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Palinode to the Rion
I recently wrote a satirical piece about popular philosophy. I was happy enough with it to put it online, because I think what it shows is interesting, but beyond that the net effect was to leave me thinking I probably won’t do this kind of thing anymore. As I recently seem to have discovered, I am currently writing to discover why I write, and what I seem to have discovered here is that, whilst I’m happy enough to write things that show something important about philosophy, I have no interest in writing anything combative, critical, or ‘snotty’. […]
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Cog Ergo Sum: A Very Short but Timeless Story About How a Man Makes Something of Himself
He began life as all life begins: free and completely dependent. He was taken care of by people who cared for him until he came to consciousness and realised that he could take care of himself. He started to learn how to take care of himself. When he showed how he could take care of himself, he was praised. ‘You’ve done well’, they said, ‘and you should be rewarded.’ He agreed. He had done well. He decided he should learn some things in order to take better care of himself. He went to school and learned some things. He was…
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Why Do I Write?
Why do I write? When I say write I mean writing philosophy. I could try writing other things, I suppose, but what I have been writing up to now is philosophy. And not only writing it but also putting it online for all to see. What is the purpose of this? […]
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Refutation
If you think a degree in philosophy makes you a philosopher then you are your own refutation.
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Too Late, Too Soon
Whenever I think of introducing philosophy to people, it always seems that it’s too late for the old, because they don’t have time or inclination to change themselves, and too soon for the young, because they don’t understand why it could be needed. Only the young person who suffers knows why you need to defend yourself against life with an art of living.
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If You Want to Improve the World, Improve Yourself
Everything that is good in life can be made bad by being used badly or put to bad purposes. Many things that are bad in life can be made good by being used well or put to good purposes. The goal in life is not to get more good things, or avoid bad things, but to use all things well. The goal is not to have more of what is good but to be more of what is good. That is why we say: if you want to improve the world, improve yourself.
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Material Success
Material success can tend to make people worse people. It diminishes their empathy. They tend to look down more and say to themselves that everyone gets what they deserve. In amongst those who are ambitious and successful, I say this to myself: It is not my business. It is not my nature. It is not my choice. What is my business? To know what is right and be what is good.
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Against the Standards of Society
It’s not unusual for people to go against the norms and standards of society, only ordinarily they do it for the wrong reasons: they claim rewards that they don’t deserve; they assert knowledge that they don’t have; they lie. The difference between the ordinary person and the philosopher is that when the philosopher violates social norms, they do it for the right reasons. We refuse the reward when most people would claim it; we deny knowledge when most people would assert it; we tell the truth when most people would lie.
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Solitary and Poor
When society is so much junk, it leaves you longing for a life that is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. (Or at least the first two…)
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Security
Financial security is an oxymoron, like open prison; like how a prisoner doesn’t feel more secure behind bars, but a prison warden feels more secure because of the bars.
An experiment with philosophy as a way of life
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