Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Parables

  • It is 410 A. D.

    Alaric is sacking Rome. An obscure Roman philosopher  is penning an agenda for the salvation of the republic. His writings are lost to history. In any case, too little, too late. Will we share his fate? Three years after the Visigoth invasion, a Christian Platonist and mystic in North Africa puts pen to paper. As…

  • Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

    The passage of years has made of a man on the make a man of wisdom. He stands on a street corner, a spectator of the passing scene. An old flame from his cocky youth passes by.  Gloria Mundi sees him but without acknowledgement. The old man thinks to himself, "What did I ever see…

  • The Tree and the House

    A parable about envy. Substack latest.  Opening: A man planted a tree to shade his house from the desert sun. The tree, a palo verde, grew like a weed and was soon taller than the house. The house became envious, feeling diminished by the tree’s stature. The house said to the tree: "How dare you…

  • Ostrich on a Ridge

    I bring an ostrich to a high and narrow and slippery ridge.  I bid him consider the abyss to his left and the abyss to his right. "You came from nothing to perch here a moment, but soon you will slide to your left and become nothing again. I speak in a parable to convey…

  • The Parable of the Tree and the House: A Warning Against the Folly of Envy

    Here at Maverick Philosopher: Strictly Philosophical

  • The Parable of the Lion and the Turtle

    The lion said to the turtle, "Come out of your shell, and join the party!"  The turtle said to the lion, "OK, Leo, after you have had yourself declawed and defanged." Defense mechanisms, both physical and psychological, serve a good purpose even as they limit relations with others.  But too much armor, psychic and otherwise,…

  • The Parable of the Leaky Cup

    There is no point in begging for water with a leaky cup.  Water thereby gained is immediately lost again.  First fix the cup, then beg for water. So also with the glimpses and gleanings and intimations from Elsewhere. They won't be retained in a perforated vessel.   And if they are not retained, then they…

  • 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…

  • The Parable of the Tree and the House

    A man planted a tree to shade his house from the desert sun. The tree, a palo verde, grew like a weed and was soon taller than the house. The house became envious, feeling diminished by the tree’s stature. The house said to the tree: “How dare you outstrip me, you who were once so…