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 »
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 »
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 »
Is peace or war the natural state of man? Do men fight primarily over material possessions or over women? For decades anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon studied the Yanomamö, a remote tribe in South America, learning about their almost-constant warfare. His findings put him in open conflict with academic anthropologists and the American Anthropological Association. The latter
Ideological wars in anthropology Read More »
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 »