Philosophy/Pizza Party, Part Two

Last semester the Williams College Philosophy Department hosted a pizza party for us.

This semester, it's MCLA's turn.

The MCLA Philosophy Department has some money and a swank venue (the Honors House) to host a second-semester shindig including free pizza and excellent conversation with philosophy majors and profs (my colleagues). All they need to know is WHEN.

Your task: comment on this post to let me know which weekday evening you would be most able to come to such a party. I will be able to give rides to up to four students, so let me know too if you would need transportation. Once I have a response, I'll be able to get the plans in motion.

Science and Morality talk @ TED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj9oB4zpHww

A little on the long side, but still interesting

Science and Morality talk @ TED

Migration

The question of migration is not an easy one. People feel strongly about it on both sides. I had never really considered the issue much before this week, and now that I have I still don't have a clear opinion. I agree the our Government has a responsibility to it's citizen first and foremost. Just like I would take care of my family before a complete stranger. The government should make sure that Americans have job opportunities and a way to survive. That being said, one of the big reasons that Americans are losing jobs to immigrants is because the companies can hire migrant workers at a fraction of the price. If migrants could demand a fair price, then the incentive for businesses to hire them would go away.
Also, I think that borders shouldn't be locked down like a war zone. Cultural mixing is important for people to understand one another and get along. Locking down our borders sends the message that we don't want anything to do with other people. That being said, I don't know how many people our infrastructure can handle. Who's job is it to decide who has the right to try for a better life. Maybe our government should up our relief efforts in Mexico, that way there'd be less incentive to move here.

On Immigration

Immigration remains a controversial issue.  Regulation of immigrants as well as who should be allowed into the country is difficult to determine.  I believe that immigration should be regulated by the federal government.  Although America makes it its policy to aid the oppressed, the country owes more to its citizens than the average human.  Just as it is a parent's duty to protect his own child over other children, it is a country's duty to protect her citizens.  If immigration were completely unrestrained, then desirable America would become overcrowded, with her citizens perhaps elbowed aside by the newcomers.  Therefore, immigration must be regulated, but by who?

Immigration being regulated at the state level is ridiculous; it is not an issue that falls into the sovereignty of each individual state.  This issue effects all states, thus it must be collectively regulated by them all, hence by the federal government.  The federal government does a good job of regulating immigration currently, striking a balance between cost-efficiency and effectiveness.  Because of their proven track record, it makes sense for the federal government to continue regulating immigration.

immigration control

I think that Immigration should be a controlled process, not just for the sake of Americans but for the immigrants as well. Immigration is such a vast and hotly debated issue that leaving it up to individual states would inevitably result in conflict: Texas demanding that California reimburse them for the money the state lost when illegal aliens who got in through the California boarder, started working in Texas, and so on. Thus immigration should be left up to the federal government, specifically the DEA. Giving the DEA official jurisdiction would help focus efforts on one of the major sources of, and problems with illegal immigration, which is too often overlooked in discussions such as ours, the Mexican-American drug trade. Cutting this trade route, while resource and time intensive, would eliminate much of the crime and violence seen near the Mexican boarder, most likely on both sides.

The other major problem besides drugs is of course work. The congressional bill to allow immigrants to work toward citizenship in a sector of America’s job market that’s hurting, i.e. lacking people, yet usually requires little training, is a plan that, as far as I can perceive, will benefit everyone. To truly make this plan work however, the financial expenses and time required by immigrants to legal enter the country must be lessened perhaps making legal channels become more feasible than illegal ones, if possible. Having many legal, rather than illegal immigrants would make it easier for the government to oversee the quality and safety of the jobs in which immigrants work. Without the ability to exploit immigrant workers, businesses would quit hiring them exclusively, and American unemployment would lessen. This would likely have the affect of funneling immigrants into sectors such as farming, as would this congressional bill. The revival of American farm production would strengthen the U.S. economy, and perhaps lead to the revival of U.S. production in other fields as well.

Weekend Blogwork

As I articulated today in class, your mission this weekend (i.e., homework) is to post 2 paragraphs of thoughtful and intelligent questions and/or arguments concerning the issue of migration control. Intelligent responses will of course include more than simple statements of your opinion - I will enjoy seeing you grapple with questions to which you don't have easy answers.

This is what serious thinking looks like!

I would also love to see you respond to each others' posts - feel free to comment as well as post (respectfully and thoughtfully, as always, though not hesitating to disagree!).

As a supplementary source, here's a link to an mp3 of this (Friday) morning's Marketplace radio show: it includes a brief story (2 minutes or so) about what's happening right now in the national immigration debate, and one particular group of people who have a vested interest in it (from marketplace.publicradio.org):

A congressional bill would provide immigrant farm workers a path to citizenship if they continue to work in agriculture. Farm management leaders say the move is vital to their industry. Jeff Tyler explains why.

Here's the text if you'd rather read than listen.

Who Wants To Be A Torturer? ...I mean, Millionaire? ...I mean, sheep?

Further reinforcing the suspicion that social pressures are too often stronger than ethics... this link to a story about a TV game show broadcast yesterday evening - quaintly entitled "The Game of Death" - and the documentary filmmaker who produced it. Perhaps the most telling quotation from the article:

"They are not equipped to disobey."

Ethics in Physics

An MIT physics professor released the results of a study in which he monitored student cheating and its correlation with test scores.

Is anyone surprised?

Nietzche!

"All sciences are now under the obligation to prepare the ground for the future task of the philosopher, which is to solve the problem of value, to determine the true hierarchy of values."
~Friedrich Nietzche

Apropos of This Week's Topic...

Check this link from Slashdot.org regrading the much-ballyhooed "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Are You In Control?

