Innate Ideas: I've Had a Few

Here are a couple articles by Steven Pinker that offer some psychological insights on the innate ideas debate we discussed in class:

The Brain’s Versatile Toolbox (1997)

Grammar Puss (1994)

But hey, why read when you can watch a video? With that in mind, here's his appearance on The Colbert Report (the second part is particularly relevant to innate ideas):

Pinker has a few books on this stuff, and a lot of other interesting articles, too.

So Important They Give It Away

The week of February 19th-23rd we'll be going over the debate in epistemology between rationalists and empiricists. Here's an advanced survey article on the debate from my favorite free online philosophy encyclopedia:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Rationalism vs. Empiricism

Yes, there is more than one free online philosophy encyclopedia.

The Antidote to Humeanism

Do you find yourself obsessed with Hume's question of what could justify inductive reasoning? Boy, do I have a link for you:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Problem of Induction

Or, you could watch a dog puppet insult people waiting in line to see Star Wars:

Triumph vs. Star Wars Geeks

Hmmm... is Triumph justified in concluding that all Stars Wars fans are nerds?

Reading Response #1

The first reading response is due Thursday, February 8th (if you're in a Tuesday/Thursday class) or Monday, February 5th (if you're in the Monday night Holy Cross class). In a 250- to 500-word response, you are to answer the following question:

What does Descartes say he cannot be certain of? What does Descartes say he can be certain of? Do you agree with Descartes? Why or why not?

The response is based on the reading from pages 58-71 of the textbook.

Link Tested, Keanu-Approved

Here's a trio of links. The first one is a guide to reading philosophy that might help you if you're having trouble understanding the assigned readings.

Jim Pryor's Guide to Reading Philosophy

The next two relate to epistemology and skepticism, which are what we'll be talking about starting with the Descartes reading. Both are about the movie The Matrix. The first is pretty straightforward (If Neo read it, he'd say 'whoa'), but the second is a little more advanced (If Neo read it, he'd say 'huh?').

The Matrix: Dream Skepticism
The Matrix: Brain-in-a-Vat Skepticism

By the way, if you have any links you think I or others in class might find interesting, let me know. And feel free to comment on any of these posts.