When typing for this blog I have often wished I could just think my thoughts at the computer and have them type out on the screen. This, no doubt, has much to do with the fact I am a one finger hunt and peck typist (having been streamed into drafting
Continue readingTag: philosophy
Scripturient: Thoreau and Buddhism
In his introduction to Thoreau: Walden and Other Writings (Bantam Books, 1962-1981), Joseph Wood Krutch described Henry David Thoreau’s writings as having four “distinct subjects”, which I paraphrase somewhat as: The life of quiet desperation most men live; The economic fallacy that is responsible for their condition The delights yielded
Continue readingScripturient: Cicero, Seneca and Confucius
As I wrote in my last post, I have been reading a lot of the classic philosophers of late, particularly the Stoics. And I’ve been going further afield. My classical readings have included a lot of Seneca and Cicero of late (plus Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius), as well as interpretations
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Women’s minds matter – Sally Davies
Popular conception of Mind is still burdened, to a certain extent, with the cloak of Cartesian Dualism. The notion that our brains are primarily computational/abstraction machines being transported around in a useful bags of flesh is strong heuristic model that, while providing clarity in many areas, often obfuscates our relationship
Continue readingScripturient: Travels with Epicurus
I’m sure it’s not just me who feels this way, but these days I find increasing wisdom and solace in the words of the classical authors: Seneca, Cicero, Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius, Horace, Aristotle, Heraclitus, Epictetus, Diogenes, Plato. The writers of classical Greece and Rome mostly attract my attention right now,
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Tidying Up is Not Joyful But Another Misuse of Eastern Ideas – Amy Olberding
I have not seen any episodes of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. And for me, that is quite shocking as I am very much a fan of decluttered, organized living. I say ‘fan’ because in reality I’m stuffed into a small house that has entirely too much stuff and most
Continue readingScripturient: Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules
I really wanted to read this book objectively, separating it from the media hype and social media torrents of opinion and abuse that often accompany its author, Jordan Peterson. I wanted to consider it in the company of the vast number of already-published self-help or philosophical books, and the historical
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: On a Specious Reply — Jane Clare Jones
This isn’t a general essay, more the upshot of the ongoing intra-philosophical spats, so it might not be of interest to all of you.. So, anyway, someone calling themselves Dr Specious (ho ho), possibly one of our philosophical colleagues in disguise, turned up and pass-agg pointed me and Kathleen and
Continue readingScripturient: The Ten Bulls
A series of ten Buddhist drawings make up what are known collectively as the Ten Oxherding Pictures or sometimes just as the Ten Bulls. Each one graphically illustrates a stage along the path to enlightenment or self-realization, but they can also be seen as a metaphor for a wider range
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: We’re Wrong About Most Everything
This is one of my favourite talks. It presents a very important perspective. One lesson I’ve tried to take from this involves dealing with those I might view as more wrong than me. It is common to wonder at how people can possibly be as stupid as they are. I
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Sociobiology and Jordan Peterson – Lobsters, all the way down.
Laurie Penny has a great review of some of Jordan Peterson’s work, this quote illustrates the continued reliance of sociobiological principles by JP. “Peterson insists in the very first chapter of 12 Rules for Life that if you’re an adult human man worried about your place in the world, you’ve
Continue readingScripturient: The sharp edge: razors and rituals
Since I switched to using a safety razor, as I wrote about last spring, I’ve continued to pursue my explorations into razors, blades, technologies and techniques about shaving. I’ve learned much, but still want more hands-on experience. Nothing teaches like hands-on. I followed up that post with another one on
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: David Hume – Too Darn Sensible and Accessible?
We didn’t spend much time looking at Hume way back in philosophy university land – a rather unfortunate oversight – as the quiet rational approach to life he articulates is not only reasonable, but sensibly accessible, a quality I find quite appealing. Julian Baggini’s essay on Hume is a great
Continue readingScripturient: Channelling John Stuart Mill
In the opening few pages of his essay On Liberty, John Stuart Mill warned about the “tyranny of the prevailing opinion.” Anyone familiar with the mob mentality than can erupt on social media, its potential for divisiveness and the platform’s inherent weakness to be manipulated by outside forces (such as
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Ayn Rand – Exercise Your Critical Faculties
I missed out on the Objectivist phase of growing up, not glomming on to Rand’s insipid ideas saved me a great deal of fuss and bother as following Randian ideology tends to make one into a large swirling vortex of petty narcissism (see asshole). However, as Skye C. Clearly
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Teleological Behaviourism – Howard Rachlin
As a Physicalist, I can get behind some of what Rachlin says. I think I’ll have to read some more regarding his thoughts on pain though, because I’m finding it hard to take out the direct connection our nervous system has with the world out there and replace it with
Continue readingScripturient: Plutarch on listening, and The Block
“[W]e observe that… the great majority of persons …practise speaking before they have acquired the habit of listening.” Plutarch wrote that in his essay De Auditu, or On Listening. Reading those words immediately made me think of that group we have on Collingwood Council who never listen to anyone but
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Duck-Rabbit Nature Of How We Experience Life – Helena de Bres
Helena de Bres writes about how Philosophy if you’re doing it right, is an absurd practice. What I found interesting about her essay is the idea of the two perspectives we shift between as hypothesized by Thomas Nagel (“One [perspective] is that of the engaged agent, seeing her life from
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – If Racoons ‘Get it’ Why Can’t We?
Hard truths from our furry trash-panda friends.
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