At the beginning of the Timeaus, Socrates indicates that what we are about to witness is a work of a political philosophy. Having presented an image of the most just city the day before, he now asks the men gathered... Continue Reading →
Essentially concerned with the creating the philosophic foundation for consensual governments, Locke's Second Treatise is haunted by echos of the Book of Genesis. This is not surprising given that Locke's primary opponents are those who argue that all government should... Continue Reading →
Homer's Iliad, which tells the story of the Trojan war, reveals in clarity the devastation of a world at war. Having come to Troy to avenge the abduction or seduction of the Menelaus's wife, Helen, and to reassert the principles... Continue Reading →
Locke's Second Treatise on Government is famously cited as providing the philosophic foundations of the liberal democratic world. Arguing against the right of of absolute monarchs, Locke says that if we imagine how we might have existed in an original... Continue Reading →
Sometimes my dog Tim does things that he shouldn't. Like the time he ate the right shoe of two different pairs. Or when he jumped up and broke the ceiling fan. Or when, just prior to Thanksgiving dinner, he lunged... Continue Reading →
The image we get from Plato's dialogues of his teacher, Socrates, is strange and often startling. He wanders around Athens speaking to everyone, bothering most people, rarely taking the hint. He is generally barefoot and goes without bathing such that... Continue Reading →
I have a terrible memory for some things. I can watch whole movies without remembering that I have already seen them. I don't remember the names of causal acquaintances, and lots of times I can't remember the names of my immediate... Continue Reading →
As much as Dante's Divine Comedy is about the power of romantic love (as it is for the sake of Beatrice that Dante is willing to go through all of the terror of Inferno and the arduous climb of Purgatory),... Continue Reading →
It is a well known fact that I am not a morning person. Waking up is bad; being woken up is evil - which is to say, it makes me evil. This is not an exaggeration. I no longer will... Continue Reading →
