OBJECTS, ONTOLOGY & STUFF
TODAY'S ANALYSIS IS HERE
henry laycock
some downloadable academic writings
an emphasis on material fluidity
the aesthetics of the net
contemporary violence
and personal views
'We ought, says Kant, to become acquainted with the instrument, before we undertake the work for which it is to be employed; for if the instrument be insufficient, all our trouble will be spent in vain. The plausibility of this suggestion has won for it general assent and admiration; the result of which has been to withdraw cognition from an interest in its objects and absorption in the study of them, and to direct it back upon itself; and so turn it to a question of form. Unless we wish to be deceived by words, it is easy to see what this amounts to. In the case of other instruments, we can try and criticise them in other ways than by setting about the special work for which they are destined. But the examination of knowledge can only be carried out by an act of knowledge. To examine this so-called instrument is the same thing as to know it. But to seek to know before we know is as absurd as the wise resolution of Scholasticus, not to venture into the water until he had learned to swim.'Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences
Bienvenue / benvenuto / receptión / willkommen / welcome /
to an organic dossier of finished & unfinished work
& diverse other items and materials
with an emphasis on matter, fluidity and change
2. THE ORIGINAL INSIGHTS......
All things, Thales held, come out of water and are resolved into water. (Aetius)
Thales declared water to be the beginning
and the end of all things. As the water solidifies, things acquire
firmness; as it melts, their individual existence is threatened.
(Hippolytus, Refutatio)
It scatters and it gathers; it advances and it retires. (Heraclitus, Fragments 40)
The
Unlimited is the first principle of things that are. It is that from
which their coming to be takes place, and it is that into which they
return when they perish. (Anaximander)
Anaximenes
declared that the essence of things is one and unlimited ... it has the
specific nature of air, which differs in rarity and density according
to the kinds of things into which it forms itself. (Simplicius,
Commentaria)
Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. (Heraclitus, Fragments 20)
'When we consider and reflect upon Nature at large, or the history of humankind, or our own intellectual activity, at first we see the picture of an endless entanglement of relations and reactions, permutations and combinations, in which nothing remains what, where and as it was, but everything moves, changes, comes into being and passes away. We see, therefore, at first the picture as a whole, with its individual parts still more or less kept in the background; we observe the movements, transitions, connections, rather than the things that move, combine, and are connected. This primitive, naive but intrinsically correct conception of the world is that of ancient Greek philosophy, and was first clearly formulated by Heraclitus: everything is and is not, for everything is fluid, is constantly changing, constantly coming into being and passing away.' Engels, Socialism, Utopian & Scientific
fire / air / water world_sebastiao_salgados
AND THEN................ the 2000 year crystallization.....
The Philosopher and his Categories
NEW LIGHT ON THE CATEGORIES IN 2007!! - HERE!!
valuable links mostly relevant to stuff, ontology, etc:
jeff pelletierjeff van quine van phil. of chemistryhyle marksteen chalmers papers crawford elder page
The book seeks to resolve the so-called ‘problem of mass nouns’ — a problem which cannot, it is argued, be resolved on the basis of a conventional system of logic. It is not, for instance, possible to explicate assertions of the existence of air, oil, or water through the use of quantifiers and variables which take objectual values. The difficulty is attributable to the semantically distinctive status of non-count nouns — nouns which, although not plural, are nonetheless akin to plural nouns in being semantically non-singular. Such are the semantics of a non-singular noun, that there can be no such single thing or object as the thing of which the noun is true. However, standard approaches to understanding non-singular nouns tend to be reductive, construing them as singular expressions — expressions which, in the case of non-count nouns, are true of ‘parcels’ or ‘quantities’ of stuff, and in the case of plural nouns, are true of ‘plural entities’ or ‘sets’. It is argued that both approaches are equally misguided, that there are no distinctive objects in the extensions of non-singular nouns. With plural nouns, their extensions are identical with those of the corresponding singular expressions. With non-count nouns, because they are not plural, there can be no corresponding singular expressions. In consequence, there are no objects in the extensions of non-count nouns at all. In short, there are no such things as instances of stuff: the world of space and time contains not merely large numbers of discrete concrete things or individuals of diverse kinds, but also large amounts of sheer undifferentiated concrete stuff. Metaphysically, non-singular reference in general is an arbitrary modality of reference, ungrounded in the realities to which it is non-ideally or intransparently correlated. Tom McKay and Adam Sennet both rightly observe that the subtitle of the book should be more along the lines of ‘Considerations towards a Semantics, Ontology, and Logic for Non-Singularity’, rather than the bolder project which the actual subtitle suggests. Absolutely. The book initially had just such a subtitle; it was subjected to editorial veto, as unduly long. I greatly regret that I did not find some way around the obstacle, for as it stands, the subtitle is overly misleading.