Is addiction a choice, or a disease? Exactly how much of a role does free will play in an addict's actions - is s/he compelled, or free to choose? An interesting conundrum for philosophers, with real-world consequences: check out this book review of a recent publication from Harvard University Press on these questions.

In the year two thousand and ten of the almighty Chuck

http://www.asylum.com/2010/03/10/chuck-norris-turns-70-we-present-a-norris-fact-for-every-ass-ki/

Local philosophy event: TOMORROW!

Philosophy lecture at Williams TOMORROW NIGHT... I'll be there - will you? Where else will you ever get the chance to hear philosophy described as "a cerebral form of shock therapy"?

Plato's Poetic Redemption of Socrates' Tragic Neglect of Poetry

4:15 p.m., Hopkin B1964
Lecture by Joseph Lawrence, Professor of Philosophy, College of Holy Cross. At home in the hills of Kentucky, Lawrence is emphatically an outsider (and a highly critical one) to the world of middle-class suburbia. Accustomed to philosophize with a hammer, his teaching has been likened to a cerebral form of shock therapy. Most of his publications have been on the philosopher Schelling, though he has made frequent forays into ancient philosophy and the wisdom traditions of the East. Sponsored by the Philosophy Department.

And now.......for something.....completely different!

For all you heretics who don't watch The Dailyshow:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-9-2010/exclusive---marc-thiessen-extended-interview-pt--1

part 1/3

Siddhartha, day II

Try this link for an online resource for Hesse's Siddhartha.

Siddhartha!

HW for tomorrow: pages 3-38 of the easy-to-read, 14-point-font handout of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. Don't expect to understand everything - I don't! But be ready to ask Ms. Finnegan or myself your questions in class tomorrow.

By the way, here's an interesting article about how some famous philosophers are getting involved in the public debate over evolution and creationism...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMEe7JqBgvg

black guy dies first always


p.s. blue....no YELLLLLLLOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!

Believe It Or Not...

"squircle" is actually being used seriously in the media. (Remember our class discussion of logical impossibilities?) From a description of a new Microsoft/Verizon cell phone:

Turtle (pictured above), is reportedly "squircle" in shape, and includes a
microphone at the bottom of its slide-out keyboard[.]

Philosophy is so cutting-edge, we're bleeding.

Rivera Case

I think that the family should have used the fact that Gabriela worked in toxic conditions to sue for money to pay for her medication. I agree with Megan that the doctors should have sought legal action to have a different person recognized as Gabriela's medical proxy. I think the doctors needed to do morre earlier on, like having regular meetings with Gabriela about her diet and medications to make sure she was treating herself properly. They should have done more to make her understand the consequences of not following their orders, by bringing in her son to help translate for her. If this had happened then many of Gabriela's problems would not exist.

Murder vs. Suicide

Murder and suicide can been seen as both, very similar, and completely different, depending on the speficific situation. Murder is wrong and immoral but there a few situations where many people would find justice in murder. Suicide is also a sensitive subject that you can't put in a right or wrong category...generally, I believe its wrong but not all suicide is the same.

End-of-life decision

Marcos should have translated what the doctor was saying to Mrs. Rivera. She should know what’s going on with her health so she could have a saying in what should be done. Marcos should have at least asked Mrs. Rivera what she thought about having a “hospice” before making a decision of not needing one. Mrs. Rivera clearly needed a hospice, since it seems like the family will not be helping out with her health. I don’t think they’ll put her on a diet or help out with her needs as much as she needs it. I believe Marcos should have both listen to the doctor by getting Mrs. Rivera a hospice and Marcos should have translated everything that the doctor said to her. Mrs. Rivera has a right to know what is going on with her health.

murder vs. suicide

I believe that both murder and suicide are morality wrong and they are both completely different. Suicide is taking your own life and murder is taking the life of someone else. Suicide is your own choice to die. Murder is not a choice for the other person. I don’t think that murder is right in any way; people should not take the lives of others in any circumstance.

In Mrs. Rivera's situation the fact that she can not understand some of the things that the doctor might be saying and that she has no clue about what will happen and what her choices are. This is where Marcos should have though about her past and how all this has happended and how much longer would she actually live once getting the transplant, she will still have diabetes which could cause death later on. I think Marco should have got a "hospice" and should have brought the family closer by speding more time with here as she went out.

HW

A greater effort should have been put in to making sure Gabriella understood the situation. Her son should have translated for her so that the doctors could be entirely sure that the language barrier was not causing a problem. I'm not sure what the doctors could have done differently with Marcus, they can't force him to comply with their recommendations, even if he is making a bad decision. The doctors could possibly seek legal action to grant some one else Gabriella's medical proxy, I think there is some precedent for that, but it is highly unlikely to succeed.

Hurray for Utah!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbAc98UJw4cay

Murder v Suicide

In my opinion, murder and suicide are obviously very different things. Each has it's own causes and different thoughts from society. Personally, I believe suicide is a completely wrong and is for the cowardly. Murder, on the other hand, cannot be stopped. It has been occurring since mankind has been around. Behind murder there is always some sort of cause, most of which are not just.

Ethical Perspectives on the News

This link takes you to a page on Santa Clara University's website. Check it out - they've got a library of podcasts on a range of interesting topics, from bioterrorism to climate change to freedom of the press to sex and violence in video games.

Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Conversation

Tomorrow, Tuesday March 2 at 4pm at Williams:

Interdisciplinary Gallery Talk: Models of the Mind

4:00 p.m., Williams College Museum of Art
Joseph Cruz, philosophy; Andrea Danyluk, Dean of the Faculty and computer science; and Safa Zaki, psychology present a talk in conjunction with the exhibition Landscapes of the Mind: Contemporary Artists Contemplate the Brain. WCMA