"Flavor and Value" Versus "Jeff's Hammer"
I can use philosophical tools that I've invented on my own philosophical concepts. Read and see.
I wrote an article titled "Flavor and Value" that talks about why we like things and how we justify it. The basic idea is that sometimes we don't have to justify liking something. Some values establish a base of value and there simply is no why, you just like it or you don't. That's the idea we will smash. Here is that article: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/04/flavor-and-value.html
Jeff's Hammer is a conceptual tool I invented. The basic idea is that given any current level of understanding, there is always more available complexity. The metaphor of using a hammer to smash things into pieces, or smash things together, or to smash things across time and space, works well to remind us of this and keep us conceptually humble. Here is that article: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/02/jeffs-hammer-conceptual-tool.html
Now, let's apply Jeff's Hammer to the idea of "Flavor and Value". If you ask me if I like mint chocolate chip ice cream I will say yes. If you ask me why, I don't really know. Now, I could say an answer, but I don't really know.
We smash my liking mint chocolate chip ice cream, and what happens? Well, the liking falls into pieces. What is liking made of at this sensational level? A chemist would be able to find the chemical components of the flavor. A physiologist would be able to tell us how that is reacting with the taste buds on my tongue. A neurologist would be able to tell us which parts of my brain that is activating. An endocrinologist would be able to tell us which hormones are then activated. All of these combined might be able to tell us fairly well why I like mint chocolate chip ice cream from this perspective.
We could of course use Jeff's Hammer more, there are no limits to it. We could smack that ice cream across time and space and examine my life. But, I think I already demonstrated my point.
I wrote an article titled "Flavor and Value" that talks about why we like things and how we justify it. The basic idea is that sometimes we don't have to justify liking something. Some values establish a base of value and there simply is no why, you just like it or you don't. That's the idea we will smash. Here is that article: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/04/flavor-and-value.html
Jeff's Hammer is a conceptual tool I invented. The basic idea is that given any current level of understanding, there is always more available complexity. The metaphor of using a hammer to smash things into pieces, or smash things together, or to smash things across time and space, works well to remind us of this and keep us conceptually humble. Here is that article: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/02/jeffs-hammer-conceptual-tool.html
Now, let's apply Jeff's Hammer to the idea of "Flavor and Value". If you ask me if I like mint chocolate chip ice cream I will say yes. If you ask me why, I don't really know. Now, I could say an answer, but I don't really know.
We smash my liking mint chocolate chip ice cream, and what happens? Well, the liking falls into pieces. What is liking made of at this sensational level? A chemist would be able to find the chemical components of the flavor. A physiologist would be able to tell us how that is reacting with the taste buds on my tongue. A neurologist would be able to tell us which parts of my brain that is activating. An endocrinologist would be able to tell us which hormones are then activated. All of these combined might be able to tell us fairly well why I like mint chocolate chip ice cream from this perspective.
We could of course use Jeff's Hammer more, there are no limits to it. We could smack that ice cream across time and space and examine my life. But, I think I already demonstrated my point.
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You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com
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