Just to let you know that the Philosophy Society is showing Fight Club on Thursday 2nd of December in GEE 004 LT1. This will be followed by a discussion.

This week's Blog

Since I think we have had some relative success this week with the blog thanks to Paul's post. I think it would be useful to extract some questions and problems from the class room and set them out here where we can trash them out a bit more. I will speak to you about this on Thursday.

Best,
P

Consciousness Mathematics and Unitary structure

(first part aimed at Paul Geddes)

In order to deduce mathematics; one first has to learn numbers, so your relation would fundamentally have to be based on how a person learned numbers? as how are we first taught numbers?..by relating them to something are we not? e.g. in terms of apples or cows and further more basic fractions are taught sometimes using things like pies.

so which ever way anyone learns any mathematics, there is always relation involved, of any kind.

so, because our mathematics is fundamentally based on a relational education structure we cannot say that mathematics does not have to relate to the outside world.

my point is (as i know I am not the most coherent arguer) that we can think of mathematics/equations without a relation, but only after we have initially learned mathematics which is fundamentally relational. so in this instance (mathematics) is not the best example of 'consciousness is not necessarily relational.'

the problem i think is - that as humans we have experience, and as such we learn things from a very young age, and sub consciously we carry this knowledge through life until we understand our knowledge, so one might argue that every part of our consciousness could be relational to something we have experienced previously. The only thing i could think of that does not require relation or previous knowledge is actually sex, as this is one of the most basic human things - to procreate. nowadays we have education to tell us what to do, but what would happen is that education was not there? e.g. early human history, how did early humans find out about sex? i think in this instance, it is one of the few things that our consciousness 'Just knows' because of the fact that consciousness just 'is,' and natural human identities like this do not require relation to know how something is or how it is done. What do you think about this paul?

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the problem i am having is that.. 'Consciousness is'...so it has 'being,' consciousness, therefore is the fundamental 'groundstate' of all being and all knowing,
if this is the case how can consciousness ever be objectified? as surely consciousness is always the subject? therefore surely consciousness is actually unitary?

has anyone any thoughts on this?
Terence Nabbs
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Visiting speaker at NTU Wednesday 1st December

Dear All

A date for your diaries: Wednesday 1st Dec 2-4pm in GEE090 (LT4) when Dr Trevor Curnow (Reader in Philosophy at University of Cumbria) will present on ethics and everyday life, and consider the changing face of philosophy.

All are welcome!

Cheers

Ruth

Questioning Merleau-Ponty

Hey guys have just finished a lecture on Merleau-Ponty (M-P) and have some questions. It has come about that M-P implies that all consciousness is relational to the world as it is fundamentally linked to the body, which is within the world. However, I was thinking that to deduce mathematics in ones mind, does not necessarily have to relate to the outside world, as we can all conceive numbers and equations without subscribing it to an object within the world. Is this not what Descartes did? Surely we can therefore argue that consciousness is not necessarily relational?

Paul Geddes
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(Not to be marked)

Some New Links

I have just added the SEP entry for Derrida. I have also added the In Our Times BBC dicussion about vitalism. This will be useful in giving you some background to Bergson and Ravaisson.