Philosophers sacralize moral obligation and maintain that moral considerations are always overriding of all others, but ordinary people [as well as philosophers in their ordinary lives] hold actions done from earnest desire in higher esteem than those done from duty....
[1] You are with a friend in a restaurant, and he tells you that you ought not (in the moral sense) order the linguine con vongole that you are considering. When you ask him why, he tells you that eating clams violates their interests. You reply that you don’t care...
All history was palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place. Books, also, were recalled and rewritten again and again, and...
[1] My days have become between three and four hours longer. [2] I no longer see multiple polls, every day, in which people designate Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, or Rush the greatest band of all time. [3] No one talks about who should or shouldn’t be...
John Xu and me with our vintage wood racquets For the last three years or so, my tennis partner (John Xu) and I have been playing with wood racquets: he with a vintage Jack Kramer; I with a vintage Chris Evert Autograph. Towards the end of 2022, John became aware that...
A few weeks ago, I cleaned out my office at Missouri State University, in Springfield, where I’ve been a professor since 1999. I retired this Fall, following my wife, Nancy, who in the Spring finished fifteen years of teaching high school. It’s been three years since...
Originally, these prolegomena were published in separate installments, over a period of months. I have since edited and consolidated them into a single statement that represents the most complete summary of my current philosophical views. [1] Initial...
I don’t know whether kids “get in trouble” anymore. The talk surrounding young people has become so dark and bleak that the concept seems almost quaint. My daughter was never “in trouble” growing up in the 2000’s and 2010’s, and it seemed that those among her peers...
A well-established principle in the world of video gaming is that stylized graphics age better than “realistic” ones. Consider two games, released in 2012: Max Payne 3 and Borderlands 2. MP3 sought a more realistic aesthetic, while Borderlands employed a highly...
All past and future is created and issues out of that which is forever present. –St. Augustine I am at David Weber’s birthday party, and everyone from Mrs. Stone’s class is there. David’s parents rented out the school gym and there are colored streamers and...