Philosophy (2)

Why Philosophy Matters

Philosophy is a field that once combined all the sciences and had considerable influence. Over time that influence waned, to an extent that philosophy is now simply one of the humanities, a “second order” discipline that some people wonder what it’s useful for…

#28 · Oct 31, 2016

Highlights From Paine’s “Common Sense”

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.”

#27 · Sep 8, 2016

Highlights From Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”

Launching a new series of highlights and factoids from public domain books, classic or not, that had piqued my interest, and perhaps excite yours. Here from American polymath Henry David Thoreau.

#26 · Aug 27, 2016

Life’s Golden Rules

From all my cheeky laws and a number of absolutistic posts you already know I have a thing for dramaturgy. The same here.

#25 · Aug 4, 2016

The Bio Enhancement Dilemma

Or, what if Donald Trump was Iron Man.

#24 · Aug 2, 2016

The Dilemma of the Kind Person

Imagine a fine human being who has a laudable goal. She wants to become a genuinely, cordially, most truly kind person. So she works on her objective…

#23 · Jul 4, 2016

On Rationality, and Love

Philosophy can be heart-breaking, or—

#22 · Jul 2, 2016 · misc

On Consciousness

Speaking of which.

#21 · Jun 9, 2016

New Book: “How to Work on Oneself”

Doubt led me to explore ways to grow, doubt now led me to ask my editor three times whether to publish under a pseudonym: I sketched, in what resembles an essay, how to learn, how to grow, or—How to Work on Oneself.

#20 · Jun 2, 2016 · books

Problems, No Problems, Desires

In my own non-academic studies I’ve found common definitions of “problem” unsatisfying. I’ve tried to redefine “problem” for something more flexible, leading to a redefinition I believe to hold up well. Philosophize together with me.

#19 · Jun 1, 2016

Humanity and “The Other Manifesto”

On a wish for more work on a vision, on values, on principles, on goals actually worth striving for, on utopias, on a good future, a good cause, a good world for all of us.

#18 · Feb 23, 2016 · misc, activism

Stream Theory

Not just since the Law of Attraction is there this idea of “like attracts like,” of self-fulfilling prophecies, of better being “careful” what we wish for. There’s another concept that I do like to work with though, in another thought experiment.

#17 · Jan 31, 2016

Philosophy Factoids

Meanwhile.

#16 · Nov 30, 2015

On Mistakes

What is a mistake, really?

#15 · Nov 16, 2015

On the Anatomy of Beliefs

From a philosophical viewpoint, here a strictly solipsistic one, any statement is a belief. Beliefs are important because they determine how we interpret, and per some schools of thought, make our realities…

#14 · Nov 8, 2015

The 1,000 Lives Thought Experiment

Open up a text editor or grab a piece of paper, and write down what you’d do if you had another life. Or what you’d wish for in another life. Assume that anything goes…

#13 · Oct 27, 2015

On Science Experimenting on Life

There are boundaries, and some boundaries must be non-negotiable.

#12 · Sep 10, 2015 · activism

The Teaching Dilemma

Maybe we’re here to learn, but is it at all said that we can be taught?

#11 · Sep 7, 2015

Fear and the Creative Dilemma

In the Seth school of thought there’s an interesting issue, the creative dilemma. In short, there’s identity which constantly attempts to maintain stability, there’s action which inherently drives towards change, and that combination results in a particular imbalance—

#10 · Sep 3, 2015

Several Lives

I have no doubt that we live several lives. I have no doubt for there’s an entirely different belief system, an entirely different thought framework, that supports this model. Here, though, I want to isolate a single idea, the one of multiple lives, as opposed to one life.

#9 · Aug 20, 2015

Two Realities

Wundt wrote in 1911 how “a human being is a psycho-physical and not only a physical unity,” and here we’re thinking about that a little, aloud.

#8 · Aug 13, 2015

Loving Technology

I love the idea of caring, of loving technology. I believe we need technology that is loving. I think we have ample opportunities to envision and build technology that is loving. Here I’ll be brief and merely bring up the concept.

#7 · May 8, 2015 · activism

On the Problems and Limits of Science

Science can’t explain everything. It never could. It never will. Yet science is run as if it could explain everything. It is run completely unchecked. And this unchecked pretense of omniscience and omnipotence is a problem for us for a number of reasons.

#6 · Mar 31, 2015