“Next to the word ‘Nature,’ ‘The Great Chain of Being’ was the sacred phrase of the eighteenth century, playing a part somewhat analogous to that of the blessed word ‘evolution’ in the nineteenth.” –Arthur O. Lovejoy
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part X: Thomas Paine and the Controversy over Extraterrestrial Life
From, whence, then, could arise the solitary and strange conceit that the Almighty, who had millions of worlds equally dependent on his protection, should quit the care of all the rest, and come to die in our world because, they say, one man and one woman had eaten an apple. –Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part IX: Did Heliocentrism Knock Humanity off Its Perch?
We are often told that Europeans, in the medieval times, believed that Earth was at the center of the universe, and therefore especially good and important. An anthropocentric point of view flattered human vanity, according to this story. Sigmund Freud was perhaps its most famous representative. He wrote: Humanity has in the course of time had to endure from the Continue Reading …
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part VIII: Arthur O. Lovejoy, the Great Chain of Being
In the previous article, we saw how geometry set the standard for knowledge in the world of ancient Greek philosophy, and how Christian theology emerged out of an effort to harmonize the very different traditions of Greek and Hebraic thought. Plato’s theory of the forms is perhaps his most famous contribution to philosophy, and requires no extensive discussion. But, as Continue Reading …
Irony and Political Rhetoric (Philosophical Issues Related to the #thatasshole Campaign, Part 3)
Start with the South Parkesque absurdist beginning of this series, if that’s the kind of thing that you’re into. Satire and Irony as Political Tools I’ve already written on humor for this series; shouldn’t this topic have already been covered? Well, no. As Wikipedia tells us (citing Robert Corum writing about French satire), satire need not be actually funny. Animal Continue Reading …
The Accuracy of Slurs (Philosophical Issues Related to the #thatasshole Campaign, Part 2)
Are insults largely interchangeable, or do they have fixed descriptive content, in addition to their normative (insulting) content? Can the two elements of meaning be isolated? Thoughts on innovations in language.
Philosophy of Humor (Philosophical Issues Related to the #thatasshole Campaign, Part 1)
Mark muses on why cursing, or ideological humor, might be not funny for everyone, and why it’s partially THEIR GODDAMN FAULT due to their lack of aesthetic self-development. Motherfuckers. JK! 🙂
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part VII: Plato and the Geometric Model of Knowledge
“Let no one ignorant of geometry enter.” –Said to have been inscribed above the doorway of Plato’s Academy
Stop Using the President’s Name. Just Call Him “That Asshole.”
It is our moral duty to call things as they are, and stop giving the asshole power by polluting the air with his name. Stop the erosion of our political discourse by using the hashtag #theasshole.
Louis C.K., Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche on How to Suffer and Be Happy
Why does happiness so often present itself as a problem?
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part VI: Jonathan Hedley Brooke, Complexity Thesis
“Serious scholarship in the history of science has revealed so extraordinarily rich and complex a relationship between science and religion that general theses are difficult to sustain. The real lesson turns out to be complexity.” –Jonathan Hedley Broke
Is Capitalism Moral? (Reactions to a Video by Walter Williams)
Yes, capitalism has provided a high standard of living, but how should goods other than monetary ones play into a public policy debate? Mark riffs off of Adam Smith and a video by Walter Williams.
Fictional Characters: Cross-Platform Software
“Batman is haunted by his dark past yet perseveres in fighting crime.” We know that Batman is a fictional character, but nonetheless talk about him as if he were a real person. But is Batman real or not? Instead of accusing him of non-existence, or granting him reality as an abstract object, could we not instead regard fictional characters as software running on the hardware of our brains?
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part V: Ian Barbour—The Synthesis Model
“I need the binocular approach of science and religion if I am to do any sort of justice to the deep and rich reality of the world in which we live.”
–John Polkinghorne (Physicist, Anglican Priest)
Art, Authenticity, and Film
The Romantic film-philosophy of Cavell, Mulhall, Sinnerbrink, and Smith completes the triangulation of values among the ethical, cognitive, and aesthetic: in the same way that film links Smith’s innovations in the disciplines of aesthetics, philosophy, and culture, authenticity links the ethical, cognitive, and aesthetic values of film.
Demagogue Lover: Aristophanes’s “Wasps” in the Age of Trump
“Surely if liberalism has a single desperate weakness it is an inadequacy of imagination: liberalism is always being surprised.” –Lionel Trilling
Science, Religion, and Secularism Part IV: Ian Barbour—The Dialogue Model
“God is also glorified in astronomy through my work.” –Johannes Kepler
Science, Religion, and Secularism, Part III: Ian Barbour—The Independence Model
“The Goal of Science is understanding lawful relations among natural phenomena. Religion is a way of life within a larger framework of meaning.”–Ian Barbour
On Integrative Encounters of the Cinematic Variety: Reflections on ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ on Its 40th Anniversary
“Your father was a computer engineer; your mother was a concert pianist, and when the spaceship lands, they make music together on the computer.”
Science, Religion, and Secularism, Part II: Ian Barbour—The Conflict Model
“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.” –Richard Dawkins
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