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Why didn't the allies declare war on the USSR when the red army invaded Poland? --Fatdudewhosproud 00:33, 20 December 2006 (UTC) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Fatdudewhosproud (talk • contribs) 00:33, 20 December 2006 (UTC).
The British expressed their views by being strongly pro-Finnish in the Soviet-Finnish war which soon folllowed... AnonMoos 01:21, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
I was reading something and came across this line: "there is never any excess in virtue, inasmuch as it is no longer a virtue if it is in excess."
This really does not feel right but I can't put my finger on how, specifically, it is wrong. Is it just equivocation? (Where in one sense it's referring to some deed or another that is often defined as "virtuous," which can be done in excess, and in another sense it's referring to the concept of virtue, which inherently precludes excess). I'm running in circles here! --Clngre 01:19, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
To me, this seems to just be a very complicated way of expressing a the simple idea that "there's no such thing as having too much of a virtue because having too much of something makes it no longer a virtue" (so like being too honest makes the honesty no longer a good/desired thing). Why did you think it was a fallacy to begin with? --`/aksha 01:36, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
aksha, I'm not really sure if it is a fallacy or not, it just really "feels" wrong, it feels like, as Montaigne said (that's where I read it), a play on words that isn't very logical but asserts something through some kind of semantic backdoor. I don't know, it just doesn't seem right.
The assertion is that 'virtue cannot be done in excess,' is it not? In one sense (there are things that we call virtuous that can be done in excess (giving to charity is virtuous, but one can give too much and starve themselves)) it seems very possible that "virtue could be done in excess," but in another sense (by definition something being virtuous, if it indeed is virtuous, means it couldn't be "in excess") it isn't possible. It seems to me like just an apparent, but not real, contradiction in theory and practice. In theory (the definition of virtue) it can't be, but in practice (acts of virtue) it can be. Both ideas are true in themselves, but with that sentence the speaker seems to also be kind of negating the first sense with the second, which doesn't seem right.
I really don't know and am just confused, there are too many layers to this.--Clngre 02:12, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
I'd imagine that the writer was just trying to say that virtue/virtuous behaviour includes a level of restraint eg temperance or moderation.87.102.4.227 11:19, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
If I have correctly translated this into standard claims, it should look like,
Unless I am missing a claim, I don't think this would be a syllogism as it stands. I could rewrite the argument as such,
This is argueing a contradiction of definition, which appears to be most closely related to the statement quoted, and is logically valid. We could also construct a truth table. Virtue A is a Virtue if and only if Virtue A is not in excess.
This like the previous would be true. Again, I may have misconstructed the above arguments, but it would seem that from these two perspectives, the statement is logically sound if the middle term is added, namely the "Virute A is" statement. Disregarding the eloquent language, it may in fact be valid. Without the middle term it is technically not an argument in the structure of a syllogism. I think that the truth table is more closely related to the statement, and that it was not originally intended to be a syllogism by it's author. I like the way the statement is written from an aesthetic point of view, and while I welcome anyone who can correct my logic here, I secretly hope that it is in fact logically valid. ~~Dmarney
What is Argentina's opinion on the current weapon problem in North korea? have they done anything about it? Thanks! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.134.73.15 (talk) 02:48, 20 December 2006 (UTC).
thanks! anyone else?
Why is Staten Island in New York, when a glance at the map makes it look like it should be part of New Jersey? I found the original grant of New Jersey, which included "all that tract of land adjacent to New England, and lying and being to the westward of Long Island, and Manhitas Island and bounded on the east part by the main sea, and part by Hudson's river... ." That would seem to include Staten Island, wouldn't it? -- Mwalcoff 05:25, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
I'm a clarinet player and ashamed I don't know this =/. The standard B-flat clarinet is considered a soprano clarinet, you have an E-flat alto clarinet, and a bass clarinet. Are there any types of clarinets that can be considered a tenor clarinet? Thanks! -Kevin 05:32, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Does any one know where I can get a recording of the opera Aniara by Karl-Birger Blomdahl? Thanks! S.dedalus 07:01, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Hi, I am a Chinese, I am reading this book.
I can't figure out the sentence below:
Brookfield was playing Barnhurst, and one of the Barnhurst boys......
