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Ciceronianus

['Member']Joined: October 26, 2015 at 15:31Last active: February 16, 2026 at 22:0223 discussions3101 comments
Location: An old chaos of the sun.

Bio

Lawyer, Chess Player, Clay Shooter

Favourite Philosopher

John Dewey, Epictetus, C.S. Peirce

Favourite Quotations

Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy what we do not doubt in our hearts.

C.S. Peirce

There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has already said it.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Discussions (23)

The Indictment

June 12, 2023 at 16:55 81 comments Politics and Current Affairs

Anniversary

May 26, 2022 at 19:31 5 comments The Lounge

Jesus Freaks

February 08, 2022 at 18:09 389 comments Philosophy of Religion

Comments

In: "My Truth"  — view comment
I'm not sure what you mean by "idealistically" here, but as long as I've been a lawyer I've always thought the law and morality are different things, ...
February 12, 2026 at 19:46
In: "My Truth"  — view comment
No, not "might makes right." Just the law. But as Gaius Petronius Arbiter said, "What power has law where only money rules?"
February 09, 2026 at 20:46
In: "My Truth"  — view comment
"My truth" is usually an expression of the speaker's self-regard when making a statement of little importance.
February 09, 2026 at 00:15
In: Why Christianity Fails (The Testimonial Case)  — view comment
Lewis also failed to note that Jesus never claimed to be God in the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The claim is made only in the Gospel o...
January 18, 2026 at 23:42
In: Ideological Crisis on the American Right  — view comment
No philosophy. Just a lot of special pleading and tu quoque.
January 10, 2026 at 21:37
In: Ideological Crisis on the American Right  — view comment
Obviously I wasn't conflating Trump and Kim Jong II, any more than I was conflating Buckley and John Calhoun. Trump and Kim both, however, need and de...
January 09, 2026 at 20:47
In: Paradise is not Lost  — view comment
Paradise ruled by a dictator seems almost an oxymoron to me. And, I find it hard to think of a place where certain knowledge is forbidden as a paradis...
January 09, 2026 at 02:26
In: Ideological Crisis on the American Right  — view comment
I was fond of Bill Buckley for the most part, but it's clear that he was rather a latecomer when it came to the Civil Rights movement and opposed dese...
January 09, 2026 at 00:06
In: Paradise is not Lost  — view comment
Are you asking what Milton may have thought and wanted his readers to think?
January 07, 2026 at 23:05
In: Metaphysics of Presence  — view comment
Mmmmmm. Donuts. Their presence is so satisying. Their absence, though, is never unnoticed, but instead much regretted.
January 04, 2026 at 18:29
In: Metaphysics of Presence  — view comment
According to my daimon Marcus Tullius Cicero "here's nothing so absurd but some philosopher has already said it." And that was in 44 BCE! I would amen...
January 03, 2026 at 19:00
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
I have a fondness for Jung, primarily because he had a vision of God defecating on a cathedral, though it seems he interpreted it differently than I w...
January 02, 2026 at 23:08
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
It's interesting that the encomiums of Heidegger made by his admirers resemble so closely his praise of Hitler. But I thank you for wishing me Good Lu...
January 02, 2026 at 20:44
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
I'm not sure what philosophers mean by "common sense." It seems they think it to be something the less enlightened and less intelligent of us rely on,...
January 02, 2026 at 01:26
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
My reading of the works of that dreadful man has been limited to short works, like What is Metaphyics? and The Question Concerning Technology. As to t...
January 01, 2026 at 23:16
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
Yes. That would be part of the intelligent resolution of real problems, not philosophical ones. Dewey called the tendency to neglect context "the phil...
December 31, 2025 at 21:11
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
Oh, the horrors of everyday thinking! Ineluctable to those of us in the common herd, mired in life and living, and its seemingly real problems, neglec...
December 31, 2025 at 19:55
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I think you're right. The traditional view of the after life in the ancient Mediterranean was of a rather dreary, shadowy existence. The mystery cults...
December 29, 2025 at 17:32
In: Heidegger's a-humanism  — view comment
I doubt this the work of this despicable, loathsome excuse for a human being had anything signicant to do with the creation of Nazism. Rather, he supp...
December 27, 2025 at 00:07
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
The Reformation began in the 16th century. A lot happened before then. For example, the massacre of the Cathars in 1209 in Beziers, where the papal le...
December 21, 2025 at 02:18
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Well as long as the "real reason" heretics are burned or massacred is political, there's no reason for complaint.
December 21, 2025 at 01:23
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
It took about 300 years for an orthodoxy to even start developing. Even after the Council of Nicea, after Constantine, after Arianism had been condemn...
December 21, 2025 at 00:01
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I think I've been honest in describing what I think contributed to its success. I think there's significant evidence in support of my position. It's c...
