Posts

Jack and Jill Search for a Referent

Image
P. F. Strawson criticises Russell's theory of descriptions both in cases of too few and too many referents. What are his reasons, and is he right? Russell's theory of descriptions is part of his effort to take mathematical principles and apply them to language. Strawson makes the case that math is a limited language, and therefore cannot contain something greater than itself, such as ordinary language. Let's play a game with chairs. Jack and Jill are standing in a room. Jack says to Jill, "The chair has a book on it." Jill looks around, scrunches up her face, and replies "Umm, what are you talking about?" For when she looks around she sees no chair. Russell would say that Jack's statement "The chair has a book on it." is false, because there is no chair. Strawson would say that the statement is neither true nor false, because there is no chair. There are two things happening in this statement. There is a subject that is being identified, th

The Ordinary World of the Sorites Paradox

Image
What is the sorites paradox? Is there any satisfying way to resolve it? There is a difference between things being general, ambiguous, and vague. If I say "Cats are cute." I'm talking about all cats, or more reasonably most cats. It's a general statement. The class of objects known as cats usually has the quality of being cute from my perspective. If I say "Your cat is cute." and you have five cats, then you're probably not sure which one I'm talking about. My statement is ambiguous. The concept of vagueness is different than either of these. Where is the dividing line between tall and short? When does the spectrum running from red to pink change from red to pink? When you're crossing a threshold, when are you in? The original sorites paradox is about a heap of sand. You have a heap of sand. You remove one grain. You still have a heap of sand. You remove another grain, you still have a heap of sand. Eventually you have only one grain of sand left

Five Aspects of Knowledge

Image
Critically assess the claim that one knows that it is raining if and only if one has a true and justified belief that it is raining. Let's say that a claim is made: one knows that it is raining if and only if one has a true and justified belief that it is raining. The obvious thing to analyze in this claim is the tripartite definition of truth. There are two relevant additions to this. Thus, we will look at five aspects of this specific claim: belief, truth, justification, memory, and communication. First, belief. This can be treated in a fairly simple way. If a person thinks, for any reason, that it is raining, then that is their belief. Notice that the claim is in the present tense, excluding both the past tense that it did rain and the future tense that it will rain. The belief could have been arrived at through a variety of methods. Maybe they are currently standing in the rain, maybe they just walked in from the rain, a co-worker told them it's raining, the weather is repo

True Enough to Act Upon

Image
Since the expression ‘know’ is context-sensitive, someone’s claim to know something can be true in the context of ordinary talk and false in the context of a discussion of scepticism. Discuss. The ability to be skeptical is a powerful potentiality of the human mind. Throughout history there has been an ongoing struggle between the presentation of proof, evidence, and justification for beliefs, and the denial of the foundations of those beliefs. In an academic setting these are important things to study and investigate. Outside of the academic setting we see the resulting effects upon people's perspectives and behaviors with real consequences. Doubt and skepticism offer learning potential, in that we may further inspect the supports of our ideas. For instance, if we take a simple notion like "grass is green" there are a series of levels of which we may be skeptical. There's the definition of grass. Where's the dividing line between a grass, or a grain, or another t

Knowledge is Belief that Works

Image
If knowledge is not justified true belief, is it justified true belief that meets also some further condition? Justified true belief is a claim about what knowledge is. The idea is that knowledge is an intersection of three things: a person with a belief, a belief that is true, and a justifiable reason for the belief. For instance, I can say that my cat Jack is in the living room. I believe that Jack is in the living room, he is actually in the living room, and I believe that because I just saw him there a moment ago. There are various problems with this definition. A person could have a belief, that belief could be true, and they could have a reason for believing it, and yet the reason may be false, even if it may appear to justify it. Do they then not have knowledge? Many people would say that they do not. Others claim that they do. There are two common approaches to trying to solve this problem. One is to add a fourth thing to the three parts that knowledge has been reduced down to.

