‘The sun is actually white, it just appears yellow to us through the Earth’s atmosphere.’ This is a line that appeared on Facebook a while ago, courtesy of my friend Else Cederborg, who posts all sorts of curious and interesting things. It is a common form of argument that most will readily understand and generally … Continue reading The Actual Colour of the Sun
Tag: Berkeley
Vanishing Point and the Golden Rule (by way of Immanuel Kant)
I remember once becoming absurdly excited in Princes St. Gardens in Edinburgh - that was just where I chanced to be, not the cause of the excitement - when I realised that an interesting thing happens if you number the dimensions in the reverse of the conventional order. My brother had once explained the concept … Continue reading Vanishing Point and the Golden Rule (by way of Immanuel Kant)
‘we are only doing philosophy’
Esse est percipi - to be is to be perceived. That is Berkeley’s great insight, that the world as we know it exists only for us and beings similarly equipped. It is an observation widely misunderstood because the truth of it is difficult to express, hence the famous exchange between my countryman Boswell (whom I … Continue reading ‘we are only doing philosophy’
COMPLEAT TROWZER 