Essays Archives

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)

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

October 21, 2021December 23, 2022 21 min read Sam Woolfe 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, 2021December 27, 2021 14 min read Henriikka Hannula Essential Reading, 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.

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. (Image: NBC)

Culture Essays

Garry Gergich the Stoic

June 28, 2021January 1, 2022 15 min read Matthew Downhour 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, 2021December 27, 2021 12 min read Derek Parsons Architecture, Emotional Well-being, Essential Reading

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, 2021August 10, 2022 16 min read Adrian Rutt Epistemology, Essential Reading, Liberalism, Politics, Pragmatism, 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.

American Politics Deliberative Democracy Bargaining Table Daniel Layman

("Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner" by Thomas Nast, 1869)

Essays Society

American Democracy and Its Broken Bargaining Tables

March 23, 2021April 28, 2021 13 min read Daniel Layman Democracy, Essential Reading, Politics

American politics is in peril. Now is the time to replace our broken bargaining tables with more deliberative democracy.