July 2009
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Reflections on Darwin and Holmes
I’ve been reading a weird variety of books lately, two of which are The Cambridge Companion to Charles Darwin and Menand’s The Metaphysical Club (actually, re-reading this one). Several of the essays in the Darwin book concern Darwinism and ethics. I think a reasonable view of the connection between the two is as follows. There… Continue reading
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One more dead idol
Leszak Kolakowski. Wish I’d met him. See my posts about him here. UPDATE: The Times has a good obit. Continue reading
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Making meaning
I’ve been thinking about Michael Drake’s post over at Strange Doctrines on Nihilistic Meaning. As anyone who knows me would suspect, I’m very skeptical of a human life being meaningful in virtue of playing some role in a deity’s big plan. (Indeed, that seems to me a recipe for absurdity.) So I usually fall back… Continue reading
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Hiking with RWE, Nz
Just got back from a conference in Big Sky, MT, where we read and then discussed Emerson and Nietzsche. (The view above is from our hotel window.) It was a great conference. Much of the discussion seemed to center around the notion of liberty — how you get it, according to each philosopher. Views differed… Continue reading
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Powder Mountain
Went for a hike yesterday on Powder Mountain, a ski hill, with a group of old and new friends. We came across Hidden Lake, which afforded an opportunity for wading, swimming, and plummeting from a rope swing. The valley seen in the distance is where we live, Cache Valley. Continue reading
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Ah, the good old days…
Mike raises the following question: From Nz’s perspective, what was the world like before the death of God? The best answer I have at the moment is The Gay Science #84 the last paragraph. Maybe that’s *way* before the death of God though or maybe that’s basically what it is. I don’t have GS handy,… Continue reading
Huenemanniac 