Erik

Yes, I believe so. But I could very well be wrong and should admit that I, too, have my illusions that help me cope.

Missed this earlier. I would add that Heraclitus is said to have left his political community in order to live in solitude. He didn't want to lead the...

Of course we do have a tradition which provides us with our possibilities, while also closing others off. I'll grant you that. However much we recoil ...

Values and identities shift historically, and radically so.

This world is contingent. Where's the solidity?

Agustino, Why is there something rather than nothing is a general question that likely has no ultimate answer. And, as I understand it, that also mean...

I think that's part of it, the part that 'existentialists' like Sartre latched onto, but I believe it's deeper than that for Heidegger. That the world...

Those are questions that each person must decide for him or herself, albeit within certain social, historical (and other) constraints. Of course looki...

Why couldn't the mystic embrace everyday life? The transformation of the everyday from something trivial to the (e.g.) miraculous unfolding of the div...

I always found Heidegger's interpretation of the origin of anxiety to be illuminating: being-in-the-world. That lack of a distinct object contrasts it...

Thank you! I tried my hand at teaching but couldn't hang and eventually settled on the restaurant management biz.

Thanks, Michael. It's a slightly more complex process on the chromebook I'm using. That or I'm just an idiot... I think I finally figured it out.

Lol now you get some random handsome guy for a minute as damage control. I should have cropped the Melville pic or something but didn't pay much atten...

(Y)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C766f_DFNwI

I believe Charles Murray is strongly in favor of it, and to my understanding he's pretty conservative on economic matters. There's an interesting conv...

Yes, these and other reasons contributed to Trump's election. Racism and xenophobia also played a role, of course, but his victory should not be reduc...

But I also grew up in an area with a large percentage of Trump supporters and I can tell you that not all of them are the caricatured racists and xeno...

I don't remember that episode but once again it sounds entirely plausible given the hatred that many conservatives felt and continue to feel for Obama...

Oh yeah Trump supporters would go ballistic.

I did not, but that seems completely in line with his character as he's shown himself thus far and so not at all surprising.

Yeah I'll try to track down the details again so I don't misspeak or misrepresent. I do recall being shocked that Trump would highlight the judge's Me...

A bit off topic, but I vaguely recall an argument which explained Trump's position concerning the judge in question as being consistent with the guidi...

Thank you, Bitter Crank, you've piqued my interest and I'm going to look into those books.

While I'm at it, I'd also add the quick observation that there seems to be a significant difference in aim and perspective between those who want to o...

Well said. I think these are important distinctions that are often obscured. I think people generally attach a significance to the term "privilege" wh...

(Y) Great post.

Well I take a more cynical view. Politicians more often pander to and flatter the masses in order to gain support rather than challenge their prejudic...

That sounds about right. As someone who doesn't share many of Trump's positions, I do think he's often unnecessarily offensive towards groups that may...

It's probably too early to tell. I guess much will depend on how things develop over the next couple years with the economy and also who he runs again...

I'm not exactly sure what Thorongil has in mind here, but I'm pretty sure you'd agree that there's quite a double standard among many Leftists and Pro...

There have been countless other wealthy white males who've had plenty of leisure time at their disposal throughout history, though, who have not made ...

I wouldn't (and didn't to the best of my knowledge) say it couldn't have happened any other way, which would imply some sort of religious mysticism or...

Ah forget I asked the question, I'm going to begin a topic soon addressing the very issue.

I know that's not entirely relevant to the topic at hand, and an ostensibly kind and loving God would not practice deception or promote elitism. At le...

Would you make anything of the notion that the ancients by and large practiced a form of esotericism? The parables of Jesus no less than Plato's dialo...

I would think (e.g.) that loving your enemy, even as s/he is in the process of torturing and killing you, is quite likely a significant point of depar...

Good points. I'll have to dust off Tacitus' book and give it another read.

Fair enough, Pseudonym, but what if their children boasted? Would they be reprimanded like the adults? Are we to assume that children were given perfe...

Individual rights as enshrined in our political constitutions. Specifically things like freedom of speech and freedom of conscience as developed in li...

Maybe you could offer examples of what forms of "autonomous individuality" were commonly embraced and practiced in those early hunter-gatherer societi...

For sure, and I appreciate Rousseau's doing so. It seems like the motif goes much further back than modern times even, with Tacitus (if I recall corre...

Isn't the "noble savage" a caricature? That's the picture painted of the hunter-gatherer in the blog post I read. It's likely that both sides simplify...

Provisionally, I'd say that when I think of individual autonomy I think of things like the Cartesian ego, an emphasis on the primacy of subjectivity a...

I'll take a look at each of these links and maybe respond in more depth later, but I did read some of the blog post and found it interesting. I don't ...

As a non-Christian who's only skimmed parts of the Bible, I'm wondering if there's a fundamental distinction to be made between the Old and New Testam...

TimeLine offered a lot of solid advice above. There are some interesting and extremely complex issues when it comes to authority and hierarchy in the ...

Ooh that sounds like a great plan! Best of luck to you and your partners. And yes, definitely create the type of exceptional company culture right fro...

I liked your post, Benkei, and think you're right to associate ethical leadership with long-term business success. Contrary to what many people assume...

Great insight as usual. Thank you.