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Normism: The Philosophy of Norm Macdonald, a short book I wrote about the late great comedian, is available on Amazon.
Category Archives: Philosophy
Consciousness Is Not An Emergent Property
In (of all places) Forbes magazine, research neuroscientist Marc Ettlinger has a primer on the way in which materialist explanations of consciousness fail at the most basic philosophic levels (“What Are Some Concise Ways To Convince People That Consciousness Is … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy of Mind
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Ross Douthat: How to Study the Numinous
Ross Douthat has an excellent ‘philosophy of mind’-oriented piece in his latest column (“How to Study the Numinous“): In an op-ed in the Sunday edition of this newspaper, Barbara Ehrenreich, card-carrying liberal rationalist, writes about her own mystical experiences (the … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy of Mind
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True Detective: Doubters
Jon Baskin has a nice essay on philosophy in True Detective. After reviewing some of the snooty dismissals of the show’s philosophical engagements, Baskin defends the show’s overt philosophizing: Although True Detective has sometimes been criticized for failing to offer … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, TV
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Greg Johnson on Heidegger’s Black Notebooks
Greg Johnson (a reliably outstanding writer) weighs in on the recent publication of volume one of Heidegger’s Schwartze Hefte (Black Notesbooks): Now it appears that Heidegger also turned his attention to the Jewish question. Again, it is a mistake to … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, Jewish
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Roger Scruton: The Soul of the World
Roger Scruton, one of my favorite living philosophers, has a new book entitled The Soul of the World. In The Soul of the World, renowned philosopher Roger Scruton defends the experience of the sacred against today’s fashionable forms of atheism. … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Scientism
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In Defense of Heidegger
Of the so-called Heidegger Schwarzen Hefte (aka ‘Black Notebooks‘) recently published, Jonathan Rée writes: [I]t seems to me a remarkable piece of publicity-seeking on the part of the publisher, who hints that we may at last find the black heart … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, Jewish, Philosophy
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Philosophy in ‘True Detective’
SPOILER ALERT: If you intend to watch the show, but haven’t yet, don’t read the rest of this post. I found the finale a bit disappointing, albeit, given the norms of the procedural TV genre and what might otherwise have … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, Philosophy, TV
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Koans: De Botton
Alain De Botton writes: “Despair is really just a superior capacity for honesty about one’s own mediocrity.”
Posted in Existentialism
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True Detective
The new HBO series True Detective, which stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, is outstanding. I began watching the series after reading this excellent analysis of the series, where the author points out the Lovecraftian and other American Gothic influences … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, Film, TV
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Heidegger’s ‘Black Notebooks’
Martin Heidegger’s philosophy centered around the increasing rootlessness, and subsequent alienation, endemic to modernity. Newly released Heidegger notebooks have ignited a debate over whether Heidegger was an anti-semite, when the real debate should center on Heidegger’s perspective on the ‘rootlessness’ … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, Jewish, Philosophy
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