It is important not to overlook how listening to music is compatible with so many human activities. Some music, of course, is incompatible with study, conversation, relaxation, etc. But in so many cases we can listen to music while doing… Read more ›
In past posts I have considered two popular theories of art, namely, the imitation theory (here) and formalism (here and here). In this post I want to take a look at the expression theory of art and some of its possibilities. Consider Leo Tolstoy’s… Read more ›
It seems plausible to many people that we are more than physical bodies: we are also non-physical minds or souls. Our souls are currently embodied and yet have things bodies can’t have such as free will, reason, a conscience, intentional… Read more ›
Determinism is the view that, given the laws of nature, all events are the necessary effects of previous events. When applying this to systems, one can say that a system is deterministic if there is only one way the system… Read more ›
Consider an aphorism attributed to Heraclitus of Epheseus (active circa 500 BC): “They do not understand how, while being at variance, it is in agreement with itself. There is a back-turning connection, like that of a bow or lyre” (frag.… Read more ›
The more the form and material of a work are disregarded in favor of its subject matter the more we seem to lose a work of art. So, suppose we are listening to a folk musician with a compelling political… Read more ›
Truth, for so many thinkers throughout history, has been seen as existing independent of human minds. But it seems far more sensible to embrace an anthropological account of truth which Robert Adams nicely describes as the view “that the truths… Read more ›
In his book Human, All Too Human, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote something we should all keep in mind: A friend’s secret. – There will be few who, when they are in want of matter for conversation, do not reveal the more secret… Read more ›
Love can arrive slowly like a golden leaf of autumn, suddenly like a first snow, quietly like a spring shower, boldly like a summer storm.
The great Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) was, among other things, an Italian renaissance scholar, Catholic priest, humanist philosopher, astrologer, doctor, musician, reviver of Platonism, and the first translator of Plato’s complete extant works into Latin. He was also the head of… Read more ›
Soren Kierkegaard Introduction It is popular these days to think about evil from a scientific perspective that sees evil as, for example, a function of an improperly working brain. Such approaches typically remove free will and the more traditional parameters… Read more ›
Many of our efforts at self-examination presuppose at least a sense of things we don’t know. We sense our life is inadequate and take steps to acquire more knowledge to remove our ignorance. We widen our scope, gain new perspectives, and… Read more ›
On June 10th, 1997 my father, Philip Goodyear (1941-1997), passed away due to an accident that occurred while he was volunteering to time racers in a town run. He was 56 years old. Part of my process of remembrance in… Read more ›
Sometime between 1883 and 1888 the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche made a startling observation: “No, facts is precisely what there is not, only interpretations.” This view, which Nietzsche called perspectivism, has recently found an unparalleled analogue in American politics. For example,… Read more ›