Trump. No, this isn’t a Trump article, nor am I going to spend too much time ‘bashing’ him. Rather, he is our starting point for today. You see, some people still think he’s a unique character. An aberration. I disagree. I think he’s more of a symptom of the times. Of our political dialogue. And…
On the fifth of May, 1789, in France there was the start of an influential political process. It was on this day that King Louis XVI ordered a gathering of the “Assemblé Nationale”, and at that time rare meeting of the three different classes (nobility, clergy and citizenry) of Parliament, to discuss an impending bankruptcy…
Even though I have already published my first article in this series, I thought I owed my readers an introduction to political philosophy in order to get them well and interested. It is an important and weighty subject, after all, and it is important that we are all clear on what exactly we are talking…
A sailing merchant who was shipwrecked and read some of Plato’s works, a slave who was set free due to his enormous talents and intellect, a playwright and advisor to the emperor of Rome and the last good Caesar. What do these things have in common, you ask? Well, they were all stoics. The sailing…
Read More “The Life Worth Living; Self-Help with the Stoics” »
Sticks. In the Fresh AiR Podcast, S01 E01, I referred to religion as just “one of many sticks we use to beat each other upside the head”. I also named a few other sticks, like race, wealth and class. On Twitter I had a discussion with one of the podcasts listeners about these sticks and…
Read More “Political Philosophy: Sticks and how to use them” »
According to many philosophers, especially ancient philosophers, the secret to having a life worth living, is not only to examine your life, but to actively aspire to being a good person. What is a good person, though? Many may think about being a successful, charitable, kind, funny, and inspiring. How do you reach these goals?…
Read More “The life worth living; Virtues, an introduction” »
“The unexamined life is not worth living”, quoth Socrates in Plato’s apology. By this statement, Socrates shows us the very essence of philosophy and science; To enrich our lives by understanding it, or at least have a kind of fascination with it. It should go unchallenged, that that which fascinates you in whatever way -even…
Freedom of Speech Freedom of speech. An essential and beautiful right, that we all use to near exhaustion. We all have our ideas, our opinions and things we think “must be said”, and we have the freedom to say them; to communicate our ideas, present our opinions and to say what “must be said”…
Life, purpose and dealing with death If you are reading this, you might be alive. You might be a computer program, simulating my life to me. We never know. To me, cogito ergo sum, to you, not so much. I think, therefore I am. But I don’t know that you think, so you might not…
The ancient Greek philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca said; ‘Why weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.’ Though I do not agree with this particular quote, I must admit that the sentiment is useful. And when push comes to shove, that’s all that matters. In this piece, I will attempt to show…
In this day and age, where war, fear and hatred are so abundantly present, we encounter more and more fellow human beings who seem ruthlessly pragmatic when it comes to solving world problems. When discussing ISIL, for instance, the comment ‘just nuke ’em’ is far from scarce. Other people, like a prominent businessman and politician…
Read More “The significance of ethical consideration in politics.” »
Among the many qualities a person can have, and emotions they can muster, pride must be among the most fascinating. Like appreciation and conflict, it has the potential to be both destructive and constructive. We see it a lot these days, from politicians who exclaim their pride for their country and people, commonly known as…
We all know it, “If you walk across the beach of an uninhabited island, having never met another human being and find a watch, you would know it was made by a fellow human being. This is apparent too when we look at nature” – The Watchmaker Argument. We come across this argument, or attempt to…
In our rational mindset, many devote their lives to obtaining and maintaining knowledge and reason. We run the risk of being obsessed to the point that we forget to appreciate the better things in life. To enjoy ourselves, to enrich the soul. In this small series, I will discuss these things with you in an…
Cognicism; a secular moral system As an atheist, we are often asked, “how can you be good without god?”. I have tried to explain this time and time again, each time resulting in a slightly different description. I understand the wish for people who might not be familiar with secular moral systems, to take…
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