Something that has irked me for a while is the apparent failure of sociologists to make inroads dispersing the distinction between ‘sex’ and ‘gender.’ As an alumnus (no, not alumni–that’s plural, and I… Continue reading
I is not in deeds; I is not in mind. I bears no fruit—I tends the vine. I plucks the string; I tows the line. Deeds are fruit. Body is vine. To the… Continue reading
Been absent for a while—but even I can only read them as they come… ;] 1. You can only remember what you once forgot. 2. Every decision made means another you can’t take; there’s… Continue reading
The hardest words to define are the ones we use most. For example, try to sufficiently articulate a definition for “you.” For “love”—or “hate”. For “I.” How about “the”? It is much easier to… Continue reading
A single 2-hour test stands between me and a bachelor of arts in philosophy. Most my mental resources have been diverted towards finishing this degree—for better, for worse. But to my modest readership… Continue reading
In a prior post I published a list of three best advices I’ve ever heard in person, but held back two due to their sexual nature, and remembered one other post publication. On… Continue reading
One of the banes of being philosophic lies in cultivating a crippling propensity to observe. It’s a bane because the marrow of some situations hides within a direct experience rather than making observations about it. For example, which… Continue reading
Higher ed is a mountain with no peak. The final weeks of my undergraduate philosophy studies draw nigh, and I find myself looking back on five years of relentless intellectual stimulation. As I’ve… Continue reading
Of the skills in the Artist’s repertoire, the ability to create abstractions outshines all others. My blog’s subtitle, “Thought as Art,” reflects this essence. I have read only one work on aesthetics, which… Continue reading
It’s quite certain I am not alone in holding many aversions. Because my recipe for blogging includes creativity, informity [just made that up], and honesty, I present a third list of thirty things with… Continue reading
Here’s a fun question: What would your hell be like? Of course we need not believe in the existence of hell, but methinks the exercise will prove worthwhile and interesting. Dante of course… Continue reading
Things I love to despise. It is what it is; these are not legislative, merely insights into things that I find irksome. People who stomp when they walk When people roll forward slowly… Continue reading
Not that I haven’t received much advice, but being forgetful, I’ve a brief list of some of the best advice I remember receiving: 1. “If someone offers you money, never reject it.” –… Continue reading
1. To be is to dance with other divines in the tragedy of life. 2. An open enemy is more respectable than a hidden friend. 3. Experience speaks in different languages but states the same thing. 4. The… Continue reading
It seems garish to expound upon a proverb—especially one’s own. Fault me for the feat, but I’d like to unwrap these terse truisms from time to time, to more fully expose their flesh.… Continue reading
It’s likely everyone has met at least one person who defends the notion that people are defined by what they do. Hell, any quick glance at the news or some publication will most likely introduce someone by their… Continue reading
At the level of everyday interaction, when in the immediate presence of another, you are observing the absolute smallest fraction of who that person is and ever will be. Riding my first bus… Continue reading
Methinks the best intimate relationships are those in which one can be alone (all-one?)—together. Not in diminution through mutual sacrificial subtractions, yea, surely not solely for multiplicative reproduction wherein 1 x 1 is… Continue reading
These words are not new, but they are my own. I was recently arrested for refusing to stop skateboarding on a bike trail near the shores of some nameless American commonwealth. I spent… Continue reading
1. Wisdom is mere dross until refined in the fire of action. 2. Try to touch truth and it moves; wait patiently, and it comes to you. 3. Prophets are never ahead of… Continue reading
I just found, of all things, a spoon in my car’s arm console. After some shock subsided, I realized the device actually could be of use, having been in a hotel without any… Continue reading
Ever since coming across the term equality, I’ve cradled certain curiosities concerning its meaning, origin, and purpose[s]. Everyone remembers this iconic scene of the USS Equality with its nose up, buckling under its… Continue reading
Feels great to be back blogging! I was without computer or phone for eighteen days and remembered all 50 of my running Forgetful Proverbs, which attests to the dedication to and value I… Continue reading
It all started with a sneeze. I was twelve. “You can’t sneeze with your eyes open,” they said. “Says who?” I considered. Indeed, “Who is this authority that demands the erosion of my… Continue reading
Can free will can exist within a world created by a God who knows everything that will happen? Before delving in, it should be stated that this it is not my aim to… Continue reading
