#moralphilosophy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #moralphilosophy, aggregated by home.social.
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“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”*…
Stoicism is having a moment. The estimable Timothy Snyder considers the events of the day in the light of Marcus Aurelius‘ thoughts– and actions…
As Donald Trump announced his whimsy war in Iran, I was reading about another imperial campaign, long ago, against an Iranian people.
In the late second century AD, the Roman Empire confronted armies that had crossed the border at the Danube River and even broached the Alps in northern Italy. Among them were the Iazyges, speakers of an Iranian language, who hailed from the Ukrainian steppe.
In Ukraine this February, I was learning about an archaeological find which reveals the interactions of the Romans and the Iazyges, which included alliance as well as enmity. The Roman war against the Iazyges allies was commanded personally by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who spent the years between 171 and 180 AD at the front. During that time he kept a philosophical diary, probably written at night in his tent. Discovered after his death, that text, known as the Meditations, is a great work of Stoic philosophy.
I turned to the Meditations to see if I could learn anything that would help me to understand the work of Ukrainian archaeologists about the interactions between Romans and Iazyges. I found something else: perspective on the wars of today, and a sense of why, beyond his obvious incompetence in military matters, Trump had to lose his.
It was shaming to read the bombast of Trump: (”no president was willing to do what I have done tonight”) alongside the reflections of Marcus (“when things have such a plausible appearance, show them naked, see their shoddiness, strip away their own boastful account of themselves.”) Trump broadcast his arrogance to millions of people; Marcus wrote for himself.
Despite the fact he was commanding an army at the front, Marcus never mentioned the war in his Meditations. War was simply something he had to do; he had no difficulty seeing the other side as people, or understanding their motivations. He mentions the Iazyges only once in the text: to make a broader point about hubris, to suggest that it was wrong for Romans to take pride in taking a prisoner of war.
Although Marcus did not broach the subject of my interest, I could not stop reading his Meditations. The contrast with Trump’s utterances was astounding, and vertiginous. The one could spend nine years in command and write a philosophical diary in which he did not even mention the war; the other immediately leapt to praise himself for a war he would lose in weeks…
[With an focus on the “adventure in Iran,” Snyder elaborates the (painfully unflattering) comparison…]
… The American leaders had no idea of who they were or what they wanted, aside from the satisfaction of their emotional needs by the killing of others. They were unable to imagine that people on the other side might have ideas about their own interests and plans for their own behavior. The could not see the world, even in its plainest representation as geography; whereas Marcus exploited a bend in the Danube River to tactical advantage to win a battle; Trump chose to ignore the physical limit the Straits of Hormuz can place on world trade. As soon as the war began, the Iranians did the obvious: they responded to American long-range attacks with the same; and they blocked the Straits.
Because the Americans were operating without a sense of themselves, of the world, or other people, this came as a surprise. Marcus Aurelius offers this mild comment: “How absurd — and a complete stranger to the world– is the man surprised at any aspect of his experience in life!”
The Americans, strangers to the world, reacted to their feelings of surprise with fantasies of destruction. The pleasure they took in killing became a vision of annihilation. Rather than confront the errors they made about war, the Americans leapt to visions of violence in which no one would ever have to think again. Trump lost control on Easter Sunday when he tweeted: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He then promised that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age, where they belong” and said that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” In our modern legal and ethical language, this is of course genocidal language. The American bombast was followed by American surrender.
Marcus Aurelius won his war against the Iazyges. He combined victory and prudence, and for this he was and will be remembered. The defeated Iazyges returned to their previous role as Roman clients, offered thousands of cavalrymen as soldiers of Rome, and opened trade routes to the east. Marcus’s philosophical diary has been read for the better part of two millenia; so long as we are present as a literate civilization, it will be read. Despite Marcus’s certainty that we will all be forgotten, others built a victory column in his honor after his death; it still stands in Rome, more than one thousand eight hundred years later.
Another legacy of Marcus’s victory also touches the center of what we think of as Western culture. As part of the peace accord, he dispatched 5,500 Iazyges cavalrymen, taken into his service, to the north of what is now northern England, to defend the Roman border at Hadrian’s Wall. Their first commander was a man named Arthur, and it is possible that the Iazyges and some of their Iranian-speaking kin incorporated his name into stories of their own — of a lady in the lake, of a sword in a stone, of a quest for a golden cup — which, with time, became the legend of Christian chivalry. That is another story, and one worth telling.
But it is also part of the story of Marcus Aurelius, which, despite the fact that he chose not to tell it himself, or rather precisely for that reason, is instructive about our predicament today. Stoicism is a way not to be a stranger to the world; it can protect the powerful from vanity and folly. To fall into a stupor of self-absorption, as Trump has done, is to flee from reality. Few wars are worth fighting; those that are fought can only be won in the world, and not within the tortured confines of estranged minds. Trump hastens now towards our shared horizon of death, seeking honors that only posterity can accord and will not…
On what Trump could– and should– learn from Marcus Aurelius: “Of Stoicism and Stupor,” from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
“We are the other of the other”
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?”
“Kindness is invincible.”
– Marcus Aurelius
(TotH to MKM)
* Marcus Aurelius
###
As we barrel back to basics, we might recall that it was on this date in 1956 that Elvis Presley, working for the first time with backing vocal group the Jordanaires, recorded “Don’t Be Cruel,” which had been written by Otis Blackwell.
The single was released on July 13, 1956, backed with “Hound Dog.” Within a few weeks “Hound Dog” had risen to No. 2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by “Don’t Be Cruel,” which took No. 1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R&B. Between them, both songs remained at No. 1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks. “Don’t Be Cruel” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
#culture #DonTBeCruel #ElvisPresley #history #HoundDog #Iran #Jordanaires #MarcusAurelius #moralPhilosophy #OtisBlackwell #philosophy #politics #stoicism #TimothySnyder #Trump -
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”*…
Stoicism is having a moment. The estimable Timothy Snyder considers the events of the day in the light of Marcus Aurelius‘ thoughts– and actions…
As Donald Trump announced his whimsy war in Iran, I was reading about another imperial campaign, long ago, against an Iranian people.
