Wisdom from a giant of the nineteenth-century — Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895): “Everybody has asked the question … ‘What shall we do with the Negro?’ I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the […]
Frederick Douglass and self-respect Read More »
2026 is the 40th anniversary of this important publication on the foundations of epistemology. “This book is a highly original defense of realism. David Kelley argues that perception is the discrimination of objects as entities, that the awareness of these objects is direct, and that perception is a reliable foundation for empirical knowledge. Kelley’s argument
David Kelley’s *The Evidence of the Senses* Read More »
Nobody knows what the origin of ‘Hoosier’ is. Party fun for visitors to Indiana includes recounting the many speculations on the label’s origins. This year’s football season, culminating in the football Hoosiers’ undefeated 16-0 season and a national championship was delightful and remarkable. I was a grad student back in the day when the basketball
Indiana University Hoosiers Read More »
Stuart Mark Feldman’s The Future in Our Hands By Michael Newberry Stuart Mark Feldman’s sculpture group, The Future in Our Hands (1992, Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is four life-size bronze statues placed around a large outdoor fountain. There are two males and two females, life-sized, each playing with a child. (To my knowledge, this is the
Newberry’s review of Feldman sculpture *The Future in Our Hands* Read More »
I’m crossing Martin off my next party-invitation list. “As many paces as the man takes in his dance, so many steps he takes toward Hell.” Quoted here. I like to contrast Luther with John Locke who, in his Some Thoughts concerning Education, mentions dancing first as an essential element of a child’s formal instruction. Related:
Martin Luther on dancing and the steps one takes toward Hell Read More »
At the end of the 20th century, a survey of philosophers on the big books in their field was published by Douglas Lackey (The Philosophical Forum, 1999). Interesting that the list is dominated by works in epistemology. The top ten books cited: 1. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations [179 citations]2. Heidegger, Being and Time [134]3. Rawls, A
Top Ten books in 20th-century philosophy Read More »
Related: Sartre’s classic explanation of Existentialism, responding to Catholic and Communist critics, in my Philosophers, Explained series:
Some philosophies, indeed Read More »
Friedrich Nietzsche rejected liberal individualism, capitalism, egalitarianism, and peace—and he embraced struggle, hierarchy, and the ‘will to power.’ His philosophy was appropriated by the National Socialists—in some ways accurately and in some ways via misinterpretation. Captainese’s interview with Professor Stephen Hicks. Timestamps: 1:34 Do philosophers have a responsibility to prevent the misuse of their ideas?
Captainese interview on the Nazis’ accurate and inaccurate uses of Nietzsche Read More »