Tag Archives: Philosophy

The Wild Bourgeois

"This was going to be my last," Pike Bishop murmurs into his whiskey after a botched robbery of a railroad office results in the decimation of his gang. "I'd like to make one good score and back off." His partner, Dutch, his voice dripping with venom, snaps "Back off to what?" The question hangs ominously in the air as the two friends stare Read more [...]

An Ode to the Desert

"I’ve crossed these sands many times, said one of the camel drivers one night. But the desert is so huge, and the horizon so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent. The boy intuitively knew what he meant, even without having ever set foot in the desert before. Whenever he saw the sea, or a fire, he fell Read more [...]

If A Tree Falls

One of the most widely known (and basic) philosophical thought experiments is some variant of "If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Now, I would contend that a far more interesting philosophical question is the one posed by Gary Larson, here, but that is besides the point. In any case, the Read more [...]

Eminem: A Theory of Value

My friend Jake Johnson, an alumnus of both Lafayette College and my Niskayuna High School Varsity soccer team, asked me a provocative question a while back: “run rabbit run might be eminem's best song, yay or nay?” Now, anyone who has known me for over 39.5 minutes is painfully aware that: (1) I’m of the opinion that Eminem is the second Read more [...]

An Idea of Immortality

One of my favorite philosophical readings is Plato’s Phaedo, the renowned Socratic dialogue depicting the days leading to the death of Socrates. In the dialogue Socrates offers, among other things, arguments for the soul’s immortality. His musings on the soul begin as mere reassurance to his friends and students. Although he has just been Read more [...]