In the late second century AD, the Roman Empire confronted armies that had crossed the border at the Danube River and even broached the Alps in northern Italy. Among them were the Iazyges, speakers of an Iranian language, who hailed from the Ukrainian steppe.
In Ukraine this February, I was learning about an archaeological find which reveals the interactions of the Romans and the Iazyges, which included alliance as well as enmity. The Roman war against the Iazyges allies was commanded personally by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who spent the years between 171 and 180 AD at the front. During that time he kept a philosophical diary, probably written at night in his tent. Discovered after his death, that text, known as the Meditations, is a great work of Stoic philosophy.
I turned to the Meditations to see if I could learn anything that would help me to understand the work of Ukrainian archaeologists about the interactions between Romans and Iazyges. I found something else: perspective on the wars of today, and a sense of why, beyond his obvious incompetence in military matters, Trump had to lose his.
It was shaming to read the bombast of Trump: (”no president was willing to do what I have done tonight”) alongside the reflections of Marcus (“when things have such a plausible appearance, show them naked, see their shoddiness, strip away their own boastful account of themselves.”) Trump broadcast his arrogance to millions of people; Marcus wrote for himself.
Despite the fact he was commanding an army at the front, Marcus never mentioned the war in his Meditations. War was simply something he had to do; he had no difficulty seeing the other side as people, or understanding their motivations. He mentions the Iazyges only once in the text: to make a broader point about hubris, to suggest that it was wrong for Romans to take pride in taking a prisoner of war.
Although Marcus did not broach the subject of my interest, I could not stop reading his Meditations. The contrast with Trump’s utterances was astounding, and vertiginous. The one could spend nine years in command and write a philosophical diary in which he did not even mention the war; the other immediately leapt to praise himself for a war he would lose in weeks…
[With an focus on the “adventure in Iran,” Snyder elaborates the (painfully unflattering) comparison…]
… The American leaders had no idea of who they were or what they wanted, aside from the satisfaction of their emotional needs by the killing of others. They were unable to imagine that people on the other side might have ideas about their own interests and plans for their own behavior. The could not see the world, even in its plainest representation as geography; whereas Marcus exploited a bend in the Danube River to tactical advantage to win a battle; Trump chose to ignore the physical limit the Straits of Hormuz can place on world trade. As soon as the war began, the Iranians did the obvious: they responded to American long-range attacks with the same; and they blocked the Straits.
Because the Americans were operating without a sense of themselves, of the world, or other people, this came as a surprise. Marcus Aurelius offers this mild comment: “How absurd — and a complete stranger to the world– is the man surprised at any aspect of his experience in life!”
The Americans, strangers to the world, reacted to their feelings of surprise with fantasies of destruction. The pleasure they took in killing became a vision of annihilation. Rather than confront the errors they made about war, the Americans leapt to visions of violence in which no one would ever have to think again. Trump lost control on Easter Sunday when he tweeted: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He then promised that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age, where they belong” and said that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” In our modern legal and ethical language, this is of course genocidal language. The American bombast was followed by American surrender.
Marcus Aurelius won his war against the Iazyges. He combined victory and prudence, and for this he was and will be remembered. The defeated Iazyges returned to their previous role as Roman clients, offered thousands of cavalrymen as soldiers of Rome, and opened trade routes to the east. Marcus’s philosophical diary has been read for the better part of two millenia; so long as we are present as a literate civilization, it will be read. Despite Marcus’s certainty that we will all be forgotten, others built a victory column in his honor after his death; it still stands in Rome, more than one thousand eight hundred years later.
Another legacy of Marcus’s victory also touches the center of what we think of as Western culture. As part of the peace accord, he dispatched 5,500 Iazyges cavalrymen, taken into his service, to the north of what is now northern England, to defend the Roman border at Hadrian’s Wall. Their first commander was a man named Arthur, and it is possible that the Iazyges and some of their Iranian-speaking kin incorporated his name into stories of their own — of a lady in the lake, of a sword in a stone, of a quest for a golden cup — which, with time, became the legend of Christian chivalry. That is another story, and one worth telling.
But it is also part of the story of Marcus Aurelius, which, despite the fact that he chose not to tell it himself, or rather precisely for that reason, is instructive about our predicament today. Stoicism is a way not to be a stranger to the world; it can protect the powerful from vanity and folly. To fall into a stupor of self-absorption, as Trump has done, is to flee from reality. Few wars are worth fighting; those that are fought can only be won in the world, and not within the tortured confines of estranged minds. Trump hastens now towards our shared horizon of death, seeking honors that only posterity can accord and will not…
On what Trump could– and should– learn from Marcus Aurelius: “Of Stoicism and Stupor,” from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
“We are the other of the other”
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?”
“Kindness is invincible.”
– Marcus Aurelius
(TotH to MKM)
* Marcus Aurelius
###
As we barrel back to basics, we might recall that it was on this date in 1956 that Elvis Presley, working for the first time with backing vocal group the Jordanaires, recorded “Don’t Be Cruel,” which had been written by Otis Blackwell.
The single was released on July 13, 1956, backed with “Hound Dog.” Within a few weeks “Hound Dog” had risen to No. 2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by “Don’t Be Cruel,” which took No. 1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R&B. Between them, both songs remained at No. 1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks. “Don’t Be Cruel” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
#culture #DonTBeCruel #ElvisPresley #history #HoundDog #Iran #Jordanaires #MarcusAurelius #moralPhilosophy #OtisBlackwell #philosophy #politics #stoicism #TimothySnyder #Trump -
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”*…
Stoicism is having a moment. The estimable Timothy Snyder considers the events of the day in the light of Marcus Aurelius‘ thoughts– and actions…
As Donald Trump announced his whimsy war in Iran, I was reading about another imperial campaign, long ago, against an Iranian people.
