Let’s consider the subjective sense of time that we each have. I don’t mean the sense that time flies or “I can’t believe it’s already August,” or that kind of thing. I mean the way we think of our lives as a whole. We all know we’re going to die, and yet in our daily […]
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Being and Time
Roger Scruton is a great contemporary philosopher. You should run out and read everything he ever wrote. His specialty is aesthetics, but he is versatile. I read him in part for his handle on developments in philosophy over the last few hundred years, including especially the influence of Friedrich Hegel, the preeminent late-18th century philosopher. On the key philosophical subject of […]
Read more...Christian Start-up
Entrepreneurs, small businesses, solo’s: Be careful in your thinking about entrepreneurship and faith. We’re Such Christians There’s potentially a danger in the idea that we’re all a bunch of Christians trying to do good and be Christ-like in the work place. Of course you can be Christians, and if so, of course you want your relationship […]
Read more...Our Lady of the Forest
Review of Our Lady of the Forest, by David Guterson My usual pattern upon finishing a book worth reviewing is to let it simmer in my mind for a few days before embarking on the review. I find that my impressions after letting it settle are not the same as those when I reach “The […]
Read more...Life as Story
We all know this already, yet we think of it as bad news: We all die. The mortality rate for mankind is 100%. And yet, we don’t live as if we’re conscious of that truth. We function day-to-day as though we expect to live forever. We find it difficult to conceive of an end point. […]
Read more...Orientation to Truth
Reality If we suppose that the things we see, hear, touch, etc. are real and not illusory, then we include ourselves and those other things in our conception of reality. Material things are real. Living things, the earth, water, air, other people – they’re all real. Those things move and we experience interaction with them in […]
Read more...White Noise
Thoughts on White Noise, by Don DeLillo This 1985 novel has in some circles been called a postmodern classic. That sent me off on a rumination about what “postmodernism” is. I have understood its most benign definition to be an add-on by modernists to reinforce their commitment to the philosophical uniqueness of the modern age; […]
Read more...The Widening Chasm
The Widening Chasm The history of the western world in 1600 words. Before Christ There was a time when the world was mysterious at every turn. Much was inexplicable to us: what makes plants grow? How do children come from sexual union? What makes the sun rise and set? From ancient times much that was not yet understood […]
Read more...Limitations
Another rumination sparked by PrairyErth. I just can’t let it go. This time I was thinking about one of the author’s (William Least-Heat Moon’s) observations on the limits of the prairie. I was thinking about the limitation one might experience based on grades in school, or getting into this college but not that one. Is […]
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I’m a fan of good lyrical writing. So much so that I am open to reading pretty much anything if it’s said well, even if other elements of writing – such as a plot and a point – are lacking. I’ve often said that I would be happy to read the back of cereal boxes if […]
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