Russell's fantastic Principles of Mathematics 'The intellect may be compared to a carver, but it has the peculiarity of imagining the chicken was always the separate pieces into which the carving-knife divided it' - Russell, 'The Philosophy of Bergson'. And so long as Russell is understood as alluding to the philosophical intellect, his remark is, it seems to me, bang on.
 the physical 'carving knife': water in a pool
3.325 In order to avoid such errors we must make use of a sign- language that excludes them by not using the same sign for different symbols and by not using in a superficially similar way signs that have different modes of signification: that is to say, a sign- language that is governed by logical grammar--by logical syntax. (The conceptual notation of Frege and Russell is such a language, though, it is true, it fails to exclude all mistakes.)
| 3. THE MORE RECENT STATE OF PLAY Below
are what I take to be a few of the key documents in the development of
the theory of non-count nouns and/or stuff. Other documents of interest
are on the right.
Russell's fantastic Principles of Mathematics #59; ch. 6 esp. #70 & #74; #127. heraclitus.pdf ; quantities.pdf amounts and measures Vere Chappell's Stuff and things here Chappell on Aristotle on Matter Strawson's Particular and General Quine's Speaking of Objects Hacker's Substance: The Constitution of Reality George Boolos values of variables Mass Terms - the collection Some Philosophical Problems a KEY QUANTIFICATIONAL CONCEPT!!?? SOME WATER
'opening the can' (But what happens to the worms?) Rather than pursuing those familiar reductionist strategies which simply take for granted the adequacy of the predicate calculus or of a formal object ontology, I sponsor the desirability of taking at face value the intuitive contrast between stuff and things - even though some stuff is things. Topics on General and Formal Ontology |
Vanbrakel on chemistry and mass terms Koslicki Semantics of Mass Predicates RachelCarson (more below) In fond memory: p.f.s
Strawson'sparticular and general mass terms measures and alan sidelle on zimmerman on is matter non-particular ? Integrated philosophy Blog Australasian Journal of Philosophy Review (you may need to be inside a subscribing institution to access some of the linked items)
L'Association canadienne de philosophie / The Canadian Philosophical Association
in praise of neighbours
Le Conseil des Canadiens / The Council of Canadians A little beauty - our beloved neck of the woods - Quebec - St Laurent - Ontario East
|
search the WIKIPEDIA right here:
and now for something (almost) completely different...
Each year in Ontario, transboundary (U.S.) air pollution causes more than 2,700 premature deaths, puts almost 12,000 people in hospital, and causes minor illness symptoms in about 2.7 million others. It is responsible for an estimated $5.2 billion in damage to Ontario’s people, economy and environment.
Transboundary flow of pollution from neighbouring U.S. states causes higher levels of smog in Ontario (including both ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter), airborne acidic pollutants and other hazardous air pollutants, such as mercury. The latest evidence shows a wide variation in the impact of transboundary pollution. In some areas, transboundary air pollution can cause 90 per cent of the pollution.
5. UGLINESS AND SOME OF ITS ROOTS
MOTHER, oh my mother
An impartial examination of the conditions of international conduct today allows no other conclusion but that the standards of behavior which were held by nazism and fascism have become general and accepted.
