Casual philosophy of only the highest quality—“so proving that it is easy for philosophers to be rich if they choose, but this is not what they care about.”
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A Brief Reminder that the World is Magic
“In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.”“Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.”– C. S. Lewis, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader You have heard it said that the word is governed by “scientific…
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You Can Be Intellectually Humble and Dogmatic
“Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” -G.K. Chesterton There’s a modern temptation—one that perhaps academics are particularly susceptible to—to equate intellectual humility and a sort of agnosticism…a receptivity to alternatives…a willingness to entertain all viewpoints.…
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You Can’t Just “Do Your Own Research”
“Do Your Own Research.” I’ve seen this phrase more times in the last couple of months than I have, probably, in my entire lifetime. It’s often posted in ALL CAPS and served with a healthy dose of exclamation points—or exclamation “marks” to our UK readers (not that we have any, or any readers, at all,…
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The Politics of Imponderables
What should we do with the outrage we feel at comparisons others are willing to make?