Stacks of Books – Huenemanniac

September 7, 2018

On the Other Delphic Maxims

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 past 25 centuries. But the need to organise one’s priorities, to cultivate friendships and social Continue reading

Historical episodes, Meanings of life / death / social & moral stuff, Stacks of Books

May 9, 2017

Sloterdijk’s Spheres

I finished reading volume 3 of Sloterdijk’s Spheres trilogy, and then went back and read the whole series again. It has been a delightful struggle to think through the rich banquet of ideas and images he offers. I have written up my overall account of the work in a new “Stacks of Books” essay (available on Continue reading

Books, Meanings of life / death / social & moral stuff, Stacks of Books

January 6, 2017

Meet the idealists

[excerpt from World as Idea] We have already met one idealist – Kant, who claimed that by the point at which we are conscious of experience, it has been shaped into a certain order in just the way a lecturer prepares his notes. Indeed, Kant believed that the human mind is very ambitious in its Continue reading

Kant and/or Hume, Stacks of Books

December 15, 2016

Living in the light of necessity

[excerpt from To View from Eternity] The neoplatonists urge us to see our troubled lives from the view of eternity. The world issues from the metaphysical character of the One, which means that the order of the planets and the balance of our seasons all result from an inviolable order, just as geometrical propositions are consequences Continue reading

Meanings of life / death / social & moral stuff, Stacks of Books

October 28, 2016

Living cynically

(an excerpt from Doubts) The contemporary German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk defines “cynicism” as enlightened false consciousness. It is what results when we know all too well our own weaknesses and limitations, and our own involvement in dastardly practices, but then find ourselves having to go on with the business of life nonetheless. We know better Continue reading

Books, Historical episodes, Meanings of life / death / social & moral stuff, Stacks of Books