On “Consumerism”
What's so bad about consumption? Everyone needs to eat to survive. In my own experience, everyone seems to like having nice things. Yet it is increasingly accepted as a kind…
The Philosopher’s Audience: A Problem
Since the beginning of philosophy, people have debated about who should be philosophizing because it is understood that the philosophy arrived at will, in some manner, reflect the nature of…
“Capitalism” Doesn’t Exist
I want to talk about a word. But first, an introduction. I've been on a Philosophize This bender recently -- it's a great podcast for nerds of that orientation, and…
The Tolerance-Error
One of the great moral paradoxes of 20th-century philosophy was the problem of "tolerance," which was most famously articulated by Karl Popper: Less well known (of Plato's paradoxes) is the paradox…
Evolution Disproves Platonism (A Hypothesis)
This is not so much an idea as the seed of an idea. Plato is a large object in Western philosophy; more needs to be said, and ideas often need…
The Ecumenical Slope
I think it is critical -- in beginning an essay criticizing ecumenicalism -- that I begin by saying that I understand the attraction. By "ecumenicalism," I am referring to the…
On Homer (Part 3): Connecting the Iliad and the Odyssey
In his book Why Homer Matters, Adam Nicolson pointed out how people seem to generally fall into two camps: those who like the Iliad, and those who like the Odyssey.…
TOOL and Religion
Before everything shut down, I got a chance to see Tool live in concert. One of the things that surprised me was that Maynard really wasn't the star of the…
On Homer (Part 2): What is the Iliad About?
In most stories, "what is it about?" refers to a question of the plot: what happened? In higher literature, there is -- in addition to the plot -- themes and…
Quarantine Queasiness
Today was the first day of Spring for my bike. I had to open the choke with a carabiner (the lever is wedged between the air filters, and is almost…