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BrianMillerMagic
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 543
Location: New York State
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 Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:43 pm Post subject: Help me decide on a thesis topic involving magic... |
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Hey everyone,
For my undergraduate thesis in philosophy which I will be spending this summer and all of next semester working on, I have been granted permission to work within the realm of magic and the art of illusion's implications for philosophy. These are the different topics I am considering and I was wondering what you guys think I should focus on. My goal is to make this and any future similar works a significant contribution to both contemporary philosophy AND magic. The ideas are:
The ethics of deceit - is deceit permissible, different kinds of deceit, if it is permissible then when, how, and why, etc
The epistemology of illusion - how can we know anything about that which is presented in the form of illusion, how can we be sure that so much of what we think we know isn't mere illusion, etc
The metaphysics of illusion - what is magic, is magic/illusion real, if so then in what way is it real, etc
The aesthetics of magic as an art form - how illusion ought to be presented, what is the distinction between magic and art, which criteria must be satisfied in order for magic to be art, etc
Thanks for your input guys.
Brian
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Michael Kras
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Joined: 07 Aug 2007
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Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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The last topic seems a bit touchy to me, as in it seems like information that could only be appreciated by a practitioner of magic. My favourite topic from the list would have to be The Metaphysics of Illusion.
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Reuben The Great
Joined: 11 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:14 am Post subject: |
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I agree with Michael, the last is a touchy one
Go with metaphysics.
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teddy
Joined: 31 Aug 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:16 am Post subject: |
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I like ethics and metaphysics. Epistemology seems too much like a science fiction movie where a person can't wake up from a dream. And aesthetics is a little boring.
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BrianMillerMagic
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
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Location: New York State
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:54 am Post subject: |
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For the record, epistemology is the study of knowledge - what we can know, how we come to know things, etc. It's at the very core of the empirical sciences and mathematics. A paper of that sort would be centered around the question, "Given that our senses can be so easily deceived, as proven in the art of magic, how is it that we can still claim knowledge of the world that is arrived at through empirical testing (those that depend on the very senses that are so easily deceived)?"
It's not as science fictiony as you read it to be, but that could have been my wording.
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Liam
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:36 am Post subject: Re: Help me decide on a thesis topic involving magic... |
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i like the first one
how long does your thesis have to be, that might be usefull info |
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BrianMillerMagic
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teddy
Joined: 31 Aug 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not sure it would be as easy to get up to 30-40 pages with epistemology of illusion. It seems like one can't branch out much beyond the two questions you listed (How can we know anything about that which is presented in the form of illusion, etc.).
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BrianMillerMagic
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
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teddy
Joined: 31 Aug 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| BrianMillerMagic wrote: | | There's hundreds if not thousands of pages of literature in the history of philosophy of that very subject. Don't worry about the length or anything like that. I'm just trying to figure out which topic would be most interesting to both philosophers and magicians simultaneously. |
Then I'd say the ethics of deceit.
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