Category: Aphorisms and Observations
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The Wise Live by Probabilities, not by Possibilities
The worldly wise live by the probable and not by the possible. It is possible that you will reform the person you want to marry. But it is not probable. Don't imagine that you can change a person in any significant way. What you see now in your partner is what you will get from…
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Selective Memory
If your memory must be selective, better that it be selective of the positive rather than of the negative.
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Doxastic Conservatism
The onus probandi is on the extremist in matters of belief. Extreme beliefs bear the burden of proof. There is a defeasible presumption in favor of moderate views just as there is a defeasible presumption in favor of traditional ways of doing things. Note the qualifier, 'defeasible.' Related articles Happiness Maxims (2013 Version) The Zimmerman…
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You First!
Those who write that there is too much writing ought to heed the advice implied by their complaint. But of course they don't and they won't. Related articles Epicurus Has Some Sex Advice for General Petraeus, et al. The Parable of the Tree and the House
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Of Hurt and Humor
Don't tell a hurtful joke and expect the victim to appreciate the humor while abstracting from the hurtfulness.
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The Academic Philosophers of Consciousness
Too many of the academic philosophers of consciousness are overly concerned with the paltriest aspects of consciousness, so-called qualia, and work their tails off trying to convince themselves and others that they are no threat to physicalism. While man's nobility lies in the power of thought whereby he traverses all of time and existence, our…
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On the Unseemly
Although the world runs on appearances, a fact well to be heeded by anyone who plans to hang out long in these sublunary precincts, the task of the philosopher is to penetrate seemings, whence we may conclude that it is unseemly for a philosopher to be much concerned with the seemly and the unseemly. Related…
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A Question of Time Apportionment
How much time ought to be devoted to learned inquiry into the question of immortality and how much to living in such a way as to deserve it? Related articles The Pragmatic and the Evidential: Is It Ever Rational to Believe Beyond the Evidence? Believing on Insufficient Evidence
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Underbelief
Much of religion is overbelief, but much of science is underbelief. One sees less than is there; one sees only what one's restricted method allows one to see. Examples are legion. Find them. For more on overbelief and underbelief, see the first two articles below. Related articles Unusual Experiences and the Problem of Overbelief and…
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Overperception
One sees or senses more than is there, for example, I see a black cat as mine when it is my neighbor's.
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You are Sliding down a Mountain . . .
You are sliding down a mountain towards certain death. Your only hope is to grab the rope that is thrown to you. Will you refuse to do so because the rope might break? Will you first inquire into the reliability of the rope or the credibility of the assurances of the one who would be…
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Judging People
People can and ought to be judged by the company they keep, the company they keep away from, and those who attack them. Addendum (6/23): S. N. counters thusly: For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking,…
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The Teetotaler
The teetotaler is a prude in point of the potable. Related articles Promiscuous Post-Modern PC Prudes
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Hell for Philosophers
Jean-Paul Sartre put the following into the mouth of a character in the play, No Exit: "Hell is other people." What then would hell be for philosophers? To be locked in a room forever with a philosopher with whom one has little or no common ground. David Stove and Theodor Adorno, for example. Or Sartre and…
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On Self Help
He who truly believes in self help will limit his consumption of self help books. Related articles On the Label 'Obamacare'