Proposition of Belief

Image
Is saying "I believe that p" just an alternative way of saying "p"? Let's say that two people are having a conversation. Jack points at a painting on the wall and says, "That painting is twelve inches tall." Jill looks at the painting and squints, looks at Jack with a smile, and says, "It's eleven inches." with a small twang of superiority in her voice. In both of these propositions a belief is implied. Jack believes that the painting is twelve inches tall. Jill believes that the painting is eleven inches tall. Neither needed to say that they were expressing their belief, they made declarative statements about the external world. And both of their statements were purely that, declarative statements about the external world. Here's another way that conversation could go. Jack points at a painting on the wall and says, "I believe that painting is twelve inches tall." Jill looks at the painting and squints, looks at Jack with a

Political Column - Success, Failure, and the Future

Image
I've been in office for three years, with one year left to go to complete my term. It's a good time to take inventory of some of the success, some of the failure, and what the future holds for the township and myself. There were three areas that I focused on while running for office: one, to have real choice in elections; two, to increase transparency; three, to make it easier for people to do business and farming. In the 2020 election there was a real choice, a real difference between candidates. That interest and choice has continued. In 2023, because of resignations, there were two trustee positions open. The board needed to appoint replacements to complete the term through 2024. There were eight people that put their names forward for the two positions. It's good to have such interest from people for local public office. Transparency has been heavily increased. People still have a tendency to generate rumors, because the rumor mill is part of human nature, but I've

Political Column - Politics: Internal and External

Image
Politics and problems go together like a hand in a glove. One set of problems are those we all think of, which have to do with laws, regulations, ordinances, government relations, taxes, and resource allocation. How much money do we put toward roads this year? Should the minimum square footage for a house be more or less? These things are often discussed and debated in public meetings. The field of politics is this, a mass negotiation arising from the societal culture to arrive at a livable compromise. This is both the ideal and the reality. Then, there's a whole different set of problems, operating the organization. The office has to be open for people to come in. The roof has to not leak and the boilers have to produce heat. Grass in the parks has to get mowed in the summer, leaves picked up from the cemeteries in the fall, snow at the transfer station plowed in the winter. Trucks have to be ready to run fire and medical calls. Taxes have to be collected, properties assessed, bur

Political Column - A Local Millage Vote

Image
Promoting the idea that votes matter is popular, especially for politicians that are attempting to round up supporters to vote for them. The reality is that sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. Is your one vote going to change who becomes President of the United States? No. But, as you get more local your vote matters more. There are times in local elections when a single vote decides the outcome. For instance, in Holton Township in 2020 there was a tie for a trustee position. Literally, a single person that decided to not vote that day could have determined who was going to hold an elected office for the next four years. Instead, a name was pulled out of a hat to determine the winner. Many people pay more attention to national politics because it provides more entertainment value. In ancient Rome a formula was found for keeping the population in control: comfort and distraction. In Latin the saying is "panem et circenses," which translates to "bread and c

Letter to Future Mercy

Image
My sister has done this letter plan with her three kids. When they turn one you give them a letter to be opened when they are eighteen. It's a good idea. Today Mercy is having her first birthday party. This is my third time doing this type of letter and it's a unique experience each time. - - - - - - - To Mercy, It's odd to write a letter to be opened so far into the future. It's impossible to know what will have happened by then, who you'll be, who I'll be, and what state the world will be in. Right now you're outside walking around on the trampoline on wobbly legs, pressing your face against the mesh, smiling and clapping your hands. By eighteen you've made a lot of decisions. Your life is your own. Maybe you know the direction you're headed, more likely you're searching around. And this is where I'll offer just a few thoughts. One, your natural predisposition is happy and engaged. That's not true for everyone, but it is for you. For in