December 20, 2025 at 21:02
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I must confess I'm unimpressed by explanations of Christianity's success which are variations of DEUS VULT!, or which are based on claims regarding th...
December 20, 2025 at 19:06
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I don't think it's possible to interpret Tertullian's statement that Christians "invite" the infliction of persecution except by giving that word its ...
December 18, 2025 at 20:29
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
When I was in Catholic grade school, we'd be shown films displaying sinners writhing in flames. The Church has grown soft, it seems.
December 18, 2025 at 00:03
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
It's odd that two people can interpret this selection of Tertullian so differently. Tertullian was a lawyer. He's making an argument. That argument se...
December 17, 2025 at 23:43
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I think the assimilation served to support the spread of Christianity, because due to it, what was found attractive about pagan gods and worship becam...
December 17, 2025 at 19:01
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
One I found interesting is The Final Pagan Generation: Rome's Unexpected Path to Christianity by Edward Watts. One I'm beginning to read that looks pr...
December 17, 2025 at 11:15
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Regarding the exaggerated accounts of persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, you might consider reading The Myth of Persecution by Candida Mos...
December 17, 2025 at 04:59
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I find the period during which the Roman Empire transitioned from a largely tolerant polytheistic society to an intolerant monotheistic society fascin...
December 17, 2025 at 01:54
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I would go so far as to say that the remarkable Paul of Tarsus was more responsible for the founding of Christianity than anyone, including Jesus. My ...
December 16, 2025 at 19:22
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Ok. I don't quarrel with the qualifier "some."
December 16, 2025 at 19:17
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I'm not sure what your point may be, sorry.
December 16, 2025 at 19:14
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
We're talking about Christianity, though. Are you really asking for an account of wrongful conduct by professed Christians?
December 16, 2025 at 16:11
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Quite true.
December 16, 2025 at 14:23
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Certainly some were wise. I don't know if we can call them effective, given the conduct of most professed Christians.
December 16, 2025 at 13:56
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Could be. It was a regular practice in the monasteries founded by the descendants of those barbarian tribes.
December 16, 2025 at 13:54
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Nor do I, in fact. But you might wonder why Europe came to be in the condition you describe, and why the "larger Greek presence" (pagan) was so welcom...
December 16, 2025 at 13:07
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Well, I hardly said that people lust after being forgiven on request. What a peculiar thing to say! I don't envision them achieving orgasm on actually...
December 16, 2025 at 03:46
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Persecution of Christians in the Empire before Constantine was sporadic and local. Nero's efforts were limited to the city of Rome, for example. Perse...
December 16, 2025 at 01:11
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I would say that even to the extent there is agreement, he wasn't a philosopher, at least not in the sense his near contemporary Philo was, or others ...
December 15, 2025 at 18:55
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Well, I think it's been established that the pagan mystery cults included the equivalent of baptism, a communal meal, promises of rebirth, salvation a...
December 15, 2025 at 03:59
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Just what Jesus actually taught isn't all that clear, I think, and may depend on what one reads, bearing in mind that the evidence indicates that what...
December 15, 2025 at 03:37
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
The gospels make an interesting study, particularly if you take into account the gnostic gospels, which depict Jesus in an entirely different light. T...
December 15, 2025 at 03:27
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Mine is Marcus Tullius Cicero, of course. Ciceronianus sum, non Christianus
December 15, 2025 at 01:53
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
I can't think of anything signifcantly redemptive that wasn't borrowed from pagan philosophy, especially that of Plato, the neo-platonists, the Stoics...
December 15, 2025 at 01:50
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Not enough, no. I think there's no getting around the fact that Christianty benefited primarily from its acquisition of imperial authority, which igno...
December 15, 2025 at 01:44
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
A favorite of mine.
December 14, 2025 at 22:57
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Julian the Apostate credited Christians with their care of the poor, and thought it part of their appeal. During his brief time as Emperor he thought ...
December 14, 2025 at 22:48
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