In the late second century AD, the Roman Empire confronted armies that had crossed the border at the Danube River and even broached the Alps in northern Italy. Among them were the Iazyges, speakers of an Iranian language, who hailed from the Ukrainian steppe.
In Ukraine this February, I was learning about an archaeological find which reveals the interactions of the Romans and the Iazyges, which included alliance as well as enmity. The Roman war against the Iazyges allies was commanded personally by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who spent the years between 171 and 180 AD at the front. During that time he kept a philosophical diary, probably written at night in his tent. Discovered after his death, that text, known as the Meditations, is a great work of Stoic philosophy.
I turned to the Meditations to see if I could learn anything that would help me to understand the work of Ukrainian archaeologists about the interactions between Romans and Iazyges. I found something else: perspective on the wars of today, and a sense of why, beyond his obvious incompetence in military matters, Trump had to lose his.
It was shaming to read the bombast of Trump: (”no president was willing to do what I have done tonight”) alongside the reflections of Marcus (“when things have such a plausible appearance, show them naked, see their shoddiness, strip away their own boastful account of themselves.”) Trump broadcast his arrogance to millions of people; Marcus wrote for himself.
Despite the fact he was commanding an army at the front, Marcus never mentioned the war in his Meditations. War was simply something he had to do; he had no difficulty seeing the other side as people, or understanding their motivations. He mentions the Iazyges only once in the text: to make a broader point about hubris, to suggest that it was wrong for Romans to take pride in taking a prisoner of war.
Although Marcus did not broach the subject of my interest, I could not stop reading his Meditations. The contrast with Trump’s utterances was astounding, and vertiginous. The one could spend nine years in command and write a philosophical diary in which he did not even mention the war; the other immediately leapt to praise himself for a war he would lose in weeks…
[With an focus on the “adventure in Iran,” Snyder elaborates the (painfully unflattering) comparison…]
… The American leaders had no idea of who they were or what they wanted, aside from the satisfaction of their emotional needs by the killing of others. They were unable to imagine that people on the other side might have ideas about their own interests and plans for their own behavior. The could not see the world, even in its plainest representation as geography; whereas Marcus exploited a bend in the Danube River to tactical advantage to win a battle; Trump chose to ignore the physical limit the Straits of Hormuz can place on world trade. As soon as the war began, the Iranians did the obvious: they responded to American long-range attacks with the same; and they blocked the Straits.
Because the Americans were operating without a sense of themselves, of the world, or other people, this came as a surprise. Marcus Aurelius offers this mild comment: “How absurd — and a complete stranger to the world– is the man surprised at any aspect of his experience in life!”
The Americans, strangers to the world, reacted to their feelings of surprise with fantasies of destruction. The pleasure they took in killing became a vision of annihilation. Rather than confront the errors they made about war, the Americans leapt to visions of violence in which no one would ever have to think again. Trump lost control on Easter Sunday when he tweeted: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He then promised that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age, where they belong” and said that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” In our modern legal and ethical language, this is of course genocidal language. The American bombast was followed by American surrender.
Marcus Aurelius won his war against the Iazyges. He combined victory and prudence, and for this he was and will be remembered. The defeated Iazyges returned to their previous role as Roman clients, offered thousands of cavalrymen as soldiers of Rome, and opened trade routes to the east. Marcus’s philosophical diary has been read for the better part of two millenia; so long as we are present as a literate civilization, it will be read. Despite Marcus’s certainty that we will all be forgotten, others built a victory column in his honor after his death; it still stands in Rome, more than one thousand eight hundred years later.
Another legacy of Marcus’s victory also touches the center of what we think of as Western culture. As part of the peace accord, he dispatched 5,500 Iazyges cavalrymen, taken into his service, to the north of what is now northern England, to defend the Roman border at Hadrian’s Wall. Their first commander was a man named Arthur, and it is possible that the Iazyges and some of their Iranian-speaking kin incorporated his name into stories of their own — of a lady in the lake, of a sword in a stone, of a quest for a golden cup — which, with time, became the legend of Christian chivalry. That is another story, and one worth telling.
But it is also part of the story of Marcus Aurelius, which, despite the fact that he chose not to tell it himself, or rather precisely for that reason, is instructive about our predicament today. Stoicism is a way not to be a stranger to the world; it can protect the powerful from vanity and folly. To fall into a stupor of self-absorption, as Trump has done, is to flee from reality. Few wars are worth fighting; those that are fought can only be won in the world, and not within the tortured confines of estranged minds. Trump hastens now towards our shared horizon of death, seeking honors that only posterity can accord and will not…
On what Trump could– and should– learn from Marcus Aurelius: “Of Stoicism and Stupor,” from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
“We are the other of the other”
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?”
“Kindness is invincible.”
– Marcus Aurelius
(TotH to MKM)
* Marcus Aurelius
###
As we barrel back to basics, we might recall that it was on this date in 1956 that Elvis Presley, working for the first time with backing vocal group the Jordanaires, recorded “Don’t Be Cruel,” which had been written by Otis Blackwell.
The single was released on July 13, 1956, backed with “Hound Dog.” Within a few weeks “Hound Dog” had risen to No. 2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by “Don’t Be Cruel,” which took No. 1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R&B. Between them, both songs remained at No. 1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks. “Don’t Be Cruel” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
#culture #DonTBeCruel #ElvisPresley #history #HoundDog #Iran #Jordanaires #MarcusAurelius #moralPhilosophy #OtisBlackwell #philosophy #politics #stoicism #TimothySnyder #Trump -
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”*…
Stoicism is having a moment. The estimable Timothy Snyder considers the events of the day in the light of Marcus Aurelius‘ thoughts– and actions…
As Donald Trump announced his whimsy war in Iran, I was reading about another imperial campaign, long ago, against an Iranian people.
In the late second century AD, the Roman Empire confronted armies that had crossed the border at the Danube River and even broached the Alps in northern Italy. Among them were the Iazyges, speakers of an Iranian language, who hailed from the Ukrainian steppe.
