ibn Harm

Category: Ramadan

  • On philosophy

    I am as of now still waiting for the library to open and to prepare Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions so it seems like a good time to release some thoughts about philosophy in higher learning.

    I have been blessed to receive now two years of structured instruction and two years of self study at Leiden University in the premasters and masters program of Global and Comparative Philosophy. At the moment I chose this program for some reasons:

    • The program was advertised as unique in Europe with regards to its global and comparative aspect.
    • It seemed foolish to miss out the chance of getting acquinted with philosophical traditions other than the Eurocentric ones.

    As most students entering the abode of peace of university I have had ups and downs with regards to studentlife.

    Not so much different from culture shock that some students or young professionals experience while travelling abroad and staying a semester in another country.

    I think the studies in Leiden is not so much different from programs at other universities. Programs of Philosophy that is. At the University of Twente it was mandatory to follow a class of ethics.

    I can’t recall with pinpoint accuracy what it was about again but I remember the atmosphere and it is not unlike that of Ethics courses in Leiden.

  • On the hadith “actions are judged by their intentions”

    The only way that actions can be judged by their intentions is if the world of ‘aql عقل is more real than the world of matter. In Arabic this statement (the conditional) could not be made i.e. it does not translate since “realness” and haqqiyah (al-haqq conv. translated as “the Real”) do not perfectly allign.

    In the words of Ned Flanders of the Simpsons: “I cannot live in good intentions.” Relating to an episode in which his house is destroyed and despite good intentions no substantial building occurs.

  • Is philosophy-cum-theology opposed to science?

    A friend once asked me if philosophy-cum-theology was opposed to science. It seems clear in hindsight that this is not the case since phil.-cum-theol. actually discovered the formal systems on which science relies. Syllogistic reasoning describes the basic rules of logic which we use to test the soundness of our reasoning. Lets examine some examples:

    • All a are b; x belongs to a; therefore x belongs to b.
    • if c then d, not d, therefore not c.

    Which should not be mistaken for the false counterparts:

    • All a are b; b (is true); therefore a (is true).
    • if c then d, not c, therefore not d.

    The first of these logical fallacies fails because b being true does not necessarily imply a to be true. The arrow of implication goes one way.

    The second fallacy arises because of a misunderstanding of entailment.

    The next part in this series of logic might consider induction and its relation to empiricism.

  • Bayes and frequentists #2

    In the earlier post I discussed merely the Bayesian camp so today we will right that wrong.

    Frequentist statistics is helpful in that it enables to arive at general conclusions about a test group in a controlled environment.

    Can frequentist statistics be used to make decisions? It can and is being done for example in computer science viz. a-b testing for example in intelligent interaction design which is a discipline aimed at improving user experience vis-a-vis electronic interfaces.

    In this particular example Bayes would not have sufficed, at least not in its normal form. A applied methodology can be imagined in which Bayesian strength is determined before and after a use-case for two or multiple interfaces.

    The research question would be slightly different from that of the frequentist scientists viz. frequentists have a straightforward method in testing whether there is a significant difference in user experience.

    Since Bayesian inference is designed to arrive at degree of belief with regard to prior probability it is more applicable to individual use cases rather than coming to conclusions for a predetermined test group.

    Hypothesis: frequentist statistics is used to draw general conclusions from carefully selected test groups, bayesian statistics is used to draw case-specific conclusions from historical data and particular context.

  • Language #4

    Recently worked out that the British “much obliged” is serving the same function as the French “je vous en prie.” Let me know if these ideas also exist in your language.

  • On progress #3

    If progress is not possible, as some modern philosophers argue then it seems difficult to imagine what role modern scholars have. The case for a loss or discontinuity between the classical world and whatever it is that we are currently/the-modernity-project is quite possible.

  • On pedagogy and the mihna

    The mihna or “inquisition” was the event that the ruling khalifa of the Muslim empire attacked scholars with the compulsed choice of either accepting the createdness of the Qur’an or rejecting it. Rejection of the doctrine meant imprisonment or worse.

    A pedagogical note can be made that it seems irrational to impose such drastic fate to a theoretical question. It can also be interpreted as the climate of the time being academic.

  • Review: Good Will Hunting

    As of now there are eleven days left of Ramadan 2026 which means that we ought to pursue our dreams with grace.

    Good Will Hunting depics the life of a traumatized iuvenis who keeps his ego healthy by outperforming mit students without accountability.

    The life of Hollywood stars seems impious but does not intrinsically contradict reason.

  • On evil

    Ibn Sina’s truiism that evil is shortlived is probable but can also be considered self-fulfilling.

  • On Eros [ps.]

    Why is it that “academy” is associated with Plato while Aristotle founded biology?