tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post2597133228086695085..comments2024-03-28T02:54:46.537-04:00Comments on The TOF Spot: In Psearch of Psyche: Man the VegetableTheOFloinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-31008022309299500832014-09-09T09:24:34.920-04:002014-09-09T09:24:34.920-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.otr214425https://www.blogger.com/profile/09346362056162810249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-59840275564476851152014-08-17T14:39:24.627-04:002014-08-17T14:39:24.627-04:00As usual, I want anxiously for the next installmen...As usual, I want anxiously for the next installment. Thanks for the discourse!Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06877019716219367152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-88515767879473975902014-08-17T14:37:05.184-04:002014-08-17T14:37:05.184-04:00Hobbes' definition has stuck with me from the ...Hobbes' definition has stuck with me from the first moment: "sudden glory"Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06877019716219367152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-61233073906870374382014-08-15T15:05:59.376-04:002014-08-15T15:05:59.376-04:00On the Thomistic view, angels are alive. So is Go...On the Thomistic view, angels are alive. So is God. Take a look at ST I Q18 to see the line of thinking (he's setting himself up to say that God is life itself...way, truth, life, that kinda thing).<br /><br />RobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-71632582212502659522014-08-04T15:19:03.469-04:002014-08-04T15:19:03.469-04:00I am inclined to classify viruses as non-living pr...I am inclined to classify viruses as non-living precisely because their powers seem to be transient rather than immanent. It seems to me that the vegetative soul is the least amount of immanence that a thing might have and still be "alive."<br /><br />My first thought regarding self-replicating robots is to say "no" because the parts of a robot have no intrinsic tendency to come together as a robot. A robot does not grow; it assembles. It is as if a human were to cast about for a spleen here, a liver there, a leg somewhere else and then concatenate these parts. A living plant takes in external matter, but <i>converts</i> that matter into its own stuff. I might be persuaded otherwise, but it would take some fine persuasion.TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-2841381707243252132014-08-04T15:01:28.154-04:002014-08-04T15:01:28.154-04:00Questions: according to this definition of life an...Questions: according to this definition of life and vegetables, how would you classify viruses? Do they have vegetative souls or not? A cursory glance at the description of viruses would say not, because although they do seek reproduction and homeostasis and they grow/develop, their nutritive powers/metabolism is done externally by the host. <br /><br />Secondary questions: robots! Ok, if we had a robot that had a little factory inside it that took in gasoline and silica and made copies of itself, would we consider the robot alive? Is a plant something more than a self-replicating machine that metabolizes? Also, how much does an object have to metabolize to be considered alive. After all, I can't just eat carbon atoms or even cellulose -- I need to eat partially metabolized molecules in the form of protein, carbs and fat. Could a robot collect a bunch of nand gates, wires and solder to make himself, or would he need to start from something more basic to count as metabolism?<br /><br />Auxiliary robot question: can the soul hierarchy be disrupted? E.g can you have a soul that is an animal or rational soul without being vegetative? I feel like if I mention Angels I'm answering my own question (Actually, I'm not sure, can angels be said to be alive despite being rational beings? what is the Thomistic view on this?). Although engineering is eons away from making anything I would consider a rationals soul, could objects that are solely sensible souls be alive if not vegetative? (maybe I need to wait on the article on sensible souls to answer this question myself). Maikihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00136891953810280076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-23622953421944117082014-07-31T19:15:16.639-04:002014-07-31T19:15:16.639-04:00I read an agricultural article recently about a st...I read an agricultural article recently about a study where plants respond to the sound of parasites chewing. Plants without parasites, but which were exposed to the recorded sound or vibrations of parasites chewing, released compounds of a pesticidal nature in greater quantities than their friends not exposed to the sounds.GaryOfTheNorthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05046815325000108023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-59795554666395324512014-07-30T13:35:08.684-04:002014-07-30T13:35:08.684-04:00In the tree of Porphyry, one proprium of man is &q...In the tree of Porphyry, one proprium of man is "risibilis" - able to laugh as well as to be laughed at. Chesterton and CSL thought this had sth to do with ill ease at coonditions caused by original sin.Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-447603865959500290.post-63621480797891212872014-07-30T11:06:10.138-04:002014-07-30T11:06:10.138-04:00When I realized I have quondam read fiction based ...When I realized I have quondam read fiction based on this, I kinda snorted masala cha out my nose. <br /><br />So, at the risk of a major rabbit hole, where does laughter fit in all this? Because it strikes me in a casual, I'm-not-actually-a-philosopher, way, that laughter isn't rational but is distinctly human and involves some of the vegetative systems. Maybe later we'll get to this? Humor and the soul?Xena Catolicanoreply@blogger.com