Philosophers' Carnival - July 18, 2011

Welcome to the July 18, 2011 edition of Philosophers' Carnival. Marvel at the range of different topics discussed! No analytic-continental divide here!

Crazyism - Eric Schwitzgebel of The Splintered Mind introduces the concept of crazyism about some given area of inquiry - the view that something crazy (in a certain sense) must be true about that area. (I think the 'must' here is just epistemic, but I may be wrong.)

Logical Positivism and the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics - by Aaron Kenna of the Florida Student Philosophy Blog.

Constitution - Kevin Somerville of dthat discusses the relation 'x constitutes y' in connection with the philosophy of mind.

Atheism, agnosticism and theism 2: What it is to have a belief - by John Wilkins of Evolving Thoughts.

Where I am at with Hume's is-ought distinction - by Maryann Spikes of Ichtus77.

The Open Question Argument - Richard Yetter Chappell of Philosophy, et cetera issues a call for objections to a defence of the Open Question Argument. Please try to refute him as soon as possible.

Kevorkian's Legacy And The Right To Die - by David Fryman of The Bennett Commentary.

Paradoxes for "expresses the proposition" - Wolfgang Shwarz of wo's weblog discusses a Liar-related paradox which arises when propositions are treated as sets of possible worlds. Dustin Tucker has made some detailed and learned comments.

Public sector pension reform: my advice to the Prime Minister - thanks to Thom Brooks of The Brooks Blog for giving me the unexpected pleasure of posting a link, on this blog, to an article in which a philosopher gives advice to a head of state. I mean this in the best possible way.

And now for two special sections, exclusive to this edition of the carnival:

Criticisms of Readings of Great Philosophers

Why Kant Was Not A Cognitive Scientist - Matt Whitlock of A Rigid Designator presents a criticism of Andrew Brook's reading of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.

Nietzsche on Agency and the Will - the mysterious Carlos AKA Narziss criticizes an aspect of Brian Leiter's reading of Nietzsche.

Arguably Inappropriate Submissions

Deconstructing Godel (sic) - I include this post because it's about Goedel. It's essentially a short and maybe slightly dubious biographical sketch. (I don't think Goedel was ever actually part of the Vienna Circle, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong.) I feel bound by duty to inform the prospective reader that the title is a bit misleading; whatever it may mean to deconstruct Goedel, I'm pretty sure it doesn't occur here. Some may say this is for the best.

7 Reasons To Never Lie Again - by Kyle Warren of Follow the FLOW (indeed). I'm pretty sure this isn't meant to be a serious piece of philosophy, but it was submitted, and I include it because it made me laugh several times. It was posted over a year ago, which adds to the arguable inappropriateness.

That's all for this edition of the carnival. The next one is at the Blog of Noah Greenstein on August 8.