Poem - On the Shore - Jeff vs Artificial Intelligence

Image
Yesterday, while in an online conference put on by a private equity firm about remote work, I pulled up a notepad on the computer and put down a poem. The basic thought process was: water, waves, emotions. This is what grew out of it. ------- Up and down, waves upon waves, water flows and splashes, like emotions grow, and splash. A wave hits a rock, water splatters and sprays, love hits a betrayal, hate splatters and sprays. Sand castle built on the shore, a wave approaches, water undermines the foundation, approaching resentment, erodes our foundation, the top falls into the bottom. Bare feet stand on the shore, water surrounds and retreats, cyclical experience, solidifies where we stand, difficult to take a step. Gaze along the way, where sand and water meet, each in a different phase, water in, water out, emotion up, emotion down, life flows. ------- I've been keeping track of the recent advances in artificial intelligence. I've played with computer programs that have attemp

Political Column - On Leaving Office

Image
On March 15th of 1783 George Washington gave a speech to his army to stop them from overthrowing Congress, which probably would have ended with him being king. Having won the war and stopped himself from becoming king, Washington retired to live out his life on his farm. During and after the Constitution was being debated he wrote multiple letters saying that he didn't want to be President. Nevertheless, in 1789 he was elected President and borrowed money to travel to New York for his inauguration. In 1792 he had James Madison write a farewell address because he wanted to retire after his first term in office. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, who agreed on very little, both convinced him to stay. In 1796 he had Hamilton write a new farewell address stating that he would not do a third term. Finally, Washington went back to his farm. One of Washington's heroes was Lucious Quinctius Cincinnatus. A legendary historical figure who was made Dictator in 458 BC of the ancient

Political Column - The Life of Judgment in Politics

Image
On November 14th, 2022 a meeting took place at Dalton Township Hall in which the Board of Trustees made decisions concerning several items of import. In addition to the items that were voted on there were also a few that were discussed to determine a direction moving forward. These will be covered below. Each decision requires a judgment call. You can commonly hear people proclaiming to be non-judgmental. Sometimes this comes from a good place, trying to be understanding and accepting of others. Often there's an avoidance of wanting to make a decision, and if it's a situation that doesn't need to concern us then that can make sense. But understanding or compassion are not the same as acceptance or approval, an important difference that is often overlooked. Many times I have contemplated the life of grass. It grows as fast as it can, getting eaten by animals, trampled underfoot, cut, rained on, snowed on, burnt in the sun, and yet it perseveres. Its resilience is defiance in

Political Column - Government Solutions, Government Problems

Image
The government is a solution to a certain set of problems. This solution then causes a different set of problems. Instead of a solution, it's more of a tradeoff between different sets of problems. The society gets to choose which hard path to take, because there are no easy options. Governments are created as a way to find peace, as a treaty among people to have order so that rights are not violated. For peace to continue to exist there must be certain things, there must be a fair amount of mutual agreement about rights and justice. Governments often lose their way. Police are very important. They protect the rights of citizens from other citizens. They are a bulwark against the monster of chaotic anarchy and lawlessness in which there are no rights and no protection. Yet, the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that the police have no duty to protect people (see DeShaney v. Winnebago County, 1989; Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 2005). You can't lie to the police, that would be a

Political Column - Deception in Politics

Image
I have been a little surprised at how much people are willing to blatantly lie in politics, even when they know that I know they're lying, and even when I can't figure out how such a lie could benefit them. I think there are five things occurring. One, people lie for personal advantage. Con games, making or taking money, and such. This is what comes to mind for most people when they think about deception in politics. Oddly enough, I've encountered almost none of this. This may happen to politicians more than by politicians. Two, people lie out of resentment in an attempt to enact revenge for real or imagined wrongs, against someone specific or against society and existence in general. This is common and frequent. People will even lie to hurt others when it hurts themselves. Cain is the archetype of this type of resentment, revenge, and deception. This happens both by and to politicians. Three, people lie out of fear. This is sometimes done by omission rather than commission

Donate to Jeff's Work