Adding philosophical depth to anything and everything
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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My father died last Saturday. I’m sad, of course, but more than anything, I feel bad about the choices he made in life. I mention that he watched Fox News not for sensationalism or any political statement, but because it defines him and his relations with the world, including with […]
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A History of the World In Two Sentences 1. Rich and powerful people have bribed and coerced other people into helping them get richer and more powerful. 2. On rare occasions, those other people instead fought back. … Too simplistic? Yes, but disturbingly accurate, correct? There are many histories, but […]
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Time is Infinite Time is infinite and yet the most precious commodity.
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The Answer Then what is the answer? Not to be deluded by dreams. To know that great civilizations have broken down into violence, and their tyrants come, many times before. When open violence appears, to avoid it with honor or choose the least ugly faction; these evils are essential. To […]
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Stan Lee on Bigotry Well said, Stan, better than most people with highfalutin degrees. God bless.
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