This House Is Not A Home

The early 20th century German philosopher Martin Heidegger, in his monumental work Being and Time, made the claim that “language is the house of Being.” What all he meant by this oblique statement I do not wish to delve into here, but the main point he was trying to make was the power of language for Human Beings. Language shapes our conception of the world by giving shape to our consciousness. And it is for this reason that I have created my Dictionopolis section to explore important words that they we commonly use today when talking about the nature of reality, despite them having lost all meaning; or that we use as answers to the mystery of existence, when all they actually do is point to questions.

Today, the word I have chosen is Creativity.

The Specter of Perfection

"We have discovered happiness, say the last men, and blink thereby." — Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

For the last 500ish years, we have been in what historians have dubbed “Modernity,” as opposed to the Middle Ages or Antiquity. And one of the single most powerful driving forces behind the events of History in our current period (although some speculate that we have now moved into Post-Modernity) has been the idea of Progress—that the past was flawed and that we are moving forward, linearly, toward something better.

The Dude Abides—But Should He?

"That's just, like, your opinion, man." — The Dude

Sorry about the recent radio silence—been crazy busy with work. I'm going to do my best to update this at least once a week in the future. So check back soon.

For now, check out a piece I did last year about The Big Lebowski and Nihilism. 

The Dude Abides—But Should He?

The Forgotten Genius Who Created The Modern World

"I do not care to please either the witty or the fashionable. At all times there will be men destined to be subjugated by the opinions of their century, their country, their society . . . One must not write for such readers when one wants to live beyond one's century." — Rousseau, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences

In 1750, an unassuming, bashful, "citizen of Geneva" named Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote a now scarcely remembered essay for a contest, and it completely altered the course of history. Yet despite its current obscurity, as the preface quoted above predicts, the untimeliness of the ideas contained within continue to be felt even today, 264 years later.

A Case Study In How Not To Do Case Studies

Socrates is notorious for claiming that all he knows is that he knows nothing, that he is ignorant. Yet in two dialogues, the Symposium and Phadreus, he claims to be an expert in Eros and to know an "erotic art."

For Socrates, Eros, love or desire, means that one is missing something; it is directed at "what you don't have, what isn't there, and what you need." It is, therefore, a recognition of lack, of incompleteness, and the desire to become whole.