I believe it was a Reuters or maybe a Guardian report of the battle for a Ukrainian town outside of Bakhmut. A soldier who survived the assault described the kill zones that awaited the advance of his unit. The Ukrainians prevailed but at a terrible cost. I simply felt numb upon finishing the piece. …
Certainly this war photograph provokes a feeling of revulsion. Only the clothes are left. The photo reminds of many things. War brutalizes every participant. Almost every actor involuntarily participates. War dissolves morality. What is morality? What does morality cover up? Now consider the way ”moral man”is dressed up,how he is veiledbehind moral formulasand concepts…
Sunday morning dawns, time enough for reflection. We were guests at a concert last night at the Royal Fox Country Club. Arcada Productions presented the music of Styx and Boston: Boston and Styx at the Fox. Musicians included members of Dennis DeYoung Band and Tommy Decarlo lead singer for Boston. I struggle to find…
The writings of Nietzsche are resisted by many, aware of his assertion of “the death of God” in his parable of the madman. Nietzsche has a reputation for raging against the church, a sworn enemy of priestcraft, opposing veneration for those believing themselves as adepts of divine wisdom, spokespersons for/of life after life… To…
In a nutshell! Nietzsche’s POV of life. Come out, come out of your nook he urges the reader! Live your life, expansively, assertively… Thinking/living to defend is a minor note to the torrent of life… Come out of your human nook, be the lion! But… a scientist should come out of his human nook;…
What manner of scholar am I? What is my standard of workmanship? Nietzsche suggests a certain tenor is transmitted from our ancestors way of life. Is there a “prehistory” that haunts the sweep of these blog entries? My father grew up poor, raised by a single mother, helping to support my grandmother and his…
I am amazed that anyone could subscribe to a religion or a quasi-religious movement, such as the Republican (Trump) Party as it now stands. Shiny surfaces notwithstanding, the truth of our time, this first half of the 21st century, is that of existential exhaustion. There is a market for fanaticism, many “takers,” those willing…
I was sixteen. I remember the sensation: to lay on the surf board supported by movement on moving water, paddling toward the horizon, past the break point, that point where the energy radiating under the surface, shoreward reaches a crest. At that point the wave begins to break, energy manifests as a collapsing liquid…
…modem pessimism, and a more ancient and stronger expression in the teaching of Buddha; but it is part of Christianity also, if more doubtfully and ambiguously so but not for that reason any less seductive. The whole pose of “man against the world,” of man as a “world-negating” principle, of man as the measure…
If we simply called ourselves,using an old expression,godless, or unbelievers, or perhaps immoralists,we do not, believe that this would even come close to designating us: We are all three in such an advanced stage that one — that you, my curious friends — could never comprehend how we feel at this point. Ours…
