Abbott: Put that out.  There’s no smoking in here. 

Costello: What makes you think I’m smoking? 

Abbott: You’ve got a cigar in your mouth! 

Costello: I’ve got shoes on…. It doesn’t mean I’m walking.”   – One Night in the Tropics, 1940 

“Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance  deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has  been carefully hidden.” – Phaedrus, 428-348 B.C.

Usually, when I hear someone refer to a “philosophical problem,” it is safe to assume they have stumbled upon  something contested or murky. Anything without clean  borders and an obviously correct side that good people can  agree on is often dismissed as a “philosophical problem.” Also  consigned to this fate are questions that seem simple until you  look closely and discover a thicket of overlap and conflicts.  In my experience this is usually because what appears to be  the question is either not the real question or not the whole  question. I’m going to try to untangle a situation that falls into the latter category, but before you chuck this column onto the philosophical slash heap, stay with me, and let’s talk timber. 

» Continue Reading.