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Presentation to the Melbourne Philosophy Forum, Oct 28, 2007 (I think)

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

- Alice in Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

Introduction

Presentation to the Philosophy Forum October 14, 2007

4.1 A common, and naïve, criticism of philosophy is that it has no practical application. This is usually a claim from those who do not know what philosophy is!1

4.2 This course of study has defined philosophy as the investigation into claims that are universal in scope and rationalist (i.e., require verification). It further defined the primary concerns of modern philosophy as ontology (what exists), epistemology (how we know) and the principles of reasoning (logic).

Presentation to the Melbourne Philosophy Forum, September, 2007

"Who are the great women philosophers? Where are they? Is their relative absence an indication of social forces; or is it biology? Do women have different logic to men? Is logic 'a masculinist discourse'? Do women have a different epistemology - a woman's way of knowing?".

1) There were some women philosophers among the ancients; but very little information survives.

Philosophy Forum September 9, 2007?

1.0 Definition of Justice

Presentation to the Philosophy Forum, June 2007

1. 1 Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, and of knowledge and consciousness. The term "epistemology" is based on the Greek words for "episteme" (knowledge) and "logos" (account). It was introduced by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808-1864).

Presentation to the Philosophy Forum, July, 2007

1.0 Definition of Art

1.1 Expressive statements and actions are part of the three orientations in linguistics; propositions of Truth, propositions of Justice, propositions of Beauty. Statements of Truth are verified by external correlation with the objective world. Statements of Justice are verified by mutual consent in the intersubjective world.

Presentation to the May 2007 Melbourne Philosophy Forum

1.1. Ontology (from the Hellenic onto~ (being) and logos (science, study, theory) is the study of being and existence. It can be considered, along with logic and epistemology, one of the three core components of philosophy as a discipline.

Presentation to the Philosophy Forum, April 22, 2007

1.1 Logic comes from the classic Greek logos (meaning 'word', 'reason' or 'principle'). It is concerned with the validity of inference and demonstration. It is a key component of philosophy along with epistemology and ontology. Logic establishes the correctness of argumentation and judgement[1], almost invariably with deductive reasoning from given axioms. Its greatest strength is the ability to uncover fallacies and its greatest challenge is paradoxes.

Presentation to The Philosophy Forum, March 22, 2007

1.1 The word itself is of Greek origin: philosophía is a compound of phílos (friend, or lover) and sophía (wisdom). Major historical traditions include Classical philosophy, Religious Philosophy and Modern Philosophy.1

1.2 All definitions of philosophy are controversial and applications are always historically grounded. Some principles however include:

Dedication

This presentation is dedicated to the Chinese Yangtze river dolphin (also known as "the goddess of Yangtze") which, as of several weeks ago, is now "functionally extinct" [1] following a six week survey that resulted in 0 sightings. The species declined over decades due to a variety of causes, including the building of the Three Gorges Dam, environmental degradation, loss of food supply in the river, electric fishing, noise pollution hunting by humans, and collisions with ships.

It had previously been on the planet for over twenty million years.