Timeline for Why would an academic write a textbook for free?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2017 at 8:47 | comment | added | Peter Taylor | @Chan-HoSuh, it seems to me that what he has presented "so openly and plainly" is the argument that the knowledge of nature depends on conducting experiments, but that's not really the key issue. The key issue is that this is an argument for journals to be free, not textbooks. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 23:26 | comment | added | Chan-Ho Suh | @CodyGray my reading is that the truly virtuous would be obliged to report to him, not because he is an authority, but because he had "[presented his results] so openly and plainly". He is stating there is a cycle of virtue in which people are morally obligated to donate the results of their scientific endeavours to each other for the "general good of mankind". | |
| Jul 15, 2017 at 20:03 | comment | added | nilon | The answer is good and could be better if it had an additional argumentation of why such quote is relevant and what other section supports the main idea. Also it resembles a famous short text by Richard Stallman. Science must push copyright aside. | |
| Jul 9, 2017 at 14:17 | comment | added | Daniel R. Collins | @CodyGray: That is addressed later in Part 6. | |
| Jul 9, 2017 at 11:38 | comment | added | Cody Gray - on strike | "… so ... that virtuous people would be obliged both to report to me the experimental results they had already achieved and to help me to work on the experiments that remained to be made." There is as much a promotion/prestige aspect here as there is a "furthering the general good" aspect. Why report to him? He's clearly positioned himself as an authority in the field. Of course, that's not surprising for Descartes, a man who refused to accept the authority or relevance of any philosopher who had ever come before him! | |
| Jul 9, 2017 at 1:51 | comment | added | Daniel R. Collins | I disagree. Or I wouldn't have quoted it. | |
| Jul 8, 2017 at 22:54 | comment | added | JeffE | The quotation doesn't support your claim. | |
| Jul 8, 2017 at 18:23 | history | answered | Daniel R. Collins | CC BY-SA 3.0 |