“It is usually said (and I used to say) that smoking facilitates mental work. And that is undoubtedly true if one considers only the quantity of one’s mental output. To a man who smokes, and who consequently ceases strictly to appraise and weigh his thoughts, it seems as if he suddenly had many thoughts. But this is not because he really has many thoughts, but only because he has lost […]
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Kant: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
Encountering Kant The cover image of a narrow staircase between heaven and earth is a picturesque representation of Kant’s notion of reason. On the one hand, reason must be separated from external causes and influences through the senses, i.e., reason is not subject to the laws of nature; on the other hand, it must not receive revelations or directives from a Supreme Being, as it must maintain its autonomy, i.e. freedom. […]
Read more“For Self-Examination/Judge for Yourself” by Søren Kierkegaard
Against Humanity Jesus and Socrates have much in common, according to Kierkegaard: Both were terrible robbers and both were sentenced to death for their robbery. “What is assaulting a lone traveler on a highway perhaps a half-dozen times compared with his assault upon the whole human race and upon what it means to be a human being! A thief can steal my money; in so doing we are in disagreement, […]
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“Aeneid” by Virgil
“The Plains of Troy Within Us” I chose Mandelbaum’s verse translation of Aeneid for two main reasons. First, because I plan to read his translation of Divine Comedy and the same translator might give me a better sense of the connection between the two classics. Second, Mandelbaum’s introduction and a phrase in his inscription, “the plains of Troy within us”, intrigued me. However, it was not until half way through […]
Read more“The Discourses of Epictetus” by Epictetus
A critic like Nietzsche might say that Stoicism is the philosophy of the slaves, just as religion is the opiate of the masses, or that a Stoic desperately rationalizes to make his miserable life more endurable, just as an Existentialist tries desperately to justify his own existence. However, reading the Discourses of Epictetus, who was born a slave and crippled later in life, I didn’t detect any baseness, slavishness, self-pity […]
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“Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius
The Stoic Ideal Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, as well as works by Cicero which extol stoic virtues, put me in a state of awe and shame. I’m awed by the loftiness of their ideal character: purposefulness of life, clarity of vision, purity in dedication, fortitude, temperance, magnanimity, freedom and equanimity; I’m ashamed as if looking in a mirror and recognizing my own character contemptible in contrast. The Stoic Tenets As I […]
Read more“On the Ideal Orator” by Cicero
[Original Latin Title: De Oratore] Eloquence Forms a Unity For since all discourse is made up of content and words, the words cannot have any basis if you withdraw the content, and the content will remain in the dark if you remove the words. All the universe above and below us is a unity and is bound together by a single, natural force and harmony. For there is nothing in […]
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