A Socratic Manifesto
Seneca was in the habit in his letters of sharing the lessons from his daily reading with Lucilius. I thought I might do the same and share with you a lesson I learned today from my reading, whoever you are. I’ve been reading . . .
The Level-Based Category Mistake
I’ve had several residual thoughts about Christian List’s philosophy since finishing my thesis on his theory of free will—too many to name, honestly—but I thought I might take a moment to sketch at least one of them out. It has to do with List’s use of levels and how that use takes advantage of an unidentified species of category mistake. . . .
Scatter My Bones across the Earth
I’ve been thinking about death a lot lately. The thought, or really the worry, manifests somatically for me as pain in my chest and arms. I think what terrifies me the most about death is what I expect to be the complete absence of my consciousness, the complete absence of my bearing witness to this world. It’s like all at once and suddenly, I’ve finally become aware of my mortality: I am finite; I will die; I will soon only be so many bones scattered across the earth . . .
Choice Paralysis: A Challenge from the Indeterminacy of Intentional Content
I recently finished my master’s thesis at Georgia State University. You can find the abstract as well as a link to the complete thesis enclosed.
The Philosopher’s Querencia
What does Nietzsche mean when he speaks of the desert in the third treatise of On the Genealogy of Morality (GM III §8, 297–298)? To borrow a term Hemingway made popular in Death in the Afternoon, Nietzsche is describing a querencia . . .
Was bedeutet “Versuche”?
Philosophy is like groping around in a thickly set mist. Perhaps you find yourself walking a mountain path flanked by trees and stones. You’re searching for a break in the wood, a way to reach the mountain peak, or you’re looking for a rivulet to trace down the mountainside to safety. Regardless, the mist blocks your path and your vision is obscured. . . .