1. Across the United States, thousands of businesses have closed during the pandemic, but the demise of so many beloved hangouts cuts especially deep. They were local landmarks — watering holes, shops and haunts that weathered recessions and world wars, only to succumb to the economic ravages of the coronavirus. 2.The myth of a…
I am not sure when I learned to work. Learning how to work, is open ended, a quest that one pursues over the arc of years until one no longer has any curiosity, or the will to expend further energy. Work is the expenditure of energy in a focused fashion to achieve a more…
It is Christmas eve. Conditions have turned bone chilling cold outside. It is 12 degrees Fahrenheit according to the iphone weather app. Those are unforgiving conditions, like the honed edge of a tempered steel blade. I read this report in today’s New York Times, written by David Leonhardt: Yet it is also clear that…
In the course of the philosophy discussion of this week, the alternative viewpoints, of freedom or of determinism came up. This durable topic surfaces often with us. How free are we? Are we as free as we feel, as free as we were taught as Americans, a culture with a heritage of Enlightenment…
Waking at 7AM this morning I felt particularly disoriented. By dint of habit I made my way to the stairs, then to the kitchen. At the counter I poured a bowl of Cheerios. I mechanically assembled the elements of breakfast ticking off the components in turn: two packets of splenda, gallon of milk, banana,…
Monday morning. I had to ask a family member last night if this was the week of Christmas. The pandemic has shorn social encounters, parties, appointments with friends, all cleaved from Christmas. A chimera, a ghost of Christmas without heart is all that remains… The sensation of giving and receiving, the tokens of a…
Sunday morning before sunrise. Still dark outside. I have the privilege of taking a nap later in the day if I choose. Why not get up, do some reading, explore the contents of my mind? Aspiring to find words to more clearly understand this time, the events occurring globally, in America, and in Batavia…
I watched the Frank Capra directed film, “It’s A Wonderful Life.” My wife and I viewed it together. It is one of her favorite films. With each viewing of this 1946 film, a Christmas fantasy tale from our parents generation, I understand better why the story has become one of her favorites. The philosophical…
We discussed ideas from an essay by Stephen Law. Law took pains to show that the concept of language games developed by Ludwig Wittgenstein late in his career do not provide immunity for theists from the intellectual assault of those who simply cannot believe. I do not use the term “unbeliever” because it is…
A few days remain before Christmas. At this juncture in life, I am able to call to memory past Christmas seasons. Christmas is the high point of a year, is it not? A season of ending, as well as a season of anticipation. Something is about to begin. The ending and the beginning are…
