Coordinates of Thought: topics
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Privacy as a virtue, not just a right
We usually talk about privacy as a right: something others shouldn't violate. But in my work I see people giving away their data voluntarily all the time, for convenience or a discount.…
Started by Nur Aisyah Rahman1 reply0 views -
Karma as moral causation: does the theory hold together?
The doctrine of karma says that actions have consequences for the agent that go beyond their visible effects, ripening in this life or future lives. It is shared, in different forms, by…
Started by Arjun Iyer1 reply0 views -
Wu wei for burnt-out founders: what did Laozi actually mean?
After Stoicism, I've been reading the Daodejing. One idea that hits hard is wu wei, usually translated "non-action" or "effortless action". Chapter 48 says that in pursuing learning you add something every…
Started by Rohan Desai1 reply0 views -
Sanskrit grammar as philosophy: Bhartṛhari on word and meaning
Bhartṛhari (around the fifth century) wrote the Vākyapadīya, "On Sentences and Words", a work of grammar that became a full philosophy of language. Some key ideas: Sphoṭa: meaning isn't built up from…
Started by Meera Kulkarni1 reply0 views -
The Cost of Being Understood: Why We Cannot Spend Our Whole Life Explaining Ourselves
To be understood is a human desire—not a human entitlementHuman beings do not merely want to speak. We want what we say to arrive intact in another mind. We want our reasons…
Started by COT-Admin0 replies2 views -
Reading group: Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)
Thomas Kuhn's Structure is probably the most cited philosophy of science book ever. It describes science as moving through periods of "normal science" within a paradigm, the accumulation of anomalies, crisis, and…
Started by Emeka Nwosu0 replies1 view -
Reading group: Turing’s “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” (1950)
Turing's paper appeared in Mind in 1950, and it is far more playful and far less dated than its reputation suggests. He replaces the question "can machines think?" with the imitation game,…
Started by Pieter de Jong0 replies0 views -
Mill’s harm principle: where does it actually draw the line?
Mill's On Liberty (1859) proposes one simple principle: the only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilised community, against their will, is to prevent harm…
Started by Deepa Nair0 replies0 views