Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Psychology and Personality Typology

  • Islam and the Perils of Psychological Projection

    I have found that it is dangerous to assume that others are essentially like oneself. Psychologists speak of projection. As I understand it, it involves projecting (etymologically, throwing outward) into others one's own attitudes, beliefs, motivations, fears, emotions, desires, values, and the like.  It is classified as a defense mechanism.  To avoid confronting an unsavory…

  • Mass Race Delusion: Bruce Levenson’s ‘Racist’ E-Mail

    Recently I have been pinching myself a lot, figuratively speaking, to see if I am awake and not dreaming all the delusional race nonsense I keep hearing about.  Herewith, a very recent example. Bruce Levenson, owner of the Atlanta Hawks, sold his controlling interest in the NBA franchise  because of this piece of 'racist' e-mail …

  • Philosophers Who Compartmentalize and Those Who Don’t

    For many philosophers, their technical philosophical work bears little or no relation to the implicit or explicit set of action-guiding beliefs and values that constitutes their worldview.  Saul Kripke, for example, is an observant Jew who keeps the Sabbath and rejects naturalism and materialism.  But you would never know it from his technical work which…

  • Pew Research Center Political Typology Quiz

    I started to take the quiz but then quit in disgust after the first two questions. Here is the first question: Which of the following statements comes closest to your view? Government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest. Government regulation of business usually does more harm than good. I would say…

  • Cognitive Dissonance or Doxastic Dissonance?

    From what appears to be a reputable source: Cognitive Dissonance Theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957), is concerned with the relationships among cognitions. A cognition, for the purpose of this theory, may be thought of as a ³piece of knowledge.² The knowledge may be about an attitude, an emotion, a behavior, a value, and so…

  • Antagonize Parsimoniously

    Brian Leiter would do well to consider and live by the following prudential analog of Ockham's Razor: Do not multiply enemies beyond necessity. Why not?  Well, it is just foolish, especially for a vain and status-obsessed careerist who craves name and fame, to attack people who, it can be expected, will expose his petty and…

  • Introvert or Extrovert?

    Do you need solitude to recover from society or society to recover from solitude?

  • Can a Sane and Morally Decent Person be a Liberal?

    My title is intentionally hyperbolic and provocative, but not without justification given the outrageously vile (e.g., Martin Bashir) and breathtakingly mindless (e.g., Melissa Harris Perry) commentary encountered at liberal media outlets such as MSNBC.  Here is a measured formulation of my question:  To what extent does liberal ideology  militate against sanity and moral decency in…

  • Does Anyone Really Believe in the Muslim Paradise?

    I dedicate this post to Peter L. and Mike V. with whom some of the following ideas were hashed out over Sunday breakfast at a Mesa hash house. Sam Harris reports on the curious views of one Scott Atran, anthropologist: According to Atran, people who decapitate journalists, filmmakers, and aid workers to cries of “Alahu akbar!” or…

  • From Religion to Philosophy: A Typology of Motives for Making the Move

    People come to philosophy from various 'places.'  Some come from religion, others from mathematics and the natural sciences, still others from literature and the arts.  There are other termini a quis as well.  In this post I am concerned only with the move from religion to philosophy.  What are the main types of reasons for…

  • Psychological Projection and its Dangers

    I have found that it is dangerous to assume that others are essentially like oneself. Psychologists speak of projection. As I understand it, it involves projecting into others one's own attitudes, beliefs, motivations, fears, emotions, desires, values, and the like.  It is classified as a defense mechanism.  To avoid confronting an unsavory attitude or trait in…

  • Introverts and Inwardness

    Whereas the extrovert finds himself in socializing, the introvert loses himself in it: he experiences the loss of his inwardness, which is precious to him, a pearl of great price, not willingly surrendered. The clearest expression of this dismay at self-loss that I am aware of finds expression is an early (1836) journal entry of…

  • When to Psychologize

    You are free to psychologize your opponent when his position is demonstrably false or incoherent.  If his reasons are worthless, then you are justified in exposing the motives that drive his commitments.  Related articles Photo ID: Voter Suppression or Liberal Projection? When Philosophical Questions Grow Up Do They Leave Home? Some Bad Arguments of Lawrence Krauss…

  • Be Gracious

    Does someone want to do something for you? Buy you lunch?  Give you a gift?  Bring something to the dinner?  Be gracious.  Don't say, "You don't have to buy me lunch,"  or "Let me buy you lunch," or "You didn't have to bring that."  Humbly accept and grant the donor the pleasure of being a…

  • Self-Effacement and Self-Importance

    To what extent is it a sign of self-importance that one regularly draws attention to one's own insignificance?  I am thinking of Simone Weil.   In self-effacement the ego may find a way to assert itself.  "Do you see how pure and penetrating is my love of truth that I am able to realize and admit…