Author Archives: Huenemann

About Huenemann

Curious about the ways humans use their minds and hearts to distract themselves from the meaninglessness of life.

3QD: Our very own annus mirabilis

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Huenemann

This isn’t the first time universities have shut down from fear of pestilence. In 1665, “it pleased the Almighty God in his just severity to visit this towne of Cambridge with the plague of pestilence”, and Cambridge University was closed. … Continue reading →

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3QD: Thoughts on Killing a Dog

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Huenemann

Last week we had our dog put down. It was time. She was getting old and facing some serious neurological difficulties. The tipping point was a pair of severe seizures in the middle of the night, spaced about a minute … Continue reading →

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3QD: Reflections on It-ing and Thou-ing

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Huenemann

We find ourselves always in the middle of an experience. But it’s what we do next – how we characterize the experience – that lays down a host of important and almost subterranean conditions. Am I sitting in a chair, … Continue reading →

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3QD: Conversation with a Genie

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Huenemann

Essay here.

Posted in 3QD essays | 1 Comment

Back to 3QuarksDaily

Posted on November 25, 2019 by Huenemann

After a bit of a break, I’m going to resume contributing monthly essays at 3QuarksDaily. The first essay is now up, alongside the fascinating essays, poems, and insights from the other contributors. How To Be Kind “There’s only one rule … Continue reading →

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The impact of Boris Hessen

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Huenemann

Reading: Gerardo Ienna and Giulia Rispoli, “Boris Hessen at the Crossroads of Science and Ideology from International Circulation to the Soviet Context”, Society and Politics, 2019, 13:37-63. [These are just some preliminary notes on a very complex story I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical episodes, Items of the academy / learning | 8 Comments

Is there such a thing as the history of philosophy?

Posted on July 31, 2019 by Huenemann

(Reading Christia Mercer. “The Contextualist Revolution in Early Modern Philosophy.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 57, no. 3 (2019): 529-548.) Christia Mercer has revisited the methodological battles that have waged among scholars of the history of philosophy. She uses … Continue reading →

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Hobbes and coins

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Huenemann

Thomas Hobbes saw humans as purely mechanical devices. External objects press against us in one way or another, setting off a chain reaction of interior pulleys, wheels, and ratchets that engage one another and result in some version of “Cuckoo!” … Continue reading →

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What we know when we know particulars

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Huenemann

Some reflections on the early sections of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit: If we try to think about what is most obvious in our experience, and what the most basic elements of knowledge are, we turn to sense perception. For it … Continue reading →

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Unvatting the Brains: Putnam, Bostrom, and thinking the unthinkable

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Huenemann

The worry is familiar. All of my experience comes to me via my central nervous system, which is a biochemical electrical network. It can be hacked. The data coming from my eyes and ears and so on are converted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Metaphysical musings, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Minds as predictive engines

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Huenemann

(Reading Andy Clark, Surfing Uncertainty (Oxford UP 2015)) I’m no longer sure I know what an “ordinary” theory of mind would look like, but I’m guessing that it would resemble an organized camp of explorers. The explorers, or our senses, venture … Continue reading →

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RNZ interview

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Huenemann

The Sunday Show of Radio New Zealand interviewed me about my Delphic maxims piece. It was a delight to speak with Jim Mora, the host. You can listen to the interview here, if you like. We vacationed in New Zealand nearly … Continue reading →

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A poisoned peace

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Huenemann

“I realize that if through science I can seize phenomena and enumerate them, I cannot, for all that, apprehend the world. Were I to trace its entire relief with my finger, I should not know any more. And you give … Continue reading →

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On the Other Delphic Maxims

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Huenemann

Now up at Aeon. The conclusion: The fact that the great majority of maxims on the list can still serve us today is itself worth further reflection. There is no denying that our lives have changed a lot in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical episodes, Meanings of life / death / social & moral stuff, Stacks of Books | 1 Comment

Say, whatever happened to Casearius?

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Huenemann

Readers of Spinoza’s letters will recall the name “Casearius”. Johannes Casearius lived in the same house in Rijnsburg as Spinoza, and Spinoza taught him Cartesian philosophy, an effort which led in part to Spinoza’s book, The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy. … Continue reading →

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