| 26 Aug 2008 | 30 Sep 2008 | 28 Oct 2008 |
| How Much Democracy Is Too Much? | Is Being Logical The Same As Being Rational? | Is Europe A Place Or An Idea? |
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| In August, Hansard reporter Alasdair Mackenzie considers tensions between the representative tradition and direct participation in contemporary democracies. | In September, mathematician Wilfrid Hodges asks us whether logic encodes "laws of thought" that are the essence of rationality. | In October, philosopher Simon Glendinning asks us to reconsider some familiar questions: is Europe a trading club for Western countries or an identity in itself? |
The 70th Philosophers’ CarnivalSaturday, May 31st, 2008
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Are Computer Games Art?Friday, May 30th, 2008
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Group Theory 4: SymmetriesThursday, May 29th, 2008
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Big Ideas Event: What Can We Do About Vagueness?Wednesday, May 28th, 2008If we study logic, we begin by learning that truth is a black or white matter. In particular we know that either a given claim is true or it isn’t; it can’t be both and it can’t be neither. |
Supertasks, Paradox and ImpossibilitySaturday, May 24th, 2008
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We’re Hosting the 2 June Philosophers’ CarnivalMonday, May 19th, 2008As regular readers will know, we’re big fans of blog carnivals, which offer a convenient way to keep up with a broad spectrum of blogs on specialist subjects. The next Philosophers’ Carnival will be hosted here at Big Ideas. |
iTunes, CoverFlow and the Myth of the RealFriday, May 16th, 2008
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How to Grasp Power: Notes From the EventTuesday, May 13th, 2008On 29 April 2008, Danny Rye led a Big Ideas event on the idea of “power”. These are his notes, with links to the books he referred to on the night. |
Group Theory 3: Some Groups from ArithmeticFriday, May 9th, 2008
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Big Ideas Event: May ‘68 SpecialWednesday, May 7th, 2008May’s Big Ideas event will be an anarchic May ‘68 special, invoking the spirit of Woodstock and the Sorbonne and casting aside our usual format for a looser, more open-ended approach in which we might cover anything: postmodernism, pop music, radicalism, art, libertarianism, situationism, psychogeography, deconstruction, the swinging sixties, skepticism, cynicism and the whole modern cultural and political landscape. |
Welcome to the 70th edition of the Philosophers’ Carnival, a fortnightly round-up of quality philosophical posts from the blogs of the world. It seems to have been a busy two weeks, so hopefully there’s something here for everyone; apologies to those who didn’t make it in.
Columnist Charlie Brooker recently stirred up this familiar hornets’ nest by writing a piece about censorship of computer games, inspiring a slew of comments comparing the medium to films and novels. Are modern computer games a valid art form, and should Grand Theft Auto IV be treated just like a painting or a symphony?
In the previous instalment we saw some very “mathematical” examples of groups, but group theory also has an important geometrical aspect. We’ll take a look at that before we get into the more abstract material of group theory proper.
I was reminded of supertasks the other day and thought they’re interesting enough for a post, particularly as an argument that they’re impossible uses a similar tactic to some arguments against time travel and other speculative activities.
Many of you now know I’m a
SubscribeOur monthly newsletter lets you know about the next event, recent podcasts and other activities. It's a good way to make sure you don't forget about an upcoming event. |
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...or subscribe to our blog posts, comments, podcasts and mini-blog severally through your favourite feed reader. The Mini-Blog is our del.icio.us bookmarks of things we've enjoyed or found useful elsewhere on the web.
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Big Ideas is an ongoing series of events, a blog and most recently a podcast. It’s mostly run by these two:
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Nathan CharltonNathan (email) is interested in philosophical aspects of history, politics and culture, among other things. |
Rich CochraneRich (email) is primarily interested in applications of mathematics within philosophy. He also has interests in epistemology, the aesthetics of music (in which he has a PhD) and in paradoxes and puzzles in general. |
If you have any questions about Big Ideas events, or anything you read about on this blog, or you want to get involved, feel free to drop either of us a line.
The text of our latest media release can be found here.
| Date | Presenter | Subject | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec | Pre-New-Year Social | The Wheatsheaf | |
| 25 Nov | Dave Boyle | Football, Loyalty And Identity | The Wheatsheaf |
| 28 Oct | Simon Glendinning | Is Europe A Place Or An Idea? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 30 Sep | Wilfrid Hodges | Is Being Rational The Same As Being Logical? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 26 Aug | Alasdair Mackenzie | How Much Democracy Is Too Much? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 29 Jul | Nathan Charlton | What Does It Mean To Be Modern? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 16 Jun | Rich Cochrane | What Can We Do About Vagueness? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 10 Jun | [Podcast] | London Nationalism | The Crosse Keys |
| 27 May | May '68 Special | The Wheatsheaf | |
| 29 Apr | Danny Rye | How To Grasp Power (A Brief Guide) | The Wheatsheaf |
| 25 Mar | Rich Cochrane | What Happened to Classical Music? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 26 Feb | Clare Churly | Who Needs Copyright? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 12 Feb | [Podcast] | Mathematics: Art or Science? | The Crosse Keys |
| 22 Jan | Nathan Charlton | Is Heritage History? | The Wheatsheaf |
| Date | Presenter | Subject | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Dec | Christmas Social | The Wheatsheaf | |
| 29 Oct | [Podcast] | Psychogeography | The Crosse Keys |
| 04 Sep | Danny Birchall | What's the Point of Film Studies? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 14 Aug | Robert Kingham | Are Ley Lines There by Chance? | The Crosse Keys |
| 26 Jun | Phil O'Donnell | Can Consciousness be Evoked Computationally? | The Wheatsheaf |
| 27 Mar | Steve Morris | Evidence-Based Policy | The Wheatsheaf |
| 23 Feb | Phil O'Donnell | Newcomb's Paradox | The Champion |