Philosophy
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Naom Chomsky
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality , existence , knowledge , values , reason , mind , and language . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument . [ 3 ] In more casual speech, by extension, "philosophy" can refer to "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group". [ 4 ] The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία ( philosophia ), which literally means "love of wisdom". [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras . [ 8 ] A "philosopher" was understood as a word which contrasted with " sophist ".
Philosophy
RTP - Home Page
The Ragged Trousered Philosopher or 'RTP' as we are affectionately known to our friends, is an exercise in Web authorship which has been going on since 1996 (the core 'book' was started in 1986), the title of which was inspired by Robert Tressell's classic 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'. But that's about as far as the resemblance goes. There is little doubt that life on Earth is headed in the general direction being painted here. Entropy, chaos and quantum mechanics have somehow turned primitive information first into energy, then matter, then self-motivating matter, intelligent matter and, with us, matter that can begin to create even more intelligent matter .
What will they call themselves? When we realised we were no longer apes, we called ourselves Human. When we realise we are no longer human, what will we call ourselves then? We are naïve to think of the coming metamorphosis in terms of perfection.
Ragged Trousered Philosopher
Ragged Trousered Philosopher
I met god the other day. I know what you’re thinking. How the hell did you know it was god? Well, I’ll explain as we go along, but basically he convinced me by having all, and I do mean ALL, the answers. Every question I flung at him he batted back with a plausible and satisfactory answer.
If you want to know how we can prevent the Tyrants doing more damage than the Terrorists; or how we can begin to claw back the liberties and privacy we've already lost, please read on... The paper I hope you're about to read represents a major component of the Trusted Surveillance scheme which I first mentioned here and which will (eventually) be explained in detail in the final part of my "War" chapter (Chapter Ten - Part 3). For an entertaining warning about the results of the Untrusted Surveillance we're already living with and threatened by, check this out.
Identity Cards
The world is in a collossal mess. Is there a rational way out of the maze?
First, thanks to Matt who posted this comment against the Pinter post. It touches on one of my new year resolutions for 2006 so I thought I could do worse than outlining the answer to his question: "I was wondering if you had any strategies which might lead to the victory of liberatory forces." As I said in my brief reply, he has, of course, asked the $64,000 question.
Just another book on Philosophy; so why should you read it at all? Because, like us, you want to live forever, and you want to change the world of course. An ambitious opening, but we'll try to justify it as we go along.