In Ukraine this February, I was learning about an archaeological find which reveals the interactions of the Romans and the Iazyges, which included alliance as well as enmity. The Roman war against the Iazyges allies was commanded personally by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who spent the years between 171 and 180 AD at the front. During that time he kept a philosophical diary, probably written at night in his tent. Discovered after his death, that text, known as the Meditations, is a great work of Stoic philosophy.
I turned to the Meditations to see if I could learn anything that would help me to understand the work of Ukrainian archaeologists about the interactions between Romans and Iazyges. I found something else: perspective on the wars of today, and a sense of why, beyond his obvious incompetence in military matters, Trump had to lose his.
It was shaming to read the bombast of Trump: (”no president was willing to do what I have done tonight”) alongside the reflections of Marcus (“when things have such a plausible appearance, show them naked, see their shoddiness, strip away their own boastful account of themselves.”) Trump broadcast his arrogance to millions of people; Marcus wrote for himself.
Despite the fact he was commanding an army at the front, Marcus never mentioned the war in his Meditations. War was simply something he had to do; he had no difficulty seeing the other side as people, or understanding their motivations. He mentions the Iazyges only once in the text: to make a broader point about hubris, to suggest that it was wrong for Romans to take pride in taking a prisoner of war.
Although Marcus did not broach the subject of my interest, I could not stop reading his Meditations. The contrast with Trump’s utterances was astounding, and vertiginous. The one could spend nine years in command and write a philosophical diary in which he did not even mention the war; the other immediately leapt to praise himself for a war he would lose in weeks…
[With an focus on the “adventure in Iran,” Snyder elaborates the (painfully unflattering) comparison…]
… The American leaders had no idea of who they were or what they wanted, aside from the satisfaction of their emotional needs by the killing of others. They were unable to imagine that people on the other side might have ideas about their own interests and plans for their own behavior. The could not see the world, even in its plainest representation as geography; whereas Marcus exploited a bend in the Danube River to tactical advantage to win a battle; Trump chose to ignore the physical limit the Straits of Hormuz can place on world trade. As soon as the war began, the Iranians did the obvious: they responded to American long-range attacks with the same; and they blocked the Straits.
Because the Americans were operating without a sense of themselves, of the world, or other people, this came as a surprise. Marcus Aurelius offers this mild comment: “How absurd — and a complete stranger to the world– is the man surprised at any aspect of his experience in life!”
The Americans, strangers to the world, reacted to their feelings of surprise with fantasies of destruction. The pleasure they took in killing became a vision of annihilation. Rather than confront the errors they made about war, the Americans leapt to visions of violence in which no one would ever have to think again. Trump lost control on Easter Sunday when he tweeted: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He then promised that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age, where they belong” and said that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” In our modern legal and ethical language, this is of course genocidal language. The American bombast was followed by American surrender.
Marcus Aurelius won his war against the Iazyges. He combined victory and prudence, and for this he was and will be remembered. The defeated Iazyges returned to their previous role as Roman clients, offered thousands of cavalrymen as soldiers of Rome, and opened trade routes to the east. Marcus’s philosophical diary has been read for the better part of two millenia; so long as we are present as a literate civilization, it will be read. Despite Marcus’s certainty that we will all be forgotten, others built a victory column in his honor after his death; it still stands in Rome, more than one thousand eight hundred years later.
Another legacy of Marcus’s victory also touches the center of what we think of as Western culture. As part of the peace accord, he dispatched 5,500 Iazyges cavalrymen, taken into his service, to the north of what is now northern England, to defend the Roman border at Hadrian’s Wall. Their first commander was a man named Arthur, and it is possible that the Iazyges and some of their Iranian-speaking kin incorporated his name into stories of their own — of a lady in the lake, of a sword in a stone, of a quest for a golden cup — which, with time, became the legend of Christian chivalry. That is another story, and one worth telling.
But it is also part of the story of Marcus Aurelius, which, despite the fact that he chose not to tell it himself, or rather precisely for that reason, is instructive about our predicament today. Stoicism is a way not to be a stranger to the world; it can protect the powerful from vanity and folly. To fall into a stupor of self-absorption, as Trump has done, is to flee from reality. Few wars are worth fighting; those that are fought can only be won in the world, and not within the tortured confines of estranged minds. Trump hastens now towards our shared horizon of death, seeking honors that only posterity can accord and will not…
On what Trump could– and should– learn from Marcus Aurelius: “Of Stoicism and Stupor,” from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
“We are the other of the other”
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?”
“Kindness is invincible.”
– Marcus Aurelius
(TotH to MKM)
* Marcus Aurelius
###
As we barrel back to basics, we might recall that it was on this date in 1956 that Elvis Presley, working for the first time with backing vocal group the Jordanaires, recorded “Don’t Be Cruel,” which had been written by Otis Blackwell.
The single was released on July 13, 1956, backed with “Hound Dog.” Within a few weeks “Hound Dog” had risen to No. 2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by “Don’t Be Cruel,” which took No. 1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R&B. Between them, both songs remained at No. 1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks. “Don’t Be Cruel” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
#culture #DonTBeCruel #ElvisPresley #history #HoundDog #Iran #Jordanaires #MarcusAurelius #moralPhilosophy #OtisBlackwell #philosophy #politics #stoicism #TimothySnyder #Trump -
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”*…
Stoicism is having a moment. The estimable Timothy Snyder considers the events of the day in the light of Marcus Aurelius‘ thoughts– and actions…
As Donald Trump announced his whimsy war in Iran, I was reading about another imperial campaign, long ago, against an Iranian people.
In the late second century AD, the Roman Empire confronted armies that had crossed the border at the Danube River and even broached the Alps in northern Italy. Among them were the Iazyges, speakers of an Iranian language, who hailed from the Ukrainian steppe.
