Thanks to Oscar I run into this "list of unsolved problems in philosophy" (though the first problem I encountered was to decide what the concept of "philosophy” the editors had used, since there are problems related to the theory of art, language or mathematics. Yet I easily ruled out that conflict, saying that philosophy refers widely to "problems attaining knowledge” though, what is knowledge and how does it differ from, say, beliefs or know-hows? this question being as ancient as knowledge itself and having studied it during a whole semester in high school without getting a satisfactory answer I pretty much laughed it away… hahaha). Even if I really don’t know why Óscar directed me there it was a great reading, I suppose that now I don’t feel like the only one who has unsolved dead-ends. Here are the problems I found more fascinating (in the order they appear in the article, not mine):
Essentialism - Well, just three weeks ago I was asking myself whether I "knew" something only because of my intrinsic ability of "knowing" or because of the things' inherent capacity of "being"... I think this goes with Gettier Problem as well.
The Medium is the Message - Sure, for example, I prefer rockabilly or indie/brit versions of pop songs rather than pop songs themselves... (hahaha just joking, I know this problem is way wider... but it is a cool example, isn't it?)
Art Objects (Sorites Paradox) - This one is plain mesmerizing, I was thinking about this very same problem the other day: sometimes while I'm singing scales or playing something on the violin a note is slightly "off", then I ask myself, "so, this ain't a D right?" and I answer to myself, "sure, it is a D slightly lower”, and I continue, “therefore it isn't a D, because if it were a D, it would be sharper..., but, how is it that I can use a D as a reference, there has to be something there…"
Mind-Body Problem - My opinions on this subject vary widely (depending on my mood, my current readings, or my state of mind), in any case, I really don't buy Descartes' arguments, I mean, surely I can say that I can imagine my mind without my body, but it is obvious I cannot say I actually did it, since the part of my body that allows me to have a mind is working properly and that's why I can imagine things. Also, I can surely picture a meeting without me (my funeral, for one) but that doesn't mean that I really believe that a meeting without me is impossible. (A marginal note: the latter example is, to my knowledge, Freud’s, not Descartes', so people at Wikipedia should look it up...)
Hard problem of consciousness and Qualia - I put these two under the same label because in my opinion they are closely related. That quality of perception we name "qualia" is explained through consciousness, and it is perhaps the only thing that remains unsolved regarding perception, so we have to accept that consciousness exists even if we cannot explain how it works. Nevertheless, I remain confident that further research will solve this riddle sooner than later... Neurological research has grown enormously in recent years, and sure they will find if there is something "not material" to consciousness, or only a matter of "consciousness is just a way of refering to a skill, capacity or ability founded on the grounds of material stuff, just as a smile is a way of refering to a certain behavior of the mouth, which, in turn, is a way of refering to teeth, lips and such, not another thing in itself…"
Demarcation problem - A problem that the guys at UNAM’s Philosophy Department should take seriously… I suppose Kant and Comte would be delighted if they knew how far we’ve come: just more questions and no answers... hahaha. (I have never read Popper in my entire life so I can't say I agree or disagree with his views). However, this one is perhaps just a problem of modern obsession with objectivity and perception ("modern" in the wider sense, from Enlightenment on, because I basically regard Renaissance as a Middle Ages' hangover, yeah I know if I said it out loud I would be accused of "laity", but I don't care...). If it is, or it isn't, I think if we were able to "demarcate" what is what and why, we could find better (that is, more suited or appropriate) methods to research on every field and, more importantly, to produce respectable knowledge.
So, this really was relaxing, I pretty much forgot about my own problems, doubts and sadness… Now they are back…I better leave and try to find another way of distracting them :D
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