June 2014 – PHILOSOPHICAL EGGS

80. Plato on the Immortality of the Soul: Republic X, Part 2

In the last post I introduced Plato’s argument for the immortality of the soul in Book X of his dialogue Republic (all quotations will be from Cornford’s translation). I then discussed the argument’s central claim – the essential destructibility claim –… Read more ›

June 30, 2014

Dwight Goodyear

Metaphysics, The Soul

corruption, death, dualism, immortality of the soul, Plato's Republic Book X

79. Plato on the Immortality of the Soul: Republic Book X, Part 1

The intellectual and dramatic flow of Plato’s dialogue Republic is driven by Socrates’ attempt to show what justice is and why being just is superior to being unjust. A character, Glaucon, presents a challenge to Socrates in Book II: why… Read more ›

June 30, 2014

Dwight Goodyear

Metaphysics, The Soul

corruption, immortality of the soul, Plato's Republic Book X

78. Aristotle and Nietzsche on the Good Man

There is an interesting contrast between Aristotle and Friedrich Nietzsche when it comes to the notion of a good man and whether such a man should change and despise himself. Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, writes that the good man… Read more ›

June 3, 2014

Dwight Goodyear

Morality, The Soul

Aristotle, frienfship, Nietzsche, the good man, The last man

77. Adorno: The Stars Down to Earth?

The new version of the show Cosmos, like the old version, shows many cases of mistaken astrological thinking being replaced by empirically verified astronomical evidence. For many people these advances are welcome. Certainly those who think scientifically will not accept… Read more ›

June 2, 2014

Dwight Goodyear

Metaphysics, Morality, The Soul

Adorno, astrology, Cosmos, freedom, science, The Stars Down to Earth

76. End and Goal

In his book The Wanderer and His Shadow (aphorism #204), Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “End and Goal: Not every end is a goal. The end of a melody is not its goal; but nonetheless, if the melody had not reached its… Read more ›

June 2, 2014

Dwight Goodyear

Aesthetics, Morality

Ends, goals, John Dewey, Nietzsche