In Ukraine this February, I was learning about an archaeological find which reveals the interactions of the Romans and the Iazyges, which included alliance as well as enmity. The Roman war against the Iazyges allies was commanded personally by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who spent the years between 171 and 180 AD at the front. During that time he kept a philosophical diary, probably written at night in his tent. Discovered after his death, that text, known as the Meditations, is a great work of Stoic philosophy.
I turned to the Meditations to see if I could learn anything that would help me to understand the work of Ukrainian archaeologists about the interactions between Romans and Iazyges. I found something else: perspective on the wars of today, and a sense of why, beyond his obvious incompetence in military matters, Trump had to lose his.
It was shaming to read the bombast of Trump: (”no president was willing to do what I have done tonight”) alongside the reflections of Marcus (“when things have such a plausible appearance, show them naked, see their shoddiness, strip away their own boastful account of themselves.”) Trump broadcast his arrogance to millions of people; Marcus wrote for himself.
Despite the fact he was commanding an army at the front, Marcus never mentioned the war in his Meditations. War was simply something he had to do; he had no difficulty seeing the other side as people, or understanding their motivations. He mentions the Iazyges only once in the text: to make a broader point about hubris, to suggest that it was wrong for Romans to take pride in taking a prisoner of war.
Although Marcus did not broach the subject of my interest, I could not stop reading his Meditations. The contrast with Trump’s utterances was astounding, and vertiginous. The one could spend nine years in command and write a philosophical diary in which he did not even mention the war; the other immediately leapt to praise himself for a war he would lose in weeks…
[With an focus on the “adventure in Iran,” Snyder elaborates the (painfully unflattering) comparison…]
… The American leaders had no idea of who they were or what they wanted, aside from the satisfaction of their emotional needs by the killing of others. They were unable to imagine that people on the other side might have ideas about their own interests and plans for their own behavior. The could not see the world, even in its plainest representation as geography; whereas Marcus exploited a bend in the Danube River to tactical advantage to win a battle; Trump chose to ignore the physical limit the Straits of Hormuz can place on world trade. As soon as the war began, the Iranians did the obvious: they responded to American long-range attacks with the same; and they blocked the Straits.
Because the Americans were operating without a sense of themselves, of the world, or other people, this came as a surprise. Marcus Aurelius offers this mild comment: “How absurd — and a complete stranger to the world– is the man surprised at any aspect of his experience in life!”
The Americans, strangers to the world, reacted to their feelings of surprise with fantasies of destruction. The pleasure they took in killing became a vision of annihilation. Rather than confront the errors they made about war, the Americans leapt to visions of violence in which no one would ever have to think again. Trump lost control on Easter Sunday when he tweeted: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He then promised that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age, where they belong” and said that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” In our modern legal and ethical language, this is of course genocidal language. The American bombast was followed by American surrender.
Marcus Aurelius won his war against the Iazyges. He combined victory and prudence, and for this he was and will be remembered. The defeated Iazyges returned to their previous role as Roman clients, offered thousands of cavalrymen as soldiers of Rome, and opened trade routes to the east. Marcus’s philosophical diary has been read for the better part of two millenia; so long as we are present as a literate civilization, it will be read. Despite Marcus’s certainty that we will all be forgotten, others built a victory column in his honor after his death; it still stands in Rome, more than one thousand eight hundred years later.
Another legacy of Marcus’s victory also touches the center of what we think of as Western culture. As part of the peace accord, he dispatched 5,500 Iazyges cavalrymen, taken into his service, to the north of what is now northern England, to defend the Roman border at Hadrian’s Wall. Their first commander was a man named Arthur, and it is possible that the Iazyges and some of their Iranian-speaking kin incorporated his name into stories of their own — of a lady in the lake, of a sword in a stone, of a quest for a golden cup — which, with time, became the legend of Christian chivalry. That is another story, and one worth telling.
But it is also part of the story of Marcus Aurelius, which, despite the fact that he chose not to tell it himself, or rather precisely for that reason, is instructive about our predicament today. Stoicism is a way not to be a stranger to the world; it can protect the powerful from vanity and folly. To fall into a stupor of self-absorption, as Trump has done, is to flee from reality. Few wars are worth fighting; those that are fought can only be won in the world, and not within the tortured confines of estranged minds. Trump hastens now towards our shared horizon of death, seeking honors that only posterity can accord and will not…
On what Trump could– and should– learn from Marcus Aurelius: “Of Stoicism and Stupor,” from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
“We are the other of the other”
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?”
“Kindness is invincible.”
– Marcus Aurelius
(TotH to MKM)
* Marcus Aurelius
###
As we barrel back to basics, we might recall that it was on this date in 1956 that Elvis Presley, working for the first time with backing vocal group the Jordanaires, recorded “Don’t Be Cruel,” which had been written by Otis Blackwell.
The single was released on July 13, 1956, backed with “Hound Dog.” Within a few weeks “Hound Dog” had risen to No. 2 on the Pop charts with sales of over one million. Soon after it was overtaken by “Don’t Be Cruel,” which took No. 1 on all three main charts; Pop, Country, and R&B. Between them, both songs remained at No. 1 on the Pop chart for a run of 11 weeks. “Don’t Be Cruel” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
#culture #DonTBeCruel #ElvisPresley #history #HoundDog #Iran #Jordanaires #MarcusAurelius #moralPhilosophy #OtisBlackwell #philosophy #politics #stoicism #TimothySnyder #Trump -
Thaddeus Metz has revised his excellent SEP-entry on The Meaning of Life,
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life-meaning/
Hyödynsin aikanaan artikkelia kotisivujeni asiaan?-sivun puolivälin paikkeilla, https://www.lupposofi.com/asiaan/
#sep #life #meaning #meaningOfLife #filosofia #philosophy #etiikka #ethics #moralPhilosophy #kuolema #death #afterlife #existentialism #love #friendship #value #arvo #significance #political #politicalPhilosophy #wellbeing #mortalityAndMeaning #psychology #sociology
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“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”*…
… and so we shouldn’t. Ryan Weber (a professor of technical writing who, happily for us, moonlights) is here to help…
More at “‘Descartes Against Humanity’ and Other Games Designed by Famous Philosophers,” from @mcsweeneys.net.