“One is just about to be told some interesting piece of news when a baby starts crying.” Written by Sei Shonagon, a tenth-century Japanese woman, in her work, The Pillow Book. Her compilation… Continue reading
Pride is a deadly sin—but did you know the term “hubris,” or, “excessive pride,” was concocted to prevent ancient Greeks from pissing off the gods? Where are those gods now? I’ll let it… Continue reading
Wisdom concerns changing circumstances; proverbs are timeless. Here are ten attempts to touch truth: 1. This moment is a memory in the mind of the future you. 2. From the moment you step… Continue reading
Greetings, reader! I sit on a stack of other writings, from poetry and creative nonfiction to politics and the paranormal. Do you think I ought to create separate blogs for different genres, such… Continue reading
I have created a separate blog, A Future Republic, which addresses many a political matter at the theoretical level with an emphasis on permitting more third-party opportunities, and other polishings of American public… Continue reading
“To be or not to be” was a supreme soliloquy. Let us see what it means philosophically. I once read about a woman who experienced something so shocking it sent her into a… Continue reading
Since one of the things philosophers do is ask questions, I put one forth: Do animals ever commit suicide? We’ve all seen the smushed creatures in the road — how many of them… Continue reading
It’s critical my mass has surpassed the Visible and will outlast every blast and verbal attack knowing this: that every individual is wholly indivisible and I know I’m not invincible but… Continue reading
It is my observation that, broadly speaking, each friendship charts the following course: (1) You meet. (2) If first impressions fare well, you enter The Honeymoon Phase, where all is well — and… Continue reading
Ten more aphorisms concerning this human experience :] Chapter IV 1. Truth is what you do when the elevator doors close. 2. There are no walls taller than the ones you build around… Continue reading
Seemingly simple, following is my fifteen-word statement concerning the morality of suicide. These words are but fillers so that the sentence does not appear to those who do not click to read :]… Continue reading
Regret, as we know it, does not exist. What has traditionally been called “regret” is actually a misnomer for shame, disappointment, guilt, mourning, etc., of outcomes — not decisions. We typically understand regret as being… Continue reading
I prefer to concoct my own philosophies for reasons including the lack of references cluttering posts, but I have to share a most remarkable gem unearthed in Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism, the phrase “regional… Continue reading
We’ve all done it: that arm’s-length, high-angled facial snapshot (at least before the creation of rear-facing cameras) — but why? Are we really that selfish? I peer into a mirror To see just… Continue reading
Chapter III 1. It is a wonder which is worse: to argue with a fool over matters of grave importance, or to argue with a philosopher over matters of little significance. 2. If… Continue reading
Truth is a song, and where most are content to repeat the chorus, I want to craft a new verse. Please enjoy these brief hors d’oeuvres of thought: Chapter II 1. Neither compliment… Continue reading
All philosophers love wisdom, but not all philosophers are wise. Nietzsche might have loved his cat — but he was no pussy. What I’m trying to say is that I make no… Continue reading
Five years ago I was playing Tetris with six-pound packs of Angus burgers, cartons of eggs, and other oddly shaped foodstuffs, packing them onto a cart for work. My coworker, whom I had… Continue reading
Hold life in your hands — but never touch it. There it is. There’s the key to having everything and losing nothing. But what does it mean? To begin with the first half,… Continue reading
There is much useful and poetic wisdom in the world’s most popular book, much morality too — but have we got our references right? Let’s address a few: “God helps those who help… Continue reading
Given our inevitable final state, a bad experience can steal nothing from us. In evil or calamity we feel no overall loss; it is rather only those fleeting delights that have the power… Continue reading
Today I attempt to clarify five popular terms. Morality concerns proper or improper human behaviour. Morality targets those issues that can be deemed “right” or “wrong,” “moral” or “immoral.” For example, it is… Continue reading
Recently, my very learned Phenomenology and Existentialism professor appeared uncertain about whether intent was a necessary condition for lying. The answer seemed quite apparent to me–but I was a bit stunned that she… Continue reading
All this talk about the value of a life being primarily in direct proportion to its contribution to others — how often do we question this concept? [What a better day than Martin… Continue reading
“By a show of hands,” I told the peers in my first philosophy class, “how many of you ever asked to be born?” Standing before them, I counted aloud, “OK, one…two…four in the… Continue reading
