On Remembrance Day we are expected to honour soldiers. Soldiers who made individual sacrifices, for the sake of us – so that we can partake in the value(s) they defended. This is what is asked of us “in return” for their “gift”.
But is this demand without political, contemporary interest? Are we expected to value the [...]
Archive for the ‘Philosophy’ Category
On Rememberance Day
Posted in Capitalism, Ethics, God, Philosophy, writing on November 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
“Hyperstylish Objects” and Things
Posted in Being, Ethics, Philosophy, Things on October 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Walking through Old Montreal with my Mother, popping into galleries filled with 5000$ paintings (and people buying them!), we came across the strangest store. Called “Hyper-Stylish Books and Objects”, it was superficially a book store. But, unlike any book store I’d ever seen before – all of the books were wrapped in plastic. So, you [...]
On Time and Engagement in the Present
Posted in Capitalism, Ethics, Philosophy, Pragmatics on October 20, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Today, two events occurred that together brought me to a clarifying thought about the ways we are in-time today. The first was a conversation with a retired professor, and the second was an entry on Milan’s excellent blog.
John was making the not too controversial point that the institution of texting, tweeting, being on the computer [...]
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
Posted in Art, Capitalism, Philosophy, Picturesque, beginning on October 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal is free. This means you don’t have to pay, (except for some temporary exhibitions). That and the collection is quite astonishing – including the likes of Monet, Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, etc… There is also a serious ancient Greece exhibit which, unlike the ROM’s, doesn’t pretend that Roman [...]
The arrival of the future. Part 2 of 3: Unmaned Aerial Vehicles
Posted in Ethics, Philosophy, Technology, beginning on September 24, 2009 | 19 Comments »
As children the notion of unmanned aerial attack vehicles, engaging human targets with their computer brains, was reserved for the realm of dystopian science fiction. However, vehicles that can fly autonomously are possessed by the military of the United States and Israel. Machines that engage human targets under no direct supervision by a pilot are [...]
Values
Posted in Being, Capitalism, Ethics, Philosophy, global warming on September 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We all have them. They’re what drive us, what we strive for. What we sometimes have to give up. What we set up as provisional ideals, goals, projects. What guide us through difficult decisions. What we ponder over. What we die for (or from).
When our ideals differ from those of others, we have values for [...]
First week back, and a new blog
Posted in Ethics, Philosophy, Pragmatics, beginning on September 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s Sunday – meaning I’ve been back in Toronto for an entire week. I’ve been to many parties, seen many familiar faces. I have one class, two jobs, other papers to write – it will be a busy term. But, there will still be time for reflection.
It’s hard to know what to write when I’m [...]
Upcoming Rail Journey
Posted in Philosophy, Technology, Trains on September 1, 2009 | 8 Comments »
This Thursday I am leaving on a rail odyssey that will take me from Bellingham to Seattle, to Chicago, to Buffalo, and finally to Toronto. Four days of trans and layovers crossing Washington State, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York before crossing into Canada and arriving in Toronto, [...]
Summer Ponderings, Existential Crisis, Meaning and Purpose
Posted in Being, Body Phenomenology, Capitalism, Ethics, God, Philosophy, Pragmatics, Technology, Things, beginning, global warming on August 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Back in touch”
This summer I have not spent much time reading and writing. In other words, I have not done much philosophy. I’ve found myself wondering, “What is the point of philosophy?”, “What is philosophy for?”. Of course, easy and bad answers to these questions exist. The usual solution is to posit some principle which [...]
Serra’s Shift
Posted in Being, Body Phenomenology, Capitalism, Ethics, Philosophy, Photography, Picturesque, Pragmatics, Technology, Things, beginning, global warming on June 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday morning my father, myself, and a few roomates and friends piled into my new one dollar van to drive north of Toronto to see Richard Serra’s early site-specific work, “Shift”. Although I first heard about the piece four years ago in a course on late Heidegger, a lack of private transportation meant this was [...]