The world was expected to react with horror to the doctrine of
extermination. War, so it was contended, had certain rules. Among these
were the avoidance of torture, the concentration on military
objectives, the respect of prisoners and their "rights." It was also
believed that entire civilian populations were not to be slaughtered in
a manner reminiscent of Genghiz Khan. War, therefore, was thought to
have a conceivable political end and, although all such conflict
amounted to atrocity, the scale was never extended to include entire
masses of defenseless people. The bombings of Tokyo and of Hamburg,
each of which killed more people than the atomic bombings, heralded
something new. These cities contained civilian populations and were
without particular military significance. The object of dropping napalm
jelly-gasoline upon Tokyo was to so demoralize the population through
extermination of great sections of it, as to effect the defeat of the
enemy. As Lewis Mumford has pointed out, this was the theory of mass
extermination; it was because of such behavior that the war against
fascism was presumably being fought. The moral corruption and cultural
degeneration of our world have advanced to this degree ... because of
the acceptance of the fascist belief in mass extermination as a viable
political practice... The governments of the United States and the
Sovet Union behave with colossal arrogance and with total indifference
to the consequences for humanity of their particular paranoias. I am
convinced that until people fully comprehend the magnitude of what is
being done in their name there is small hope for peace in the world. It is not sufficient to point out the evil of others, for that is often a reflection of one's own actions. Bertrand Russell, The doctrine of extermination (196?).
In November 2004, Stefan Zaklin, a photographer then working for the European Pressphoto Agency, was embedded with a United States Army company. Mr. Zaklin photographed this soldier, who was shot and killed in Falluja, in a house used as a base by insurgents. The photograph ran in several European publications, and Mr. Zaklin was immediately banned from working with the unit.
WONDERFUL WATERBOARDING The Times of London
Global Peace Index (not a communist plot)
Martin Luther King: "I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the
violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken
clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my
own government. There is something strangely inconsistent about a
nation and a press that would praise you when you say, 'Be nonviolent
toward [Selma, Ala. sheriff] Jim Clark!' but will curse and damn you
when you say, 'Be nonviolent toward little brown Vietnamese children!'
There is something
wrong with that press! ...
"I'm convinced
that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as
a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. ... When machines
and computers, profit motives and property rights are
considered
more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism
and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered. A true
revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness
and
justice of many of our present policies. ... True compassion is more
than flinging a coin to a beggar. A true revolution of values will soon
look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth with
righteous indignation."
-- From Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermon "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam" at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on April 30, 1967;
"Violence is as American as Cherry Pie"
H. RAP BROWN, 1967
Korean War survivors tell of civilian carnage inflicted by U.S.
Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a portion of mankind ... remains under lifelong tutelage, and why it is so easy for others to set themselves up as their guardians ...If I have a book which understands for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me, a physician who decides my diet, etc., I need not trouble myself. I need not think, if I can only pay - others will undertake the work for me. That the step to competence is held to be very dangerous by the greater portion of mankind ... is seen to by those guardians who have so kindly assumed superintendence over them. After the guardians have made their domestic cattle dumb and have ensured that these placid creatures will not dare take a single step without the harness of the cart to which they are tethered, the guardians then show them the danger which threatens if they try to go alone. Kant, 'What is Enlightenment?'
ISRAELI COMMANDOS SHOWN
ASSAULTING AND KILLING AMERICAN
CITIZEN - VIDEO NOT CONFISCATED IN
ATTACK ON RELIEF CONVOY.
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/95
Zoriah Miller, the freelance photographer who took this image and others of marines killed in a June 26 suicide attack and posted them on his Web site, was subsequently forbidden to work in Marine Corps-controlled areas of Iraq. Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the Marine Corps commander in Iraq, is now seeking to have Mr. Miller barred from all United States military facilities throughout the world.
Israel's Shin Bet security service routinely tortures Palestinian prisoners during
interrogations in defiance of a 1999 court ruling outlawing such
practices, two Israeli human rights groups said yesterday.
There are those who so dislike the nude that they find something indecent in the naked truth - F.H.BRADLEY
In an age of universal retreat, telling the truth is an act of treason”
George Orwell
PATRIOTISM IS THE LAST REFUGE OF THE SCOUNDREL - SAMUELJOHNSON
The Wisdom of Mark Twain
click to enlarge, then click again
Bertrand Russell
“There has never been an American army as violent and murderous as the one in Iraq” - Seymour Hersh writes here
occupiers in love with killing?
