The recent death of David Bowie struck me rather hard. It’s not that I was the biggest fan. Don’t get me wrong, I loved his music. I’ve cherished The Ziggy Stardust album, for example, for decades. But I never saw him in concert. Sadly, a week before he died I signed up for updates on … Continue reading On The Death of David Bowie, or: The Gods of Our Youth
Making Sense of Our Lives
In an essay in the Sunday New York Times entitled, “Does Everything Happen For a Reason?” Konika Banerjeee and Paul Bloom (a Yale graduate student and professor, both in Psychology) discuss studies showing that most people tend to find meaning and purpose in the events in their lives. One might think that this is tied … Continue reading Making Sense of Our Lives
When Science Gets Stupid
In the Weekend Review section of yesterday's New York Times there appeared an essay called, "Are We Really Conscious?" with the tag line: "It sure seems like it. But brain science suggests we're not." First, what do we mean by consciousness or being conscious? A good synonym is "awareness": to be conscious is to be … Continue reading When Science Gets Stupid
Nietzsche and the Meaning and Definition of Noir
This essay originally appeared in my The Philosophy of Film Noir volume. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) was adapted from a novel by the hard-boiled writer, James M. Cain. The movie is interspersed with voice-over narration by the protagonist, Frank Chambers (John Garfield), indicating that he is recalling events in the past. Frank … Continue reading Nietzsche and the Meaning and Definition of Noir
The Wisdom of the Ages Updated
Recently I posted on Twitter what I called “The Wisdom of the Ages updated for the 21st Century,” for Friday Phrases (#FP). These are philosophical quotations that I slightly altered to reflect contemporary thinking and culture. Immediately below are the updated quotes, and then below that you’ll find the original quotes with some discussion about … Continue reading The Wisdom of the Ages Updated
Narratives and Our Ways of Knowing Part II: The Middle Ages
The question of knowledge is a very old problem, going back to the ancients. What we can know about the world, and how we know it, is a huge puzzle. Now, we all love to tell stories, to tell people about things that have happened to us—or even stuff that happened to others, if it … Continue reading Narratives and Our Ways of Knowing Part II: The Middle Ages
“Deconstruction” and its misuses (and, yes, Nietzsche)
I’ve recently seen on Twitter and in blogs several misuses of the word “deconstruction.” I knew my students didn’t really understand that term; but now I realize the misconception is more wide-spread than that. In the instances where I’ve seen it misused, people are treated it as a synonym for “analysis,” which means to break down, … Continue reading “Deconstruction” and its misuses (and, yes, Nietzsche)
Narratives and Our Ways of Knowing Part I: Plato’s Dialogues
Narratives and Our Ways of Knowing Part I: Plato’s Dialogues The question of knowledge is a very old problem, going back to the ancients. What we can know about the world, and how we know it, is a huge puzzle. Now, we all love to tell stories, to tell people about things that have happened … Continue reading Narratives and Our Ways of Knowing Part I: Plato’s Dialogues
Nietzsche and the Importance of Translation
Nietzsche has been on my mind lately, and more about that in subsequent posts. Right now I want to talk about this quote that I pulled from GoodReads. It’s a translation of an epigram from Beyond Good and Evil (#147): “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the … Continue reading Nietzsche and the Importance of Translation
Mark T. Conard 