Montaigne’s words on anger
“There is no passion that so shakes the clarity of our judgment as anger,” Montaigne wrote in Book II of his Essays (Chapter 31). “It is a passion that takes…
philosophy
Montaigne’s library
I read yesterday that Montaigne had a library of 1,000 books, of which he was very proud. It was his retreat – the room he went to where he wanted…
Finding my muse in Montaigne
Muse: a source of inspiration; especially a guiding genius; the imaginary force thought to provide inspiration to poets, writers, artists, etc. A muse, for modern writers, is that indefinable force…
Fools
Even though for all his life, A fool attends upon a wise man, He no more knows wisdom Than a spoon knows the flavours of soup. The Dhammapada, Chapter 5,…
Hey MacDougall, Try Google!
OPINION Commenters snipe from sidelines, but the kids in short pants are all right It’s time to name and shame anonymous commenters who insult people working to improve Canada By…
When good people do bad things in groups
The headline is taken from a piece on Science Daily on a study about how groups change personal behaviour and morality. The study is reported on the MIT website. I’ve…
The ethics of politics via Aristotle
Politics, Aristotle wrote in the Nicomachean Ethics, is the “master science of the good.” The good of which he wrote is the greater good, the “highest good” that benefits the…
Reflections on Chartres Cathedral, the death of civilization and the deification of the banal
Thinking of Chartres Cathedral, I ask myself, what, if anything, have we built in the past eight centuries, that compares to this? The iPad, computers, cell phones, the internet? Are…
Marcus Aurelius
I continue to be profoundly moved by the wisdom of the classical authors. It’s often hard to accept that some of them were writing two or more millennia ago: many…
Lucretius and the Renaissance
It’s fairly clear, even after reading only a few verses, why Lucretius’s didactic poem, On the Nature of Things – De Rerum Natura – made such an impact on thought,…
A Bodhisattva’s Love
A conversation related, between a Bodhisattva friend and another: Q: “So, what do you do for fun?” A: “I help people.” Q: “No, what do you do for fun?” A:…
Advertising, bondage and consumerism
I turn off the mute on the radio, to check if the nauseating ads are finished and we can get back to the music, and I hear, “New York steak…”…
Philosophy is Needed in Corporate Boardrooms
It’s not often that you hear CEOs and other executives call for philosophers to be among their boards. In a recent Financial Times article, there is an argument that businesses…
Balance: Solitude and engagement, stillness and action
“When I observe the ruts in a road, I inclined to think, how much deeper the ruts in the mind.” – Henry David Thoreau “If necessary, let us forgo one…
Leek and potato soup: simple, hearty and delicious
Articles on food and cooking are rare on this blog, but occasionally I like to share some musings on this realm. Food is such an important part of our lives;…
New studies show babies have basically decent impulses and are strongly driven by moral imperatives
More research shows once again that compassion, empathy and mutual aid, and an instinct toward cooperation, are innate in human beings, confirming what the great Russian biologist and anarchist philosopher…
The Lion’s Roar: Cutting through illusion to the heart of the matter
“There is no difference between theism and non-theism, basically speaking. Declaring an involvement with any kind of ‘ism’ turns out to be a matter of self and other. In fact,…
Writings of J. Todd Ring 2013-11-12 19:39:07
Even “the wastes” of nature are never wasted, and never a waste. Time spent among chandeliers and caviar may be a waste; time spent chasing money or seeking status may…
Strong winds, big waves, and the interconnectedness of life
When the waves are high, from my backyard I can hear the lake, which is just a few hundred feet away. It sounds like a great, strong wind, or a…
The new epidemic: Death cults and the culture of despair
An article in The Atlantic speaks to the growing death-fetish that is gripping more and more youth. It is a bad omen for the state of modern industrial civilization as…