The following is a seed thought, a note to myself, for further elaboration in the future, and it is a note I will share with others, because it is a seed thought which is powerful, healing, and liberating. I will not go into any lengthy discussion, meditation or exposition of
Continue readingTag: virtue
Scripturient: Shopping carts, masks, and morality
The shopping cart theory — or rather the S.C. hypothesis, since it really isn’t a theory in the proper scientific sense — is a test of our humanity, or so the notion goes: The shopping cart is ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. But it’s
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Measuring Well
In Plato’s Protagoras, Socrates and Protagoras argue over the language Protagoras uses to explain what happens when, as he describes it, pleasure overtakes reason and people make horrible choices. Socrates insists that it’s not pleasure that overtakes reason, but ignorance. Here’s some key bits of the passage: They maintain that
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Words and Virtue
Scott Long wrote an excellent article separating the act of supporting free speech from the act of supporting the words and images created by Charlie Hebdo. But I disagree with this one bit: “Words don’t kill…” As I said in a comment there, too many young people have lost lives
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On the Titanic and Tolstoy
I’ve heard this before somewhere, but I can’t find it to give due credit: Coping with climate change is like coping with being a passenger on the Titanic. Some won’t notice anything’s amiss until they’re well into the water. Some will notice it’s going down and decide we should continue
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Saying "Merry Christmas!"
I’ve come across a few recent bits of writing from people who think we should do away with “Merry Christmas.” Even though I’m an atheist, I love Christmas, and I really hope I don’t offend people with the following because it is Christmas and all! The rules around what’s allowed during
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Moving Beyond the Rational
Unlike everything else in the news, this isn’t about Rob Ford. I’m going to merge some Fraser Institute news with recent discussions in class, an old Munk Debate on religion, and some ideas from David Hume. Here we go! Kate McInturff writes at the CCPA that the Fraser Institute, “would like
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Celebrating Talent
Convalescing from a wicked cold that’s beating the crap out of me, I watched a trio of movies about amazing musicians: Joe Strummer, Ginger Baker, and Sixto Rodriguez. In the films, other musical geniuses were highlighted along the way. What a delight! But as Ginger, Jack and Eric talked about
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: A Crisis of Environmentalist Faith
A couple of sentences from Matthew Altman (from “The Green Onion“) have been weighing on me for days: Ironically, environmentalism itself can become a means of advancing our own selfish interests, as when we barely adjust our lifestyles in order to feel a disproportionately strong sense of smugness….If a well-intentioned
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