Short answer: conspiratorial worldviews and attitudes are necessary to preserve the fiction that the United States has no ruling class. Who were and are the members of this ruling class? They are the ones who went to the well-funded secondary academies of the Northeast, such as Phillips Exeter Academy and all the many with less … [Read more…]
I recently read Alvin Plantinga’s powerful book, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. I have little to say against what he deals with and bow to his well-organized, scholarly mind. He does a better job than any of a half-dozen or so books I’ve read which critique the metaphysical imperialism of some … [Read more…]
The doctrine of “free-will” and the similar doctrine positing an immaterial “mind” or “soul” seem to be an attempt to avoid the limitations and constraints of biology, of an organism in this world which is a highly particularized realm within Creation. We wish to rise above such mere physical processes as hormonal flows and—at a … [Read more…]
This split between the practical and the ideal is generally acknowledged by modern thinkers and `common folk’ alike. But what is the `practical’ and the `ideal’? I think they are very much different from both the traditional and modern prejudices. I don’t think that prejudices are wrong as such; often, they carry good and useful … [Read more…]
[In this essay, I’ll be mostly recapping ideas I’ve developed and written about over the previous 10 years or so. These ideas are necessary to understand my deepest and most hardened objections to forms of dualism other than those which are necessary and bracketed ways of speaking.] In my parrot-mode, I say: “Created being is … [Read more…]
Simplicity is quite useful and even necessary in understanding God’s Creation, just as it was useful to such thinkers as Riemann and Einstein in developing the mathematics and the specific theories of spacetime. Yet, full understandings in many such matters comes only by way of analyses using concepts and words and ways of thinking which … [Read more…]
The title gives the news. I’m aiming to post something substantial at least once a month and hope for once every two weeks—at least occasionally. Why am I writing posts less frequently? For now the main reason for fewer posts is my various efforts to gain new knowledge and to think new thoughts in dealing … [Read more…]
I’ll first provide links and summary quotes to two of my earlier posted essays: In Is God’s Creation Compatible with Centralization of Authority and Power?, I concluded: …that God’s Creation isn’t compatible with anything approaching complete centralization of power and authority, though centers of power and authority do exist and have their own role, often … [Read more…]
Mostly. That is, decentralization creates lots of opportunities for dynamic efforts of various sorts, some of which might well be very successful. By “successful in human history”, I write of both history proper (written narratives based upon facts) and also prehistory (the reconstructed narratives of pre-literate men and even of apish ancestors of men). By … [Read more…]
Let’s consider one historically important central power: the Papacy. The history of the Papacy was actually quite complicated but we can pass over those complications for my current purposes. I choose the Papacy for several reasons. Firstly, I entered the Catholic Church as an adult and am currently an (excessively?) active Catholic parishioner. I hold … [Read more…]