In the history of ethics, debates over the meaning of life have generated four broad positions: 1. The meaning of life is to flourish by creating value both materially and psychologically through one’s career, friendships, loves, and avocations. Examples here include Aristotelian eudaimonism, some sub-types of utilitarianism, and Objectivism.The good life should be a win […]
Genghis Khan on joy and the meaning of life Read More »
How did Beethoven become Beethoven? “The ‘personality’ of such a man as Beethoven is a slowly developed synthetic whole. It is formed by the gradual combination of its constituent elements into an organic unity. For the development of a personality a rich and profound inner life is necessary, and for that reason it is usually
Creative geniuses as selfish — Beethoven version Read More »
I understand the temptation to read Michel Foucault as a kind of Libertarian, with all of his attacks on oppressive powers. Or as a kind of ultra-cynical Public Choice theorist, with all his revelations of the sausage-making processes of culture and politics. Yet it’s important to recognize that, for Foucault, liberation is an impossibility. We
Foucault: It’s never about liberation Read More »
When a newly prominent politician says “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” my first thought is to ask: What do the cold/hot feeling metaphors mean to him? Individualism conceptually means: I am my unique self, I decide and act independently, I take full responsibility for my life. To
Frigid and Warm feelings in politics Read More »
From a 2000 review of a biography of A. J. Ayer, describing the response to the young hotshot’s 1936 Language, Truth and Logic: “It was one of those books that galvanize a whole generation. Ambitious undergraduates commonly read it at a sitting. Their elders were appalled. When students tried to discuss the book at an
Original thinkers’ contemporaries: A.J. Ayer edition Read More »
Reprising this post on Zeev Sternhell, an ally in the battle against the nihilism of the Anti-Enlightenment and its heirs. His book is written for scholars, but note this ringing conclusion: “To prevent the people of the twenty-first century from sinking into a new ice age of resignation, the Enlightenment vision of the individual as
Sternhell on the Enlightenment vision Read More »
In 1869, young Friedrich Nietzsche became a professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. The university’s professors of philosophy told their students not to take Nietzsche’s courses, arguing that he was not really a philosopher and a lightweight. As one scholar relates the tale: “For a time, Nietzsche, then professor of
Original thinkers’ contemporaries: Nietzsche edition Read More »
Related: Scrooge’s Hero Journey and the Meaning of Life (text). Audio version below:
Naughty Santa collection Read More »