Ciceronianus

Horror! Being! Nothing! All the horrible speculation and pontificating on Being and Nothing that preceded the Linguistic Turn, slouching towards whate...

I much prefer the Odd Fellows, as the name of their society seems more honest and appropriate. I don't know much about the history of such organizatio...

I'm of Italian descent (mostly), not Italian, but what you say rings true even among those of us whose ancestors came over to the U.S. Northern Italia...

The Stoics revered Socrates, but that Socrates wasn't the Socrates of Plato. The Stoics conception of an immanent divinity also sets them apart from P...

That's a sensible conclusion.

Well, one of them was a party member, and stayed a member until the bitter end, in 1945. That makes him a Nazi, I'm afraid, the silly goose. Guess whi...

According to the Sage of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, “The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his c...

Nihilism, schmihilism. Perhaps you solve it by understanding you accepted it, and are just as capable of rejecting it.

Not much of a journey as we remain in the same place in either case.

My question (as to both questions): What difference does it make to how we live, what we do? If he plays dice, nothing is different than it has been. ...

A person can be "demoralized" in the sense of being disheartened, losing confidence or spirit, for a number of reasons, none of which would address ex...

You made statements about the ancient Stoics. I responded to those statements. I think my interpretation of their position is accurate.

The ancient Stoics didn't think that that we stand in judgment of the universe, though. They didn't believe that the universe must conform with our ex...

Interestingly, both quotes may be considered expressions of the Stoic views that we disturb ourselves needlessly with things beyond our control, and h...

We're part of an unimaginably huge universe and fall into despair because it's not what we think it should be. It fails to meet our expectations. Does...

I find it much more useful to address circumstances than abstracts, especially when it comes to considering the appropriateness of laws and government...

To see the world as it is, refrain from imposing on it what you fear or imagine. Take it from Wallace Stevens, who said it better than any philosopher...

You see, whether the government has to step in, and whether it should step in, and what it should do about it if it has to or should step in, all depe...

In what way? You've provided an example of a way of doing so, haven't you? And I even went to the trouble of asking questions which, had you responded...

That's a concern to me as well, as I noted previously, at least as a matter of definition. What will constitute promotion of free speech under the law...

You want to "honestly describe" the world, the world as it "really" is, before any human act. This apparently must be done "context free" though just ...

Oh dear, you may be referring to my post, not Hanover's. But as more than a brief glance at it would reveal, I was making no argument for or against f...

I'd be interested in seeing the underlying legislation, to determine just what is meant by "free speech" and what is meant by a legal obligation to "p...

Alas, I really don't understand what you mean. The world is a world in which we commit acts, necessarily, because we're part of the world. It isn't a ...

Dewey wrote of something he called "the philosophical fallacy" because he thought it so pervasive in philosophical thinking. Very simply put, he thoug...

All the more reason not to read Heidegger. I'm not a fan of his as a philosopher, and especially not a fan of him as a person, as I've gently hinted i...

If it is, it may explain many of the problems associated with civilization as well as philosophy. The belief the world isn't truly real or important a...

The difficulty I have with much of this is its de facto assumption of the world as something apart from us. I think that conception is embedded in any...

In truth, I've read some Kant and some Heidegger and some Sartre; my old copy of Being and Nothingness is probably somewhere in my house with other ol...

I was obscure. It seemed from the quote that he had come to certain conclusions regarding which there was no more to be said that wouldn't be repetiti...

As a description of a state of affairs, though, "The Nothing" does nothing for me. It doesn't communicate or express dread in any sense. In fact, it s...

That's the end of the book, right? It would seem he'd have nothing more to say.

I think of of W and philosophers in the analytic or ordinary language tradition as having, and serving, a particular purpose. That purpose was therape...

I suppose I should pass over these questions in silence, following Wittgenstein's advise, but what the hell: You're you, whatever that may be. You "ca...

Some philosophers concerned themselves with problems actually encountered in living and provided reasonable solutions to them, I think. Well, I agree ...

The contempt of certain philosophers' for the "common" or "ordinary" is their most revealing conceit, and likely the reason why they fail so consisten...

Well, I've gritted my teeth and have read the article, but am disinclined to "have a go" at it, being disinclined to have a go at the issue or dispute...

It's arguable he died a virgin, poor fellow. But it's known he was friendly, at least, with a number of women, if he didn't have sexual relations with...

I think insecurity can result in toxicity, but also mere aggressiveness.

My guess would be that there are times when every man is unconcerned by it, e.g. if he's busy enough, or tired enough. There are times when what's imm...

I'm sure my knowledge of the kinds of naturalism is dated, but I'm sympathetic with SN2 and SN3 as described in Janus' quote from Gabriel. I suppose m...

Well, one can be aware of something without worrying about it. Men worry about their masculinity when they're anxious or concerned about it, e.g. when...

I think we err when we maintain that nature is made up only of observable objects or their equivalent, myself.

I see. It must have a location in order to exist in nature, where it may be seen, touched, smelled? It's a thing, then? Would it have a location if it...

Well, what can I say? Consciousness clearly exists in nature. Thus, we're conscious. It seems to me that if someone wants to establish it doesn't exis...

Is there a reasonable possibility that you are, or can be, someone/something else? If not, then the question "Why am I me?" seems more like the questi...

Well, you're part of the world, and having sight you look at the rest of it, just as all who have sight do. So, you're like many, many other people. I...

To the extent that naturalism rejects the view that we, as individuals but also collectively, are somehow apart from the world instead of being living...

Masculinity becomes toxic when men begin worrying about their masculinity.

Well, it's a good thing I'm not interested in understanding Maya or Nahuatl, then, as it seems I'd have to practice or at least witness ritual human s...