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Essays

Absurdism The Plague Albert Camus The Absurd COVID-19 Myth of Sisyphus
("Bring Out Your Dead" by Edmund Evans)
Essays Philosophy 

It’s All a Bit Absurd

February 15, 2021February 22, 2021 Derek Parsons 0 Comments Absurdism, Emotional Well-being, Pandemic

Amidst a pandemic, Albert Camus’ novel The Plague suggests that we can find courage, community, and hope while embracing the absurd.

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Three-Way Fight Fascism Antifascism Antifa Antifascist Philosophy Devin Shaw Jason Stanley
(Mika Baumeister)
Essays Philosophy 

The Three-Way Fight and Antifascist Philosophy

January 18, 2021January 21, 2021 Donovan Irven 0 Comments Liberalism, Politics, Racism

Fascism has been on the rise in the US but does liberalism or antifascism provide a stronger defense against far-right authoritarian forces.

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Authentic Democracy Distilled Populism Walter Horn Erraticus
("The County Election" by George Caleb Bingham, 1854)
Essays Society & Culture 

Who Cares About Democracy?

January 15, 2021January 16, 2021 Walter Horn 2 Comments Democracy, Politics, Voting

Some people consider democracy a good thing only if it gets them the outcome they want. Perhaps the US just needs more democratic reforms.

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Spiritual Love Originates Shared Suffering Pity Erraticus Derek Parsons Sick Child Edvard Munch
("The Sick Child" by Edvard Munch, 1925)
Essays Philosophy 

Love Originates in Shared Suffering and Pity

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 Derek Parsons 1 Comment Love, Relationships, Suffering, Tragedy

The early twentieth-century Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno clarifies the places and events from which love emerges.

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Philosophy Danube River Erraticus Zoran Kojcic
(The Danube River near Vukovar, Croatia.)
Essays Philosophy 

Philosophy on the Danube River

October 18, 2020October 21, 2020 Zoran Kojcic 0 Comments Community

In the aftermath of the Yugoslavian Civil War, a local philosopher uses philosophical practice to inspire personal and communal action.

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Fire Best Medicine Pandemic COVID Wildfires California
Essays Science & Tech 

Fire Is the Best Medicine

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 Charlie Deist 0 Comments Chaos, Environmentalism, Medicine, Nature, Pandemic

Just as apocalypse means revelation, so can fire be medicine and poison. “Fire medicine” confers benefits on individuals and communities.

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Natural Mysticism and Its Dangerous Allure Erraticus Ecstatic Experience William Blake
("The Lovers Whirlwind" by William Blake,1824-27)
Essays Religion 

Natural Mysticism and Its Dangerous Allure

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Willis Renuart 0 Comments Ecstatic Experience, Mysticism, Transcendence

Natural mysticism focuses on awakening us from our ego-bound ordinary life to a universal oneness. But it comes with many dangers.

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Sentience, Not Consciousness, Is Key to the Cosmos Panpsychism Erraticus
Essays Science & Tech 

Sentience, Not Consciousness, Is Key to the Cosmos

August 26, 2020August 28, 2020 Michael Jawer 1 Comment Consciousness, Essential Reading, Panpsychism

If the universe is conducive to sentience rather than consciousness, then a scientific model for some even more fascinating phenomena emerges.

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Pragmatic Truth Existentialsim Pragmatism William James Henri Bergson Jean-Paul Sartre
Essays Featured Philosophy 

The Pragmatic Truth of Existentialism

August 24, 2020August 28, 2020 Donovan Irven 0 Comments Essential Reading, Existentialism, Henri Bergson, Jean-Paul Sartre, Pragmatism, Truth, William James

With culture wars focusing more on the nature of truth, the time is ripe to consider the connection between pragmatism and existentialism.

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Loneliness in Nature and Threshold Places Erraticus Emerson Thoreau
(Derek Parsons)
Essays Philosophy 

Alone in One of Nature’s Threshold Places

July 1, 2020August 28, 2020 Derek Parsons 1 Comment Essential Reading, Henry David Thoreau, Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Romanticism, Transcendence

The most fortifying experiences in nature are often found in lonely, transitional zones. But what is the reality of these threshold places?

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Power One Idea William James Pragmatism John Kaag Sick Souls Healthy Minds Erraticus
(Jeffrey Howard)
Essays Featured Philosophy 

The Power of One Idea

June 24, 2020June 26, 2020 Jeffrey Howard 2 Comments Emotional Well-being, Essential Reading, Pragmatism, William James

William James offers a way to evaluate the fruitfulness of ideas by tethering them to the common ground of lived experience.

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Treading Lightly in Thin Places Thin Lines Erraticus John Ablett Spiritual Emergencies Breathing Through
("Landscape with Charon Crossing the River Styx" by Joachim Patinier)
Essays Religion 

Treading Lightly in Thin Places

May 20, 2020May 27, 2020 John Ablett 0 Comments Ecstatic Experience, Essential Reading, Psychedelics, Transcendence

A former barefoot guru explores the difficulty in articulating the experience of a spiritual emergency amid societal upheavals.

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A Pragmatic Approach to Ideas

An online publication focused on human flourishing, we believe that art, culture, technology, and ideas matter as much as they empower individuals and communities to live well.

 

“Pragmatism, on the other hand, asks its usual question. ‘Grant an idea or belief to be true,’ it says, ‘what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone’s actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth’s cash-value in experiential terms?'” — William James

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