This one lives in Paradise. No kidding. Continue reading

The University of Chicago is hosting an interdisciplinary project called Defining Wisdom. The idea is to draw on work across disciplines – philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc. – to try to gain a better picture of the nature and benefits of wisdom. I like the idea, though the project is still in a very early stage,… Continue reading

Because one cannot do otherwise, of course. But more seriously, I have been thinking about this question in the case of Spinoza. It’s clear that he took himself to be a necessitarian — “I have shown clearly enough that from God’s supreme power all things have necessarily flowed by the same necessity and in the… Continue reading

Seen on my bike ride yesterday. Continue reading

See the link on the right. What a handsome cover! Continue reading

I have recently become acquainted with degenerationism, or the view bandied about in the late 19th century that human beings were degenerating. It was clearly a case of psychologists’ enthusiasm getting way beyond their means. A number of thinkers assessed the current state of European culture, found it lacking, and surmised that something must be… Continue reading

There is a path behind our house which runs alongside a canal. I often take the path to campus and it’s always a nice interlude between home and office — trees, birds, animals, water. Each spring the gates to the canal are open and water begins to flow, and I have always wanted to be… Continue reading

The Nietzsche book can now be purchased here. In a few weeks it should be available through Amazon. Continue reading

I am at times sincerely drawn to the attitude Kant takes toward the phenomenal world in his Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics. His view there is that the world is constructed out of an individual’s experience. I have an experience, ordered in space and time. I am able to construct out of that experience what… Continue reading

So sometimes people ask me: what do you do for fun in your little western mountain town? Well, last night was a great example. I met my friends Will (first violin) and Chris (Holst expert) at a local bar to exchange highly-coveted artwork, and then determine if that was where the hookers hung out. (No.… Continue reading