In the Philosophy Discussion Group we are considering the work of Slavoj Zizek. Zizek is a prolific writer and a popular lecturer. He is a culture critic, a commentator upon contemporary life in these times. His method is dialectical as he comes from a Marxist background. Zizek often mentions communism, that failed recipe for…
On August 20, 2017 Andrew Young was interviewed on NBC News Meet The Press . Here are excerpts verbatim of what he had to say. This is a longish post but worth reading, maybe more than once. On the Klan types Well, it’s a week of misunderstandings. We originally sought to redeem the soul…
Not every false belief is a mistake. What is the difference between a mistake and a mental disturbance? A mistake does not only have a cause, it also has a ground. The truth of my statements is the test of my understanding of these statements. The truth of certain empirical propositions belongs to…
Sometimes you have to say it out loud in order for the truth to penetrate, to register, to enter the heart. If you are able, for whatever reason or rationalization, to support the president after Charlottesville and the pronouncement following several days later about the “good people” among the alt-right demonstrators,–you are a racist. …
Just read an essay culled from Philosophy Now magazine. The piece is an interview with Professor Maurizio Ferraris, University of Turin, a proponent of New Realism. Here are some phrases that captured my imagination, vectors for exploration. The transformation of reality: revolution is possible and necessary. But it requires real action and not mere…
Falling in order to rise…. The destruction of received models and forms is necessary in order to clear a space for spontaneous thought to arise. From the cathedral of our own feelings, from the void of the blank canvas, then, comes the space for revelation. We are fragments of an unutterable whole. Meaning is…
Earth is a clump of iron and magnesium, and nickel, smeared with organic material and sleeved in vapor. It whirls along in a nearly circular orbit around a minor star we call the sun. There are enough stars in the universe that if everybody on earth were charged with naming his or her share,…
PERMACULTURE is the science and practice of creating living systems of nature (permanent agriculture). In contrast to traditional agriculture, permaculture is characterized by: FLOW MAINTENANCE: working with nature rather than against it, ALL NATURAL: no artificial pesticides or fertilizer, and ZERO WASTE: complete cycles of use/re-use. The end result is abundance and health. Done…
Life goes on as it must. Patterns are established, habits ingrained, the inexorable impetus of cause and effect. Can I imagine our ancestors sense of dread at a time when they felt the gods were working against them? Has not science removed that burden? Hardly. I had a brief conversation with a friend and…
I am looking forward to attending a concert tomorrow evening, Friday, at the Lake County Fair. Infinity, a cover band I’ve enjoyed in the past, is scheduled to take the main stage at 9PM. Since I am a senior citizen now, Fair admission comes at a discount. To hear tunes made popular nationally in…
