Recent posts tagged philosophy
2023
The Rebel (Albert Camus)
How can we live as a species, knowing now the temptation to righteous power will always exist even in (and maybe especially in) the best of us? And how do we let all that not get in the way of us getting very real boots off our very real necks?
2022
The Dark Stuff
Something that disturbs us can be profound, but that does not mean disturbance is profundity, or a certain route to same.
2021
This Fitting-In Business
I'm not against the idea of stepping to different drummers, but how the word "nonconformity" has had all the meaning tortured out of it by thoughtless use.
We Are Absolutely Sure There Is No Future
On the absolute primacy of the present moment (part 6,312).
The Fault In Our Stars, And The Responsibilities Engendered Thereof
"I keep thinking," my friend said, "that if only I'd done more, we wouldn't be in this mess we're in now." Were they right?
The Goggles We Wear
For an artist, worldview is all.
2020
Man Against Myth (Barrows Dunham)
Barrows Dunham's 1947 work of popular philosophy deserves the widest possible audience in 2020.
A Dream That Lasts Longer Than The Night
"How come it is easier for us to imagine the end of the world than a modest change in our economic order?" Let me take a crack at this, including how it relates to SF.
Exact Thinking In Demented Times, And Other Delights
On Sir Popper's beautiful mind as an antidote for this terrible moment.
Cold World Blues
"The universe doesn't care about our feelings" isn't an excuse to be mean. No condition of life is an excuse.
Everyone Knows Utopia Is Nowhere
On those who believe in incremental solutions -- progressive and conservative alike -- and those who believe in burning the whole house down and starting over.
2019
Havel's Optimism, December 2019 Edition
Stories aren't about happy or sad endings. They're about making sense of what happens.
Conditions Are Never Ideal, Pt. One Thousand And Six
There's no sense in delaying life because things aren't quite right yet. (A redux.)
Constructive Loafing
On Zen as the "do-nothing" philosophy (which it isn't).
Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death
"...what we call Man’s power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument."
Freedom Yeah Right
"... from where I sit, freedom isn't choice. Freedom is agency. Indeed, choice - by limiting agency - is often the opposite of freedom."
Sneaking Up On The Generalities
Instead of attacking them head-on.
The Passive Type
Zen as nonintellectual, rather than anti-intellectual. But also non-passive.
Forest, Trees, Fox, Hedgehog
On the difference between foxes and hedgehogs.
An Infinitely Receding Horizon
"...while surely there will be a time to rest, it is not now."
2018
Do(ing) The Right Thing
"moral action is also, inevitably, practical action, and immoral action is inevitably impractical..."
Nowhere Are We Commanded To Be Doormats
Kevin Drum dropped an aphorism worth repeating: "When you write, pretend you’re writing for people you respect."
Too Smart For Your Own Good
"Beginner's mind" is not something we can impose on others.
The Uncertainty Principle
What did Bertrand Russell mean when he said, "Do not feel absolutely certain of anything"?
Obzacktivism
"The other, of course, involves orcs."
