Nemo's Library

“The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Posted on October 23, 2016; Last updated on December 14, 2022

The Brothers Karamazov (TBK) has the reputation of a great philosophical and psychological novel. This was the main reason I chose to read the novel, but it disappointed on both counts. Dostoevsky’s philosophical arguments lack clarity and logical coherence. He shares this characteristic with another Existentialist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, who openly acknowledged his influence. His psychological portraits are perspicacious in many aspects. However, they lack the type of coherence that would […]

The Brothers Karamazov: II. The Nature of Freedom

Posted on October 23, 2016; Last updated on December 14, 2022

Choice vs. Freedom There is an important distinction, which most people overlook, between free choice of the will, commonly known as free will, and freedom. Choice is consequent of multiplicity, but freedom is consequent of power of being or becoming. For example, when a person is present at a crossroad, he has a choice between one way or the other, but he does not necessarily have the freedom to walk […]

The Brothers Karamazov: I. The Nature of Morality

Posted on October 7, 2016; Last updated on December 14, 2022

The Natural Law The word morality comes from the Latin root mos (meaning “custom or law”), which in turn is a translation of the Greek word ἠθικός (“character or moral nature”). The idea of natural law originated with Plato and the Stoics, and found its full expression in Cicero. God, who governs the universe, has implanted the immortal soul in man from His own divine nature. The Mind of God […]

The Chess Game Analogy: Feynman on the Laws of Nature

Posted on September 28, 2016; Last updated on March 15, 2018

One way that’s kind of a fun analogy to try to get some idea of what we’re doing in trying to understand nature is to imagine that the gods are playing some great game like chess. Let’s say a chess game. And you don’t know the rules of the game, but you’re allowed to look at the board at least from time to time and in a little corner, perhaps. […]

“The Varieties of Religious Experience” by William James

Posted on August 2, 2016; Last updated on April 5, 2018

William James anticipated modern debate on the relationship between science and religion, and provided practical reasons to take religion seriously. His personal and common sense approach works particularly well within a pluralistic and consumer culture. Choosing a Religion For Yourself First, every human being must face the reality of life, death, suffering, and something beyond ourselves. How do we respond to this reality? James surveys responses from atheists (Voltaire), transcendentalists […]

Berkeley: A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

Posted on May 17, 2016; Last updated on December 14, 2022

The Meaning of Reality I’ve learned since childhood that reality is what exists independently of human perception and knowledge. We gain knowledge of reality if and only if our ideas correspond to it. Fantasy is that which has no correspondence in reality, and exists only in the mind of an individual. Unless he communicates his fantasy, others have no way of knowing it. George Berkeley shows a different way of […]

Evolution: The Problem of Non-Identity

Posted on May 16, 2016; Last updated on February 20, 2021

A Matter of Identity As an armchair Platonist, I find the philosophy behind Darwinian evolution not only intellectually unsatisfactory, but also self-contradictory. On the one hand, it asserts constant change, that, given enough time and proper conditions, anything can change into anything else; on the other hand, it asserts identity, that there is a “struggle for existence” of the individual and/or group. It is a self-contradiction to state that something […]

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