I had a teacher in college. He would tell the class on the first day that, "if they were late to class, then they would need to sit in the hall until the break", which was in the middle of this 2.5 hour class. He also regularly removed people from class who were playing on... Continue Reading →
Let Me Tell You How to Be Normal About Giving
I was at a meeting with friends (some young and some old) the other day and an elderly friend was talking about getting involved both time-wise and financially with a local cause. He was extremely passionate about the project and had clearly been in a number of meetings recently about this project. It appeared he... Continue Reading →
Epicureanism and America
This article is interesting for a number of reasons. In the good ol' USA, it seems to me that pleasure is the end goal of most things. At some level Jeremy Bentham was right about mankind beingĀ a slave to the 2 masters of...pain and pleasure. Mr. Bentham says it best: "Nature has placed mankind under... Continue Reading →
Existential Work and the Quest for Meaning
During each semester, I often ask my students what is the most important thing about life? This discussion usually happens during a Meaning of Life discussion/dialectic within our classroom and the students usually come up with all sorts of answers. We may have even just finished discussing Susan Wolf's article about the meaning of life.... Continue Reading →
What is Philosophy?
Imagine teaching a subject that is very hard to describe. So hard, that almost every student that enrolls in the subject has no idea what it is. So, Forester... What is Philosophy? I don't get this question often in everyday conversation, but I suspect it is for quite a different reason.... Continue Reading →
Why Do Philosophy and Limbless Men Lead to Financial Independence?
So...I carried around a man with no arms and legs for a couple years. I also majored in Philosophy. I believe it is these 2 things combined that have given me the perspective of life I have currently. I won't say much about them in this post, other than the fact that they started... Continue Reading →
Living Deliberately
Have you ever read "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau? In it- in the first chapter- he has a revolutionary sentence. the kind of sentence that embeds itself in your subconscious and presents itself at the most random of times. But in those times you are reminded of what you are doing and have some of... Continue Reading →