Unrelated, but important: “Help save Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine by signing this petition.”
* George Bernard Shaw (though often mis-attributed to Benjamin Franklin)
###
As we play, we might spare a thought for a philosopher whose game would likely be “The Game of Life,” Bernard Williams; he died on this date in 2003. As Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Deutsch Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, Williams became known for his efforts to reorient the study of moral philosophy to psychology, history, and in particular to the Greeks.
His publications include Problems of the Self (1973), Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (1985), Shame and Necessity (1993), and Truth and Truthfulness (2002). Gilbert Ryle, one of Williams’s mentors at Oxford University, said that Williams “understands what you’re going to say better than you understand it yourself, and sees all the possible objections to it, and all the possible answers to all the possible objections, before you’ve got to the end of your own sentence.”
Described by Colin McGinn as an “analytical philosopher with the soul of a general humanist,” he was sceptical about attempts to create a foundation for moral philosophy. Martha Nussbaum wrote that he demanded of philosophy that it “come to terms with, and contain, the difficulty and complexity of human life.”
#analyticPhilosophy #BernardWilliams #culture #Descartes #history #Humanism #humor #Kant #KarlPopper #Life #moralPhilosophy #Nietzsche #philosophy #Sartre -
“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”*…
… and so we shouldn’t. Ryan Weber (a professor of technical writing who, happily for us, moonlights) is here to help…
More at “‘Descartes Against Humanity’ and Other Games Designed by Famous Philosophers,” from @mcsweeneys.net.
Unrelated, but important: “Help save Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine by signing this petition.”
* George Bernard Shaw (though often mis-attributed to Benjamin Franklin)
###
As we play, we might spare a thought for a philosopher whose game would likely be “The Game of Life,” Bernard Williams; he died on this date in 2003. As Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Deutsch Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, Williams became known for his efforts to reorient the study of moral philosophy to psychology, history, and in particular to the Greeks.
His publications include Problems of the Self (1973), Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (1985), Shame and Necessity (1993), and Truth and Truthfulness (2002). Gilbert Ryle, one of Williams’s mentors at Oxford University, said that Williams “understands what you’re going to say better than you understand it yourself, and sees all the possible objections to it, and all the possible answers to all the possible objections, before you’ve got to the end of your own sentence.”
Described by Colin McGinn as an “analytical philosopher with the soul of a general humanist,” he was sceptical about attempts to create a foundation for moral philosophy. Martha Nussbaum wrote that he demanded of philosophy that it “come to terms with, and contain, the difficulty and complexity of human life.”
#analyticPhilosophy #BernardWilliams #culture #Descartes #history #Humanism #humor #Kant #KarlPopper #Life #moralPhilosophy #Nietzsche #philosophy #Sartre -
Secularism got so afraid of sounding like religion that it surrendered the concept of justice. Originalism filled the void. That's the argument — and it lands. via @bledewitz.bsky.social
#Secularism #ConstitutionalLaw #MoralPhilosophy #Politics #Originalism
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Folke Tersman has revised his SEP-entry on Moral Disagreement, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/disagreement-moral/
The author on Uppsala University's pages, https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/staff?query=N8-3
#ethics #morality #moralPhilosophy #philosophy #filosofia #etiikka #metaetiikka #metaethics #disagreement #erimielisyys #kiista #hyvä #paha #good #evil #bad #right #wrong #MorallyWrong #cognitivism #psychology #relativism #skepticism #realism #epistemology #uppsala
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Folke Tersman has revised his SEP-entry on Moral Disagreement, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/disagreement-moral/
The author on Uppsala University's pages, https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-organisation/staff?query=N8-3
#ethics #morality #moralPhilosophy #philosophy #filosofia #etiikka #metaetiikka #metaethics #disagreement #erimielisyys #kiista #hyvä #paha #good #evil #bad #right #wrong #MorallyWrong #cognitivism #psychology #relativism #skepticism #realism #epistemology #uppsala
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Michael Cholbi ja Brent Kious ovat päivittäneet SEP-entryään itsesurmasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
Historiallisen katsauksen lisäksi mukana on itsesurman moraalisuuden ja rationaalisuuden pohdintaa yhdeksän eri näkökulmia valottavan alaluvun kautta, ja lopussa on myös linkki Robert Youngin 2024 entryyn vapaaehtoisesta eutananiasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/
#suicide #itsemurha #kuolema #death #eutanasia #euthanasia #filosofia #philosophy #morality #prohibition #law #psychology #sociology #humanity #suicidology #autonomia #authonomy #voluntaryEuthanasia #paternalism #oikeus #rights #wellbeing #paternalism #libertarism #moralPhilosophy #ethics
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Michael Cholbi ja Brent Kious ovat päivittäneet SEP-entryään itsesurmasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
Historiallisen katsauksen lisäksi mukana on itsesurman moraalisuuden ja rationaalisuuden pohdintaa yhdeksän eri näkökulmia valottavan alaluvun kautta, ja lopussa on myös linkki Robert Youngin 2024 entryyn vapaaehtoisesta eutananiasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/
#suicide #itsemurha #kuolema #death #eutanasia #euthanasia #filosofia #philosophy #morality #prohibition #law #psychology #sociology #humanity #suicidology #autonomia #authonomy #voluntaryEuthanasia #paternalism #oikeus #rights #wellbeing #paternalism #libertarism #moralPhilosophy #ethics
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Michael Cholbi ja Brent Kious ovat päivittäneet SEP-entryään itsesurmasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
Historiallisen katsauksen lisäksi mukana on itsesurman moraalisuuden ja rationaalisuuden pohdintaa yhdeksän eri näkökulmia valottavan alaluvun kautta, ja lopussa on myös linkki Robert Youngin 2024 entryyn vapaaehtoisesta eutananiasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/
#suicide #itsemurha #kuolema #death #eutanasia #euthanasia #filosofia #philosophy #morality #prohibition #law #psychology #sociology #humanity #suicidology #autonomia #authonomy #voluntaryEuthanasia #paternalism #oikeus #rights #wellbeing #paternalism #libertarism #moralPhilosophy #ethics
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Michael Cholbi ja Brent Kious ovat päivittäneet SEP-entryään itsesurmasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
Historiallisen katsauksen lisäksi mukana on itsesurman moraalisuuden ja rationaalisuuden pohdintaa yhdeksän eri näkökulmia valottavan alaluvun kautta, ja lopussa on myös linkki Robert Youngin 2024 entryyn vapaaehtoisesta eutananiasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/
