The bar is empty, said NagarjunaThere’s only one here, replied Parmenides,If we lean on one another we can see what’s around, said Carlo, as he ordered each of them a quantum of action. In this post I watch Parmenides haunting science through the ages and ask whether quantum mechanics might exorcise that haunting. The obstinate …
Parmenides, Nagarjuna and Carlo Rovelli walk into a bar… Read More »
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I was recently invited to join a discussion of Heidegger and Hegel, and since I have thought long about their connections, I presented five theses. Here I cite them to introduce an overview of my writings about those two philosophers. Five Theses Both Hegel and Heidegger stand firmly in the tradition stemming from Kant that …
This blog has been quiet for many months, there has been much activity behind the scene. It’s been hard to deal with health, weather, politics and war all together all the time. Still appearing “any day now” will be some reflections on Parkinson’s disease and writing, a post on why Parmenides is surprisingly relevant to …
When I posted my memoir essays about growing up and my time in the Jesuits I promised another installment about my life teaching. Working on that essay I realized that it divided naturally, one part covering the events of our life moving from place to place, and the other covering changes in my outlook and …
Two hesitant comments on abortion. Both concern the public policy issue of putting social effort into enforcing prohibitions. First : Around the beginning of the 20th century the effort to outlaw alcoholic beverages had created a patchwork of local options where a county or state could be dry or wet. The local option did not …
Philosophical communication today My Philosophy Salon series on art (at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Oregon) featured a guest appearance by Robert Paul Wolff. He led a discussion on art and politics with connections to Herbert Marcuse. We were grateful to Prof. Wolff for his insights and effective teaching presence. Before …
In a recent post I said that people might find my five lectures on American identity useful in our current situation. I remembered feeling very good about those lectures when I delivered them several years ago but I decided to listen to them myself. It was a sobering experience. I think they do offer good …
The second long video on my YouTube channel that I want to highlight concerns Parkinson’s disease. It is titled Stoicism, Parkinson’s, and Me: Philosophy and Chronic Disease shows how Stoic philosophy helps me cope with the disease. This connects to my book A Shaky Walk Downhill. It takes up the question of personal identity somewhat …
Sometime ago I started a YouTube channel and posted a number of videos. I have not posted much there since 2020 because Parkinson’s disease has made it more difficult for me both to appear in and edit videos. But there are two items on the channel I hope people might watch. This post highlights the …