Ciceronianus

I'm certain fit, healthy males are the subject of dislike, if not loathing, not merely at (or did the poster mean by?) educational institutions, but a...

I'm ashamed to admit my only feeling regarding the thread was one of satisfaction, that I was able to mock its premise just before it was closed. To t...

Alas, how difficult it is to be a man in these times, particularly a healthy, fit man, without any disabilities! And don't get me started on the inequ...

If what evidence we have indicates that "sucklings" was defined in a particular way at the time, that's part of the information we have available in u...

Beware generalization. As to ancient language, sometimes it seems clear enough. Sometimes it may not be. To claim that we can never understand ancient...

I thought the soldier's name was Naughtius Maximus.

Much as I delight in a post in which Stephen Hawking is compared, unfavorably, with one of the creators of The Man Show, I think that it must be ackno...

Yes. Sadly, at least during his more Romantic moments, J.S. Mill believed in rule by an elite as well. But it wasn't all that uncommon a belief in the...

I'm not a moderator, but my guess would be that none of them (or anyone else for that matter) would care much regarding what you read. For my part, yo...

I'm uncertain about this "ruling class" and those who are a part of it. I've some familiarity with the working class, the middle class and the upper c...

I suspect Sasse wasn't referring to these charities when he opined regarding Americans no longer believing as he thinks we did once. If he was, though...

This is how Sasse explains the "bad" Republicans and Trumpists, you see. The members of the Republican Party and others accept Trumpism (I like "Trump...

I hadn't seen this before. Sasse writes that he's an evangelical, and claims conspiracy theories are a substitute for faith. But he says it's the devi...

Where's Dr. Mengele when we need him? He'd start all sorts of threads about defective people.

My compliments. The "Bigotry is a defect" thread is yours to begin.

Well, it isn't clear to me that we're here to learn whether homosexuality, or being Black, or being Jewish, or being disabled, etc. is or is not a def...

In this matter, as in all matters, it's useful to consider the law. In the case of nun's, or sisters, Canon Law governs. First: Can. 284 Clerics are t...

I'm surprised you didn't mention Woody Allen in this context. The controversy surrounding him, who sometimes appears to be an old man lusting after yo...

I haven't read him, so I'm sure you know better than I. But as God is described as "nada" according to this version of the Lord's Prayer in Hemingway'...

As Hemingway put it: "Our Nada who art in Nada, Nada be thy name."

I'm curious about the picture of the nuns. The ones I know of stopped wearing that sort of habit when I was being taught by them in elementary school,...

Well, we couldn't have that, could we? Decency is so bourgeois. We've come to associate the arts (and philosophy?) with peculiarity; the more bizarre ...

The ominous reference to the dreaded "communist wolf" seems more like an argumentum ad metum, but it has a kind of nostalgic charm.

The kind of concerns you raise-- those related to the character and personal morals of someone of philosophical note--aren't of much concern in this f...

I'm currently reading this, but also these: Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire, Clifford Ando; A Cultural History of Chess-P...

Bill Buckley would be proud, though probably a bit more restrained. Except where Gore Vidal was concerned.

Maybe not when the General sent off the B-52s. Now I suppose it would be distilled water, but for all I know that's got flouride in it too.

Makes you long for a drink of pure grain alcohol and rainwater, doesn't it?

They're also planning to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids. We've heard this before, Jack old boy.

I was surprised by some of the choices of music for the event: Journey's Don't Stop Believing, famous for its use in the final episode of The Sopranos...

Yes, but Sacred Cows are allowed to wander where they will.

Sigh. Very well. Nazi, schmazi let's say. No harm done. Vale.

Well, it's been quite some time since I read it, and I'd rather not read it again, but if you're really curious about what I thought of it you might c...

What is wealth but an abundance, a profusion, of possessions and money?

Well, let's not judge others by their popularity, particularly in philosophy (or did you mean psychology?). There seems to be a resurgence in interest...

I think of those who acquire and retain more than they could possibly need as being similar to gluttons and hoarders ("misers" may be more accurate, t...

I like "Ceremony featuring." It has a nostalgic, charming quality to it. Reminiscent of high school athletics awards ceremonies, featuring the marchin...

I suppose I should make it clear, if I haven't done so already, that I while there are aspects of OLP I think are admirable and useful, I think of it ...

What do you think of the inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs, especially with respect to material wealth?

Well, I suppose an innovation in thought doesn't have to be a good one. They used all those words uncommonly? What did "writing" mean, and "hearing"? ...

Someone was perceptive.

True. The extent of violence is much greater, if not the severity of it, and in light of the examples you give the greater severity of the Assyrians' ...

I don't think the internet introduced something new, either, beyond the ease and speed of access to information and ideas and their propagation, regar...

Clearly, that's not a concern. What kind of "acts" could take place without the world? Acts which don't require actors or something acted upon?

Well, perhaps not of all time. The Assyrians were an extremely violent people/country/empire, if the inscriptions attributed to Ashurbanipal are any i...

Languages evolve, certainly. New words derive their meaning in the same manner as old words did, thus becoming part of the "common stock" of words. On...

Quite a bit I would think, compared with those thought up in armchairs. Care to name some of the latter? The simple fact is, though, that philosophers...

I think of Austin's example of referring to a stick in water as looking "bent" or "crooked." You see, I don't think of those as rhetorical questions. ...

The "role of force" the "value of force." I can't imagine any philosopher I think of as being a proponent of OLP saying such a thing. It's almost like...

Well, this defense strategy makes a certain degree of sense. Now, if only he has a history of psychiatric treatment...