates' clearest statement of the famous Euthyphro problem: are things good because of divine command, or does the divine command things because they are good?

Clip Source: classics.mit.edu

The point which I should first wish to understand is whether the pious or holy is beloved by the gods because it is holy, or holy because it is beloved of the gods.

Tags: optional. separate by commas., essays, ethics, philosophy, plato

Plato's Republic: Glaucon on Justice

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:59:50 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Glaucon describes the commonly held understanding of what is meant by 'justice'.

Clip Source: classics.mit.edu

They say that to do injustice is, by nature, good; to suffer injustice, evil; but that the evil is greater than the good. And so when men have both done and suffered injustice and have had experience of both, not being able to avoid the one and obtain the other, they think that they had better agree among themselves to have neither; hence there arise laws and mutual covenants; and that which is ordained by law is termed by them lawful and just. This they affirm to be the origin and nature of justice; --it is a mean or compromise, between the best of all, which is to do injustice and not be punished, and the worst of all, which is to suffer injustice without the power of retaliation; and justice, being at a middle point between the two, is tolerated not as a good, but as the lesser evil, and honoured by reason of the inability of men to do injustice. For no man who is worthy to be called a man would ever submit to such an agreement if he were able to resist; he would be mad if he did.

Tags: philosophy, ethics, essays, plato

White Ninja has a shell to his ear.

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:14:48 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: One of my favourite White Ninja comics.

Clip Source: www.whiteninjacomics.com

Tags: comic, white ninja, shell, humour, internet

Even Channel 4 Folks Don't Have a Proper Grasp of the English Language

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 21:59:54 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: This pleasantly amusing error message on the 4Games website, my favourite repository for fabulous web games, is somewhat marred by the hideous substitution of "your" for "you're" in the third sentence.

Edit: I was touched to note that someone at Channel4 changed it. Well done, Channel4.

Clip Source: www.channel4.com

4Games is currently locked in mortal combat with an end of level boss, and it's taking longer than we expected to beat it. Check back later and hopefully we'll be able to tell you all about it!

We have put a small list together of our favourite games for you to play while your waiting.

Tags: annoying, grammar, internet, irritating, games, error, mistake

Highlights from "Things My Boyfriend Says"

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 21:45:13 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: I wish this got updated more often These are my favourites, anyway.

Clip Source: www.thingsmyboyfriendsays.com

Megalove.

While snuggling:

me: Who loves you?
e: Megatron.

E's financial planning.

"You shouldn't buy me things. Save your money for unicorn rides or whatever it is girls spend money on."

Baby, you're an original.

"Why are people always stealing my ideas? Like penis in vagina sex. MY IDEA."

Low and lazy.

me: Your fly is open.
e: I'M ADVERTISING.

Aphrodisiacs.

me: You need to watch this show. See how that guy's giving the chick candy?
e: SIGH. FINE. [grabs empty pretzel bag] Here's some pretzel salt. You lubed up yet? [laughs his ass off] I'm glad you love me, because no one else will.

Tags: humour, internet, relationships, men, women

Beginning of Rant about Anti Sex Offender Mania

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:32:44 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: The beginning of my blog entry about MySpace, LiveJournal and US Law violating privacy, freedom of speech and good sense with regard to the fight against child sex offenders.

Clip Source: ophe1ia-in-red.livejournal.com

In the last few weeks, I have heard about three things which have worried me.

The LiveJournal "paedophile" purge.
The MySpace sex offender purge.
This feature of the American 2003 PROTECT Act, prohibiting art depicting minors engaged in sex acts, even when no real children were involved in the production of the art.

Tags: blog, freedom of speech, law, livejournal, myspace, ophelia_in_red, paedophilia, protect act, rant, sex offence

Prohibition of Drawings or Sculptures of Children Engaged in Sex Acts in the 2003 PROTECT Act (US)

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:17:57 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: Disturbing snippets from the 2003 PROTECT Act, prohibiting all art depicting minors involved in sex acts, even if there was no abuse involved in the production of the art. Of course, I don't condone sexual abuse of minors or anyone else, but if no children have been abused in the production of the art, however disturbing we may find it, it shouldn't be illegal to own it, make it or look at it.

Flipping thought police

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Prohibits computer-generated child pornography when "(B) such visual depiction is a computer image or computer-generated image that is, or appears virtually indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; (as amended by 1466A for Section 2256(8)(B) of title 18, United States Code).

Prohibits drawings, sculptures, and pictures of such drawings and sculptures depicting minors in actions or situations that meet the (Miller test) of being obscene, OR are engaged in sex acts that are deemed to meet the same obscene condition. The law does not state that images of fictional beings who appear to be under 18 engaged in sexual acts that are not deemed to be obscene are rendered illegal in and of their own condition (illustration of sex of fictional minors).

Tags: protect act, america, law, child, sex offence, paedophilia, wikipedia

Things That Mildly Irritate Me

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:01:29 GMT

clipped by: ophelia_in_red
clipper's remarks: A list of mildly irritating things.

Clip Source: ophe1ia-in-red.livejournal.com

Pieces of paper that look square, but aren't quite. This is very discourteous to origami fans such as myself.
Mint humbugs with toffee inside that is not salty.
Low-fat things that are of a genre that is supposed to be bad for you, e.g. biscuits, cakes etc.
CDs that don't come in proper jewel cases.
People who say "Hence why".
Heat magazine.
Pub lemonade that comes out of a siphon instead of a bottle.
Dogs whose fur more than doubles their size.
Sunglasses cases which don't stop your sunglasses from falling out in your handbag and getting scratched.
Mika.
Having a good hair day but not knowing how to repeat the experience.

Tags: blog, ophelia_in_red, origami, sweets, grammar, lists, annoying, irritating