[Reflections] Something in the Way
Thinking well about the things that concern me requires intelligence. Understanding these concerns and what motivates them requires wisdom. Philosophy, to the extent that it is rightly called the love of wisdom, is essentially concerned with self-knowledge.
[Reflections] The Predicament of not Living Your Own Life
The idea that your life as a whole can feel wrong is a particular kind of suffering. This blog post offers some reflections on this kind of suffering.
[Reflections] I didn’t choose to write this blog post
When I try to picture what the determinist is telling me, I see myself in something like an x-ray view, a shadowy skull balanced on a skeleton, wiggling its jaw or moving about, but with the “person” absent.
[Reflections] Why Does the History of Philosophy Matter to Philosophy?
By situating my own thinking within a broader historical tradition, I can see more clearly how my particular concerns and preoccupations are mine rather than just the objectively and timelessly important ones that all people with philosophical inclinations might turn themselves to.
[Reflections] Shakespeare’s Great Heart
I want to make a case for Shakespeare’s “great heart.” Then I’ll try to explain why Wittgenstein doesn’t see it.
[Reflections] On Art and Religious Experience
Saying you love art but have no interest in religion is like saying you love EDM but have no interest in dancing.
[Reflections] Are We “Really Just” Animals?
I want to get clear on my place in a world that I inhabit with an animal body. That requires resisting attempts to inflate my significance beyond the animal. But it also requires resisting attempts to deflate it.
[Reflections] Does Philosophy Make Progress?
In technical terms, pretty much any PhD graduate leaves Plato in the dust. On the other hand, the Republic is a book I actually want to read.
[Reflections] Irreverence is not the opposite of reverence; or why there are Buddhist punks
When false reverence is rampant, renewed calls to reverence risk exacerbating the problem. Sometimes what’s needed is for someone to step in boldly and take the piss.
[Reflections] Some Misgivings about the 2020 PhilPapers Survey
The questions prod respondents to think about philosophy in a certain way that many people—the authors presumably included—so take for granted that they don’t even notice that there’s prodding going on.