Postmortem photograph of Baha Mousa taken in September 2003 and prepared by the Special Investigation Branch Royal Military Police.Images showing the badly injured body of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi civilian who died in UK military custody in Iraq, were released for the first time today.A lawyer acting for the 26-year-old's family said the photographs showed evidence of torture
A US survey of battlefield ethics among troops in Iraq has found widespread tolerance for torture in certain circumstances and problems with morale. The survey, by an army mental health advisory team, sampled more than 1,700 soldiers and marines between August and October 2006. It examined their views towards torture and the Iraqi civilian population. The Pentagon survey found that less than half the troops in Iraq thought Iraqi civilians should be treated with dignity and respect. More than a third believed that torture was acceptable if it helped save the life of a fellow soldier or if it helped get information about the insurgents. About 10% of those surveyed said they had actually mistreated Iraqi civilians by hitting or kicking them, or had damaged their property when it was not necessary to do so.
It is an axiom of American political life that the actions of the US military are beyond criticism. Democrats and Republicans praise the men and women in uniform at every turn. Apart from the odd bad apple at Abu Ghraib, the US military in Iraq is deemed to be doing a heroic job under trying circumstances.
'We will export death and violence to the four corners of the earth in defense of our great nation' - CIA paramilitary - washington post editor's account
I
saw a four-year-old boy sitting beside his mother's body, which had
been decapitated by the explosion. He was talking to her, asking her
what had happened
"Violence is as American as Cherry Pie"
H. RAP BROWN, 1967
Four Hired Guns in an Armored Truck, Bullets Flying, and a Pickup and a Taxi Brought to a Halt. Who Did the Shooting and Why? By Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, April 15, 2007; Page A01
On the afternoon of July 8, 2006, four private security guards rolled out of Baghdad's Green Zone in an armored SUV. The team leader, Jacob C. Washbourne, rode in the front passenger seat. He seemed in a good mood. His vacation started the next day.
"I want to kill somebody today," Washbourne said, according to the three other men in the vehicle, who later recalled it as an offhand remark. Before the day was over, however, the guards had been involved in three shooting incidents.
In one, Washbourne allegedly fired into the windshield of a taxi for amusement, according to interviews and statements from the three other guards. Washbourne, a 29-year-old former Marine, denied the allegations. "They're all unfounded, unbased, and they simply did not happen."
*****
America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She well knows that by one enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standards of freedom. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (1821)
enough = ENOUGH!!!
AFGHANISTAN: NATO / CANADIAN intervention - an Indian perspective
CONCERNING 1945 ON THE SIXTH OF AUGUST.......
WAR CRIMES
'Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians... Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable'
Louis Arbour, UN High Commisioner for Human Rights
The Brits... Sir Peter Tapsell, a veteran British Conservative MP, accused Mr Blair of "collusion" with President Bush in giving Israel the "go-ahead to wage unlimited war" on villages, towns and cities in Lebanon. He said it was "a war crime gravely reminiscent of the Nazi atrocity on the Jewish quarter of Warsaw".
click once to enlarge; then click once again
TORTURE, MODERN STYLE GO
.........................
And what about the Americans? (question put by The Independent, March 22, 2007)
'..... Some of them still seem to be believers in the dead dreams of four years ago....
On the flight deck of the enormous US aircraft carrier the USS Eisenhower in the Gulf this week, warplanes were being shot out of the steam catapults on the flight deck with engines that roared and screamed so loudly you felt it in your sinuses, teeth and jawbone.
"Listen to it," one of the officers told me when the warplanes were launched and streaking up the Gulf to Iraq."It is the sound of freedom".
and on the other hand ... One third of our planet will be desert by the year 2100, say climate experts in the most dire warning yet of the effects of global warming
100% pure local content:
latin american reality
6. ON THE LIGHTER / BRIGHTER SIDE
our city, kingston canada
part of our downtown
THE VERY BEST OF HOT european ACTION IN STOKE NEWINGTON UK
take me to your lieder - an absolutely fabulous website for lieder lovers, based in Ottawa
'O wie schon ist deine Welt'
The sweet (and misnamed) Mr. Rocky
laycock family crest
The name Laycock has a history dating as far back as the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It is derived from when the Laycock family lived in the village of Laycock in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname was originally derived from the Old English words leah cocc, which refer to the meadow with the wild birds. Therefore the original bearers of the surname lived in a village that was known for the large number of wild birds. Spelling variations include: Lacock, Laycock, Leacock and others. First found in Yorkshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.