#suicide #itsemurha #kuolema #death #eutanasia #euthanasia #filosofia #philosophy #morality #prohibition #law #psychology #sociology #humanity #suicidology #autonomia #authonomy #voluntaryEuthanasia #paternalism #oikeus #rights #wellbeing #paternalism #libertarism #moralPhilosophy #ethics
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Michael Cholbi ja Brent Kious ovat päivittäneet SEP-entryään itsesurmasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/
Historiallisen katsauksen lisäksi mukana on itsesurman moraalisuuden ja rationaalisuuden pohdintaa yhdeksän eri näkökulmia valottavan alaluvun kautta, ja lopussa on myös linkki Robert Youngin 2024 entryyn vapaaehtoisesta eutananiasta, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/euthanasia-voluntary/
#suicide #itsemurha #kuolema #death #eutanasia #euthanasia #filosofia #philosophy #morality #prohibition #law #psychology #sociology #humanity #suicidology #autonomia #authonomy #voluntaryEuthanasia #paternalism #oikeus #rights #wellbeing #paternalism #libertarism #moralPhilosophy #ethics
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We are delighted to welcome Prof. Martin Van Hees (Dean of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences), who is co-teaching a course on Moral Philosophy and Justice this semester. The course opened with some foundational questions of morality, obligations and what does it mean to be doing philosophy instead of only learning it. #MoralPhilosophy #LegalEducation #PhilosophyofLaw #VUSoL
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Morality isn’t a cosmic scoreboard. It’s social signalling with badges of power stitched in.
👉 https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/26/good-bad-and-the-quiet-arithmetic-of-power/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
In this post, I dismantle the cosy story that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ map onto metaphysical truths, and show how authority collapses complexity into a verdict and calls it reality.
#Philosophy #Ethics #MoralPhilosophy #CriticalTheory #Postmodernism #PowerDynamics #EnlightenmentCritique #blog #podcast #spotify -
Applications are still open for an ERC-funded Research Associate position in the History of Philosophy at #UCD School of #Philosophy. Closing date: midday (Irish time), Monday 15 September. #PhilJobs #EarlyModernPhilosophy #MoralPhilosophy #BMoral
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5rbx6ew3gjgd25eujq4ywrdr/post/3lxk5hjov5c2o -
Applications are still open for an ERC-funded Research Associate position in the History of Philosophy at #UCD School of #Philosophy. Closing date: midday (Irish time), Monday 15 September. #PhilJobs #EarlyModernPhilosophy #MoralPhilosophy #BMoral
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5rbx6ew3gjgd25eujq4ywrdr/post/3lxk5hjov5c2o -
Applications are still open for an ERC-funded Research Associate position in the History of Philosophy at #UCD School of #Philosophy. Closing date: midday (Irish time), Monday 15 September. #PhilJobs #EarlyModernPhilosophy #MoralPhilosophy #BMoral
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5rbx6ew3gjgd25eujq4ywrdr/post/3lxk5hjov5c2o -
Applications are still open for an ERC-funded Research Associate position in the History of Philosophy at #UCD School of #Philosophy. Closing date: midday (Irish time), Monday 15 September. #PhilJobs #EarlyModernPhilosophy #MoralPhilosophy #BMoral
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5rbx6ew3gjgd25eujq4ywrdr/post/3lxk5hjov5c2o -
Applications are invited for the post of temporary 48-month Postdoctoral Research Associate within #UCD School of #Philosophy. Further details, along with a link to apply, may be found at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n.... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #HistoryOfPhilosophy #BMoral #IrishResearch
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the... -
Applications are invited for the post of temporary 48-month Postdoctoral Research Associate within #UCD School of #Philosophy. Further details, along with a link to apply, may be found at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n.... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #HistoryOfPhilosophy #BMoral #IrishResearch
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the... -
Applications are invited for the post of temporary 48-month Postdoctoral Research Associate within #UCD School of #Philosophy. Further details, along with a link to apply, may be found at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n.... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #HistoryOfPhilosophy #BMoral #IrishResearch
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the... -
Applications are invited for the post of temporary 48-month Postdoctoral Research Associate within #UCD School of #Philosophy. Further details, along with a link to apply, may be found at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n.... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #HistoryOfPhilosophy #BMoral #IrishResearch
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the... -
Explore the earthly perspective on sins and the hierarchical system we create. We discuss how we rank sins, often minimizing some while exaggerating others. Join us as we delve into this thought-provoking topic and challenge our perceptions! #SinsExplained #SinsExplained #EarthlyPerspective #HierarchicalSystem #MoralRanking #WhiteLies #Adultery #Murder #HumanNature #MoralPhilosophy #EthicalDebate
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Applications are invited for a temporary 36-month post of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Level 1 or Level 2) within the School of #Philosophy at @ucddublin.bsky.social. Closing date: 2 June 2025. Further details at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #DigitalHumanities
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Dig... -
Applications are invited for a temporary 36-month post of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Level 1 or Level 2) within the School of #Philosophy at @ucddublin.bsky.social. Closing date: 2 June 2025. Further details at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #DigitalHumanities
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Dig... -
Applications are invited for a temporary 36-month post of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Level 1 or Level 2) within the School of #Philosophy at @ucddublin.bsky.social. Closing date: 2 June 2025. Further details at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #DigitalHumanities
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Dig... -
Applications are invited for a temporary 36-month post of a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Level 1 or Level 2) within the School of #Philosophy at @ucddublin.bsky.social. Closing date: 2 June 2025. Further details at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/n... #PhilJobs #PhilSky #MoralPhilosophy #DigitalHumanities
ERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Dig... -
🧵 4/5
My own feeling is that Parfit's systematic point-of-view-of- the-universe approach is a bad way to think about value and lives worth living and has consequently not been an entirely benign influence on our thinking about ethics.
