One of the fruits of civilization is that it allows some of us to reflect upon civilization and its fruits — and its discontents.
Category: Aphorisms and Observations
The Space of Scholars
The space of scholars is made safe by the blood of warriors.
Lesser Lights
The following aphorism floated before my mind as I was reading Paul Roubiczek, Across the Abyss:
Lesser lights, too, provide illumination. And they, rather than the fixed stars in our cultural firmament, are perhaps better exemplars for us — who are lesser lights.
All Roads Lead to Rome
Under protracted consideration every philosophical question inevitably raises questions about the nature, methods, and goals of philosophy. All philosophical roads lead to metaphilosophical Rome. Not that we will find in Rome what we could not find on the way there.
An Open Question
G. E. Moore's Principia Ethica was very influential. But is it good?
The Noble and the Base
If a noble man becomes aware of my moral defects, he is saddened, disappointed, disillusioned perhaps. But the base man reacts differently: he is gleeful, pleased, reassured. "So he isn't better than me after all! Good!"
The noble seek those who are above them so that they can become like them. The base deny that anyone could be above them.
Sexual Indulgence
"Sexual indulgence de-realizes the Transcendent for us." My first thought upon awakening from a strange sexual dream. "First thought, best thought," Kerouac used to say.
Double Contractions
Scowled upon by schoolmarms for generations, contractions are now seen in formal writing. But formal writing, or what passes for such, has not yet sunk to the use of what I will call double contractions such as 'shouldn't've' and 'couldn't've.'
But the times they are a changin' and with them the language.
In Loco Parentis
When parents, teachers, clergy and others in the private sector abdicate authority, the authority of the state takes their place. Time was when universities were in loco parentis. No longer. Now it is the nanny state that is in loco parentis.
The Euphemism of Obituary
How wonderful people are made to appear in death and how different from how they appeared in life.
This Life
We sometimes speak of this life. For example, some assert that this life is all there is. The ability to thematize and question the whole of life may not prove, but it does suggest, that we are more than beings confined to this life. Even the average schlep, enmired in the mundane, his fledgling metaphysical organs numbed by the the onslaught of quotidiana, will at some point, when the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" pay him a visit, exclaim, "What the hell is this life all about?"
Internalize Cautiously
There must be no uncritical internalization of the norms and expectations of others. Internalize cautiously. Live your own life by your own lights from your own inner resources.
Which Is Worse?
Which is worse? To deny that there is truth or to suppose that one is in secure possession of it? Either way inquiry is at an end and the road to truth blocked.
Magnificent in Aspiration
Philosophy is magnificent in aspiration, but miserable in execution.
House and Home
You can buy a house but not a home, the blather of realtors notwithstanding.