Remarks

  • Heidegger and the Concept of Being

    Martin Heidegger’s main thesis in his monumental work Being and Time is that the question of the meaning of being has been historically forgotten (Seinsvergessenheit) and needs to be recovered. But what if the concept of being is primitive? A primitive term is a concept which is both understood by all (who know the language)… Continue reading

  • Aquinas Contra Idealism

    “For this can be true, that sensibles under the aspect of their sensibility do not exist; i.e., if they are considered under the aspect of sensibles actualized, they do not exist apart from the senses, for they are sensibles actualized insofar as they are present in a sense. And according to this every actualized sensible… Continue reading

  • Timeless Creations and Cultural Appropriation

    From the perspective of world history, we can distinguish between culturally contextual works, which appeal to the specific circumstances, cultural narratives, and unique characteristics of a culture at a particular moment in time without transcending it, and enduring (or non-contextual) works, which go beyond those specifics and resonate timelessly with the entirety of human existence.… Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Mind, Memory, and the Craft of Learning

    I would like to share some reflections on an interesting book from my library: Mind and Memory Training by Ernest E. Wood (1974 edition). In the second chapter, Wood identifies four principles (or laws, as he calls them) that aid the student in concentration. These are: L1. The Law of Classes Example: Mammal → Cow;… Continue reading

    , , ,

  • A Few Thoughts on Kant and Metaphysics

    Anyone familiar with Immanuel Kant’s famous Critique of Pure Reason (1781), or at least the main argument of that work, will know that it had a cataclysmic effect on metaphysics, a discipline which harkens back to the ancient Greeks.  Kant’s argument in that work is that all knowledge can be accounted for on the basis… Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Philosophy and its Literary Forms

    While academic philosophy has a place in philosophy, its method and mode of inquiry constitute merely a subdivision—a species or specification—of philosophical inquiry itself. In many cases, academic philosophy even diverges from genuine philosophical inquiry, particularly as it trends toward increasing specialization. There is a sense in which over-specialization erodes philosophical inquiry, as it shifts… Continue reading

    , , , , ,

  • At the Odeon

    Protagroas: Whatever appears to be the case to anyone is the case. Aristotle: No one who is in Lybia, having dreamed that he was in Athens, would go to the Odeon.  Remarks Aristotle’s statement (from Metaphysics 1010β10-11) serves as a response to some consequences that follow from Protagoras’ above doctrine which itself issues from his… Continue reading

  • By Word and Deed II

    To live “by word and deed” is not merely to do in accordance with one’s declarations. It also serves as a metaphor for the philosophical way of life—or perhaps better, a philosophical way of life, for each life lived is uniquely one’s own. While the particularities of life differ from person to person, the philosophical… Continue reading

    , , ,

  • By Word and Deed I

    Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about the anger of King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but consider first and swear that you will stand by me heartily in word and deed; for I know that I shall offend one who rules the Argives with might, to whom all the Achaeans… Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • To Heraclitize

    “You cannot step into the same river twice (ῷ αὐτῷ ποταμῷ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμβῆναι)” – Heraclitus Today’s word — to heraclitize, heraclitizing, viz., to follow or espouse the opinion(s) of Heraclitus. The concept of ‘heraclitizing’ originates from the Metaphysics of Aristotle: “For it was from this view that the most extreme of the opinions mentioned… Continue reading

    , ,