A gem from priest-turned-philosopher Pierre Hadot: Logic, physics and ethics distinguish themselves from one another when one speaks of philosophy, but not when one lives it. * …
Western Philosophy
Practice Notes: Magic Trick
Imagine ... taking your son or daughter, or niece or nephew, or younger brother or sister to a magic show. One of the acts performed by the magician is the well-known "sawing a lady in half." You and your child-friend watch as the magician opens the coffin-like wooden box, and helps his lovely assistant to lie down in it—with only her head and her feet protruding, on opposite ends. With The …
Analytic Idealism
I've followed the work of Bernardo Kastrup—in particular his critiques of materialism—on and off for several years now, and have greatly appreciated it. So was delighted (if a bit surprised) to hear that he was pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy. Here Mr. Kastrup defends his Ph.D dissertation titled Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology—during which he provides a succinct overview of his …
Practice Notes: Directed Thought & Evaluation
Weather Report This phrase—directed thought and evaluation—has been popping into my mind, as of late, largely in relation to renewed interest in questions of agency, choice, volition, intention, and so-called free will. I’ve contemplated these issues previously, and recorded my provisional conclusions in Do I Choose My Thoughts?—which I invite you to check out, if you haven’t already. It’s an …
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Chasing Our Own Tails At Light-Speed
Very rich conversation here (and below) between Jeffrey Mishlove and Bernardo Kastrup, revolving largely around the differences between materialism and idealism--with Mr. Kastrup advocating for a particular form of metaphysical idealism. The materialist assumption of consciousness being produced by matter (which exists independently of consciousness) is what Bernardo dubs as "chasing our own …
To Be Or Not To Be
The Greek philosopher-sage Parmenides -- born in 514 BC -- proposed what he referred to as "Being" as a kind of unitary ontological ground that, to my ear, seems more-or-less equivalent to the "Tao" of Taoism and the "Dharmakaya" of Buddhism and the "Brahman" of Hinduism and the "Pure Awareness" of Advaita Vedanta. In the following poem, translated by Francis Lucille, Parmenides describes the …