Please kindly tell me, what is Barnhurst, what kind of game it is. I tried to find it on internet but in vain.
Thank you in advance for your kindness. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.60.242.186 (talk) 08:04, 20 December 2006 (UTC).
Brookfield was one school team playing the other team, Barnhurst school. So Barnhurst is a school rather than a game. They were probably enjoying a game of rugby union, or maybe cricket --Steve (Slf67) talk 08:09, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Thanks a lot.
In my opinion, it could be any sport, or maybe a team not attatched to a school.martianlostinspace 17:13, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
One small additional point to help with your future reading. A word like 'Barnhurst', beginning with an upper case letter in mid-sentence, indicates a proper noun, used only for names, place-names and the like. A game, like rugby or cricket, would always be in the lower case, unless, of course, it is placed at the beginning of a sentence. Clio the Muse 02:45, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
Hello, I have recently added some refereces to the article on Robert A. Pape. A message occurs: this article or section does not cite its references or sources. How do I make it right?
The message is there becuase of sections like this "Since 1999, he has taught at the University of Chicago, where he is now tenured.[citation needed] " - It means that someone thinks the fact that he is at the university of chicago needs a reference to prove it.
So it needs a link at this point in the text (maybe to university of chicago teaching staff) as a reference. If you think it is asking for citations for things that are common knowledge you should bring it up on the article talk page. When all instances of [citation needed] have gone you can remove the template labelled 'unreferenced' at the top of the page.
You might find Wikipedia:Citing sources useful as well as Wikipedia talk:Footnotes/Mixed citations and footnotes which shows you how to do it (look at the code using 'edit this page')87.102.4.227 11:30, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Moved to WP:RD/P - 131.211.210.10 09:06, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
Are there any (relatively well known) russian philosophers? Are there any russian philosophers whose works are not well known outside russia?? (excluding Albert Chernenko)87.102.4.227 14:37, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
There were quite a few political philosophers, like Lenin and Trotsky, dealing with things like the rights of man, until Stalin took control and made the Soviet Union into a brutal dictatorship. StuRat 17:41, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Someone who made quite an impact in the 80's (after his death in 1975) and is still read a lot in cultural studies is Mikhail Bakhtin, I can personally recommend "Rabelais and His World: carnival and grotesque". Whether you classify him as a cultural commentator or a philosopher is a whole (uninteresting?) debate. Keria 17:57, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
The page on Russian philosophy has a fairly comprehensive list, though I admit most are probably little known outside Russia, and others, most notably Fydor Dostoyevsky and Lev Tolstoy, are better known for other intellectual pursuits. I think the best known, those with an national and an international reputation, would have to include Alexander Herzen and Mikhail Bakunin. Less well-known in the west, though he lived for many years outside Russia, is Ivan Ilyin, whose remains were returned to his native land last year for re-interment, along with the White general, Anton Denikin. Incidentally, on a point of information, the Soviet Union was a brutal dictatorship well before the days of Stalin, who only made a bad situation considerably worse. Stalin himself, it might be said, has every right to be included in the pantheon of Russian political philosophy, as his works, including Problems of Leninism and Dialectical and Historical Materialism, had a far greater impact than those of Leon Trotsky. Lenin's impact was in the field of political rather than pure philosophy. Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, his only book to tackle the subject head on, so to speak, is derivitive and polemical, not among the most persuasive of his works. Clio the Muse 23:58, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Are there any current (as of 2006) American Communist Parties that approve of the current regime in the People's Republic of China? All the Maoist parties I know of have denounced Deng Xiaoping's free market reforms and no longer consider China a communist nation. Are there any communist parties that approve of Deng Xiaoping Theory? The closest I;ve been able to find is the CPUSA. If anyone knows of any currently pro-Chinese parties outside the USA I'd be intrested in thoose as well. --Gary1234 16:24, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
In the anime series Azumanga Daioh, which episode features Chiyo's Dad speaking in English to a confused Osaka? (Please note that this is a serious question; I've been through my collection and I can't seem to remember which episode it is. Thanks!) --Ppk01 16:03, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Right, no need to answer. Found it myself: Episode 24, Part 4 "Study Session". --Ppk01 20:06, 20 December 2006 (UTC)