Sunday, June 25, 2006

Notes and Links

* This is rather cool. This to That tells you what glue to use to adhere different substances together. For instance, if you're trying to adhere styrofoam to ceramic and need a fast bond, use hot glue; but if you want the least toxic bond, use Weldbond. (HT: The Mechanical Philosopher)

* The Elfin Ethicist discusses an essay by Rorty on History of Philosophy. A sample:
When we say that philosopher X was wrong about question Y, it is rarely wise to flatter ourselves with the notion that it was only because of ignorance of what we now know. Even if we do need such "reassurance," as Rorty says, I think we should resist the urge.


* While I don't 'do' philosophy of law, it's a field I like to keep at least an occasional eye on, because issues often come up in it that are interested in other fields I'm interested in (philosophy of reasoning, for instance, which melds with my usual approach to HoP), and because (as long as it's combined with good will and common sense) even a clumsy, sketchy acquaintance with philosophy of law can enrich your view of society and politics. In any case, Brian Leiter has a nice post on American Legal Realism at his law school weblog, including a link to an essay on the subject.

* The Maverick Philosopher has a good post on an argument against divine simplicity.

* The Little Professor has a post explaining why Victorian Protestants argued that the Roman Catholic Church was 'novel' in comparison to the Church of England. The answer is, roughly, apostolicity, apostasy, and Joseph of Arimathea.

* Those who, like myself, have an interest in classic freethought, might be interested in the Freethought Archive.

* At The Chymistry of Isaac Newton website you can read Isaac Newton's most complete laboratory notebook, which gives some insight into his alchemical researches. One interesting feature of the notebook is that it suggests how Newton's research into light grew out of his interest in the alchemy of gems (since he opens the notebook reflecting on the color of gems and begins to look at color in general by experimenting with prisms).

* Chu-Carroll has a good introduction to information theory at "Good Math, Bad Math".