Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-02-10]: We hate daily routine. We believe it is like a disease which eats our inside slowly, day by day. And yet, this routine is what highlights us. Without it, we would be nothing. Inside it, we thrive. Let’s accept it. Let’s adore it.
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-01-26]: Hard philosophical questions....
In the coming years, lifting the ban on women in combat, announced Thursday by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, might prove particularly challenging in the most iconic of military occupations - the infantry, among the most physically demanding and tradition-bound branches of the Marines and the Army. [source: CNN News] But will that really pose a challenge? Modern warfare has changed so much, that no physical strength is required to kill the enemy. All you have to do is press a button. This is quite scary if you ask me: questions that were once hard to answer, are now become obsolete by the very reality in which we live in.
Easy philosophical questions...
Yes, women CAN be in the army. They CAN push buttons or press a trigger.
One more example which shows in an exceptional manner what Brecht implied: philosophers must be in constant connection with everyday reality. Either wise they are in danger of being surpassed by it.
(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-01-16]: ... [1] Silence can say a lot of things… Oups! I am waffling again!
![apofs_thumb[1]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-IasCbkCdLmY/UOyce22yWMI/AAAAAAAAIa4/TJcOPLWmFRw/s1600-h/apofs_thumb%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg "apofs_thumb[1]")
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-01-09]: Asteroid Apophis will pass near Earth soon, at a distance of about 14.5 million kilometers. However in the next encounter, he will be just 30,000 km near our planet! [source: web news] Death and complete obliteration is always one step near. How willing is someone to accept that truth is what distinguishes philosophers from… well, the “others”.
![42A168A30D54D2ED92CBD891353A2342_thumb[4]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-o85YKWicw68/UNILArEbZ4I/AAAAAAAAHxY/XXMEgUdkIlM/s1600-h/42A168A30D54D2ED92CBD891353A2342_thumb%25255B4%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg "42A168A30D54D2ED92CBD891353A2342_thumb[4]")
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-12-19]: Microbes and bacteria are discovered to fly in the air for days travelling from continent to continent. [source: web news] It took thousands of years for humans to understand that they are just... "dust in the air". A knowledge which seems to just be a way of living for some other organisms...
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-11-21]: ICANN faces great problems with hundreds of applications to register new domains. Who will register the .islam domain? Who has the right to represent Islam? Who will register the .book domain? Or the .philosophy domain? [source: BBC News] The wrong decision is such a seemingly "technological" matter will determine a lot more than just a domain... It is unfortunate, but most people rely on appearances to make up their mind. And it is also unfortunate that the majority of people are weak minded and not able to see beyond the domain name that appears first in Google... So be careful ICANN... The future of widespread philosophical ideas lies upon you... (unfortunately)
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-03-01]: You search for harmony in your life, but harmony is nowhere to be found. You search for harmony in the world, but harmony is nowhere to be found. Maybe you search in the wrong place after all… Did you try to look inside your self? Old mystes knew that gods talked when human remained silent…
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-01-15]: The Planck telescope, put in space to map the oldest light in the Universe, has run out of the helium coolant that keeps it in full working order [source: BBC News]. Planck's quest has been to survey the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). What we “see” is based on our senses. The things Planck sees we cannot see. And vice-versa. So what is “really” there? Who is “right” ? If you change your “eyes” (e.g. if the Planck spaceship cools down its instruments so that it can see the cosmic microwave background radiation) do you “see” better or do you see something which is not there…?
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-01-12]: A new research postulates that every star twinkling in the night sky plays host to at least one planet [source: BBC News] !!! For me it is hard to decide which one of the two is more striking from a philosophical perspective: Each star having a planet with life (i.e. life is FUNDAMENTAL in the cosmos), or being the only planet with life in the universe (i.e. life is something UNIQUE in the cosmos) ? …
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-06-02]: Scientists discovered a worm that lives in cracks at a depth of 1.3 kilometers in the foundations of Earth, eating bacteria and reproducing itself asexually [source: web news]. They named it Halicephalobus mephisto. Let’s imagine us living in a depth of 1.3 kilometers, in a small crack. We couldn’t stand it. Then why do we stand living spiritually in such small spaces? Why most of us do not take advantage of the total freedom human spirit has been given and prefer to spend our whole lives in a small crack, defending our small opinions? In a way, this worm is a much better philosopher than most of us…
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-05-22]: An ad with zombies was used by CDC in the United States to launch a campaign on how citizens should be prepared for cyclones [source: web news]. The zombies are known from horror films, but few people know that a very known philosophical argument for the existence of the soul (see Zombie arguments for dualism) is based on them: If entities such as the zombies may exist even in our imagination, what does that really mean for us? The zombie moves and acts as a normal person. So what's the big difference between a zombie and...you, my dear reader? What distinguishes you from a soulless and inanimate being, if not something more than the blood and bones which constitute your body (which will be eaten by the the zombies anyway)?
