Adding philosophical depth to anything and everything
Monty Python showed us how not to have an argument. An argument is more than the automatic nay-saying of what the other person said. Beyond that, however, there is a considerable amount of subtlety and complexity in conducting an argument. First off, I should make clear that in talking about […]
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Much has been made and certainly much more will be made about Joe Biden’s age after he announced he is running for president. Some people suggest that he is too old to run for president. It is prejudice to assume that age makes one unqualified for any role, including the […]
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I lived in the UK from 2012 to 2018. It was long enough to get a strong sense of what makes the Brits tick. It was also long enough to learn what are the goods and bads of Britain. As a place to live, it’s not too bad, all things […]
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“Gee, Mr. Wizard …” “… <heh, heh> we’re gonna need another Timmy.” (my eternal admiration for anyone who gets that reference.) As in so many things in life, I find myself eternally situated between divergent spheres. This situation is most evident in my two great avocations in life, music and philosophy. […]
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Recently, my spouse brought to my attention a meme that exists in some circles called “the tradwife.” The word means “traditional wife” and is floating around mainly right-wing and other forums in which men are complaining about feminists and the alleged erosion of “traditional family values” and want a […]
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I’ve taught philosophy to university students for over 20 years. In trying to explain philosophy to others, I have learned more about philosophy than when I was a student. Always, I have sought to show students how philosophy relates to their everyday lives. I present to them how the ideas […]
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My parents taught me that everything in life is a struggle. An odd song from the 1990s is teaching me to overcome it. In my childhood family, under the thin veneer of suburban tranquility, was my parents’ constant tension from their unhappy marriage. Their frustration permeated everything and I picked […]
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“Generally speaking, violence always rises out of impotence. It is the hope of those who have no power to find a substitute for it and this hope, I think, is in vain. Violence can destroy power, but it can never replace it.” – Hannah Arendt It’s an old adage that […]
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Space for difference “The test of faith is whether I can make space for difference. Can I recognize God’s image in someone who is not in my image, whose language, faith, ideals, are different from mine? If I cannot, then I have made God in my image instead of allowing […]
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“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in he universe.” – John Muir It’s said that no person is an island. This is true of everything, though. Nothing is isolated. Nothing is without connections to other things and by extension to […]
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