"Reasons and Persons" was published in 1984, but I would choose the 1985 "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy" as a key work to read when thinking in general terms about how one should live.
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674268586
#Philosophy #MoralPhilosophy #DerekParfit #BernardWilliams #ReasonsAndPersons #EthicsAndTheLimitsOfPhilosophy
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🧵 4/5
My own feeling is that Parfit's systematic point-of-view-of- the-universe approach is a bad way to think about value and lives worth living and has consequently not been an entirely benign influence on our thinking about ethics.
"Reasons and Persons" was published in 1984, but I would choose the 1985 "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy" as a key work to read when thinking in general terms about how one should live.
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674268586
#Philosophy #MoralPhilosophy #DerekParfit #BernardWilliams #ReasonsAndPersons #EthicsAndTheLimitsOfPhilosophy
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🧵 4/5
My own feeling is that Parfit's systematic point-of-view-of- the-universe approach is a bad way to think about value and lives worth living and has consequently not been an entirely benign influence on our thinking about ethics.
"Reasons and Persons" was published in 1984, but I would choose the 1985 "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy" as a key work to read when thinking in general terms about how one should live.
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674268586
#Philosophy #MoralPhilosophy #DerekParfit #BernardWilliams #ReasonsAndPersons #EthicsAndTheLimitsOfPhilosophy
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🧵 4/5
My own feeling is that Parfit's systematic point-of-view-of- the-universe approach is a bad way to think about value and lives worth living and has consequently not been an entirely benign influence on our thinking about ethics.
"Reasons and Persons" was published in 1984, but I would choose the 1985 "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy" as a key work to read when thinking in general terms about how one should live.
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674268586
#Philosophy #MoralPhilosophy #DerekParfit #BernardWilliams #ReasonsAndPersons #EthicsAndTheLimitsOfPhilosophy
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Here is the last of the core concept videos on David Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. I have now published videos covering the entirety of that work, examining each key idea, argument, explanation or distinction!
https://youtu.be/uFgq-SE2oFM
#Video #Hume #Philosophy #Empiricism #Skepticism #MoralPhilosophy #HumanNature -
Here is the last of the core concept videos on David Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. I have now published videos covering the entirety of that work, examining each key idea, argument, explanation or distinction!
https://youtu.be/uFgq-SE2oFM
#Video #Hume #Philosophy #Empiricism #Skepticism #MoralPhilosophy #HumanNature -
Helen de Cruz' Newsletter Wondering Freely is one of my favourites. She makes complex philosophical ideas accessible and uses them to discuss how to live a good life. In her new article she writes about how to unlearn toxic productivity & start to learn to let your mind roam free.
#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #MerleauPonty #Nietzsche
@philosophy
https://open.substack.com/pub/helendecruz/p/on-letting-yourself-be?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2jfbt -
Helen de Cruz' Newsletter Wondering Freely is one of my favourites. She makes complex philosophical ideas accessible and uses them to discuss how to live a good life. In her new article she writes about how to unlearn toxic productivity & start to learn to let your mind roam free.
#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #MerleauPonty #Nietzsche
@philosophy
https://open.substack.com/pub/helendecruz/p/on-letting-yourself-be?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2jfbt -
This may be a shot in the dark, but I might be writing an essay about the 7th generation social discount rate concept from #theministryforthefuture by #kimstanleyrobinson and I’m looking for interesting people to interview. Any recommendations? #intergenerationaljustice #climatechange #economics #discountrate #moralphilosophy
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#ArthurHyman - Can Many #Religions All Be True?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ttMW_WPxc&ab_channel=CloserToTruth
#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfReligion #Religion #Theism #Truth #Metaphysics #Morality #MoralPhilosophy #History #HistoryOfReligion #Judaism #Christianity #Islam #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn
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#ArthurHyman - Can Many #Religions All Be True?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ttMW_WPxc&ab_channel=CloserToTruth
#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfReligion #Religion #Theism #Truth #Metaphysics #Morality #MoralPhilosophy #History #HistoryOfReligion #Judaism #Christianity #Islam #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn
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#BedeRundle - Arguments Contra #God?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWssy2jHZGg&ab_channel=CloserToTruth
#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfReligion #Religion #MoralPhilosophy #Logic #LogicalContradiction #Metaphysics #ProblemOfEvil #Atheism #Agnosticism #ArgumentFromDesign #DivineAttributes #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn
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#BedeRundle - Arguments Contra #God?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWssy2jHZGg&ab_channel=CloserToTruth
#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfReligion #Religion #MoralPhilosophy #Logic #LogicalContradiction #Metaphysics #ProblemOfEvil #Atheism #Agnosticism #ArgumentFromDesign #DivineAttributes #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn
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#Deontology and #HumanRights with #Philosopher #SimonBlackburn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4ve3n3uIL4&ab_channel=NortheasternUniversityLondon
#Philosophy #Utilitarianism #IndirectUtilitarianism #Consequentialism #CategoricalImperative #Mill #JohnStuartMill #JSM #Kant #ImmanuelKant #Liberalism #Economics #Ethics #MoralPhilosophy
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#Deontology and #HumanRights with #Philosopher #SimonBlackburn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4ve3n3uIL4&ab_channel=NortheasternUniversityLondon
#Philosophy #Utilitarianism #IndirectUtilitarianism #Consequentialism #CategoricalImperative #Mill #JohnStuartMill #JSM #Kant #ImmanuelKant #Liberalism #Economics #Ethics #MoralPhilosophy