Essays Archives

This Is Technopoly

October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 Nicholas McCay 2 Comments Politics, Technology

Embedded into every tool is an ideological bias, and unless we continually re-evaluate new technologies, we may end up within a technopoly.

Painting by Edvard Munch with a young ill woman seated, looking out a window during spring, accompanied by a woman providing her comfort.

("Spring" by Edvard Munch, 1889)

Essays Philosophy Society

Should We Take Comfort in the Knowledge Others Have it Worse?

October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 Sam Woolfe 3 Comments Buddhism, Consolation, Schopenhauer, Stoicism, Suffering

While the phrase “It could be worse” can provide us comfort, it may lead to less effective and less ethical forms of consolation.

War and Peace is rooted in Tolstoy’s longing for the infinite and universal. Yet, it reveals our need to focus on the concrete and mundane.

("The Battle of Austerlitz" by François Gérard, 1810)

Culture Essays

History Isn’t Made by Great Men

August 12, 2021August 13, 2021 Henriikka Hannula 4 Comments History, Literature

War and Peace is rooted in Tolstoy’s longing for the infinite and universal. Yet, it reveals our need to focus on the concrete and mundane.

Garry Gergich is the true Stoic on Parks and Rec, exemplifying Stoicism.

(Jeffrey Howard)

Culture Essays

Garry Gergich the Stoic

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021 Matthew Downhour 1 Comment Ancient Wisdom, Friendship, Stoicism

Parks and Rec expounds a great deal upon the teachings of Stoicism, but it is Garry Gergich—not Ron Swanson—who embodies the Stoic ideals.

Sacred Consecrated Spaces Waiting Rooms Places Erraticus

(Martin Lostak)

Culture Essays

Consecrated Waiting Rooms

April 19, 2021September 27, 2021 Derek Parsons 3 Comments Architecture, Emotional Well-being

Whether we are religious or claim no sense of the spiritual, sacred spaces help us to better confront the transient nature of existence.

Richard Rorty Rortyan Liberalism Truth Pragmatism Cheryl Misak Philosophy

(Louise Boyle/Cornell University Library)

Essays Philosophy

Rortian Liberalism and the Problem of Truth

April 16, 2021May 19, 2021 Adrian Rutt 1 Comment Epistemology, Essential Reading, Liberalism, Politics, Truth

In defending liberalism, the philosopher Richard Rorty argues that there is no difference—in practice—between aiming at justification and aiming at something more called truth.

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