Here is a link to a long and excellent essay about the different worlds of professor and student of today. The first couple paragraphs set the stage: At the beginning of school last fall, I ran into a student on the University of Virginia Lawn, not far from the famous statue of Homer instructing an… Continue reading

Lately I’ve been working on a chapter on what I’d call “Act 1” in Nz’s life, in which he attempted to bring about a “cultural revolution” of sorts. To motivate the question, I felt I had to begin by examining culture more intuitively, before seeing the heavy burden Nz was to place upon it. Here… Continue reading

I find Jack Handey brilliant and hilarious. Here is his latest essay on how things even out. (Perhaps the funniest line is a sleeper: “Even in the afterlife things probably even out, although I can’t imagine how.” Why do you suppose ‘the afterlife’ was invented in the first place?!) Continue reading

Listen: I know I’m not a poet, but what’s the point of blogging if you can’t throw an amateur attempt out there once in a while? Here goes: A reason for the aliens When the aliens in their shimmery green space suits Finally pin me to the ground and ask me (demand, in fact) To… Continue reading

Mildly amusing link. Continue reading

A recent commenter offered this stunning speculation on the nature of aesthetics by Jorge Luis Borges: “Music, states of happiness, mythology, faces belabored by time, certain twilights and certain places try to tell us something, or have said something we should not have missed, or are about to say something; this imminence of a revelation… Continue reading

Well, I have put the Spinoza/Nietzsche book on the back burner for now. I have found that bashing religion with arguments makes me unhappy, so I’ll let it alone. I’ll work full-force instead on a book on Nietzsche, which was my original plan anyway.  (I may also write a separate book on Spinoza; we’ll see.)… Continue reading

I am working away at a book on Nietzsche, and was about to write a brief synopsis of his revaluation of all values project. He thinks there are genuine values, I think, but they are rooted in health, or the perspective of life, and not in any transcendent moral truths. Basically, to be healthy, you… Continue reading

Reminders like this are important, lest we forget just how outrageous our current government is. Continue reading

Interesting essay here. Jacoby claims that academics over the last generation have become increasingly isolated, and blogs are nothing more than private journals broadcast with a megaphone. (Also a bit shaming, as here I am blogging about it!) UPDATE: Here is a related essay by Stanley Fish, on the topic of “what’s the use of… Continue reading

“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing… Continue reading

What we are seeking after, whether in philosophy, literature, poetry, or film, when we are not seeking merely information or entertainment, is something which causes us to say: “Now this is the real shit.” Continue reading

This time railing on Mitt Romney. See his latest diatribe here. Continue reading

I am thinking about writing a book on the clash between ancient religion and modern science, tentatively entitled Wrestling with an Angel. The general idea is that one can’t both take science seriously and believe in the traditional religious doctrines of creation, an immortal soul, and divine providence. One can follow Nietzsche, and reject religion… Continue reading

Many people will find his little chats offensive, but I think he’s an awfully clever and funny guy: Pat Condell. Mostly they should be viewed for their entertainment value, I think. Continue reading

Check out the suggestion here. Continue reading

Here is a recent article on the spate of books explaining philosophy through the Simpsons, through the Sopranos, through the Matrix, etc. I don’t really have a problem with all these pop culture books. I don’t find them very fun or illuminating myself, since I’m pretty much out of pop culture, and I’m probably a… Continue reading

Remember, irreverence comes first at huenemanniac. Everyone has probably seen this Monty Python video, but a recent note from Mike F. reminded me of it, and it’s worth viewing again. Continue reading

It is only by insisting that human experience is intelligible that we will ever discover the shortcomings of our own reason. Continue reading

Recently a good philosophical friend dropped in to visit and, after a pre-emptive apology, said, “Aren’t you just a chicken-sh*t Nietzschean? Because you accept his view of the world, his psychology, and his critique of religion and traditional morality, all the way up to the last point — his claim that pity is weakness —… Continue reading

David Hume provided a compelling argument against believing in reports of miracles in chapter 10 of his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. The basic idea is this: we have to weigh the likelihood of a miracle taking place against the possibility that the report is exaggerated or simply false. The end result is that it is… Continue reading

It seems to me that if you try to lead your life by reason, you end up as a skeptic. A skeptic, of course, can believe many things, but will regard all these beliefs as tenuous hypotheses which can be modified or rejected if some experiences or reasons come along which seriously challenge those beliefs… Continue reading

Two big stories in the news today are about academics: Ward Churchill, a professor being fired from the University of Colorado for what he said about the 9/11 bombings, and Norman Finkelstein, a professor at DePaul being denied tenure for what he has written about Israel. Both universities say they are firing these guys for… Continue reading

I read recently (here) that Bush has been consulting with ministers, theologians, historians, and philosophers (who???) in an attempt to figure out why everyone hates him. Apparently he doesn’t like the answers one can find in any newspaper. Anyway, he finally found someone who gives him the answers he likes: Continue reading

It seems like we might distinguish between two ways of pursuing wisdom (meaning: metaphysics and values). We might pursue wisdom as a society/culture/species, which would be something like a scientific approach to the questions “What is real?” and “What is valuable?” Or we might pursue those same questions as individuals: “What do I take to… Continue reading