Just yesterday, I finished reading a history of the Middle Ages. The book ended with these wise words: In the last century of the medieval era, the peoples of Europe had to cope with an unprecedented combination of plague, war, schism, and economic decline, all occurring simultaneously and all interacting with one another. In the … [Read more…]
A few weeks back, Michael S. Greve published a discussion of one of our fundamental problems in these troubled times, as opposed to the secondary problems discussed by the better technical experts in financing, investment, etc. Greve’s essay, in three parts, can be found at: The Constitution of Affluence, Part I, The Constitution of Affluence, … [Read more…]
Call it traditionalism or conservatism if you wish — though I refer to an attitude and a body of thought far from the comic-book views of the mass-media commentators and the ideologues they serve. What is it? One of my favorite, perhaps overused, quotations is from the historian Carroll Quigley: The truth unfolds in time … [Read more…]
Here’s an article about hunting for your ancestry by way of genetic analysis: Ancestry testing goes for pinpoint accuracy . The article warns that interpreting the results of genetic tests can be difficult. Apparently, some of the testing companies have not only advanced equipment and well-trained technicians but also reputable academic researchers as advisers. That … [Read more…]
I’m still contemplating a few issues raised or brought back to memory by my recent reading of The Meaning of Truth by William James. The ideas of William James put pressure upon my own ideas, a form of updated Thomism, just because he knew how to respect empirical reality without being a reductionist but also, … [Read more…]
Respect for empirical knowledge doesn’t determine if one believes or disbelieves in God, though it has generally forced any believers, pagan and pantheist and Christians and others, to see a God of reason. After all, the very term `empirical knowledge’ is meaningful only if it refers to something, some realm of being subject to perception … [Read more…]
In The Meaning of Truth, William James makes the claim: The pragmatist view … of the truth-relation is that it has a definite content and that everything in it is experienceable. Its whole nature can be told in positive terms. The `workableness’ which ideas must have, in order to be true means particular workings, physical … [Read more…]
I’m trying to tighten the focus of some of my own ideas in the area of religion and society, religion and government, religion and any other form of human community. There are probably many things to be said about the conflict between religion and various sorts of religious societies, and some also cover conflicts involving … [Read more…]
I’ve been reading Serious Art by the philosopher John Passmore. This book has inspired in me some thoughts about what might be called the imagination. I’m especially interested in the relationship of imagination to an allegedly different part of the human mind called reason. It’s possible I’m interested because and not despite my efforts to … [Read more…]
William James made a claim which should be very disturbing to those who hold mainstream views of the nature of truth: The truth of an idea is not a stagnant property inherent in it. Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is made true by events. Its verity is in fact an event, a … [Read more…]