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- Lao-Tzu: #2 — When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created.
- David Bruce: William Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET: A Retelling in Prose (Free PDF)
- David Bruce: John Webster’s THE WHITE DEVIL: A Retelling — Act 4, Scene 2
- NOTES on Rudolf Otto (1869-1937): The Idea of the Holy
- David Bruce: Dante's INFERNO: A Discussion Guide — “Canto 23: The Hypocrites”
- David Bruce: Dante's INFERNO: A Discussion Guide — “Canto 15: Brunetto Latini”
- David Bruce: Dante's INFERNO: A Discussion Guide — “Canto 12: The Minotaur and the River of Blood”
- NOTES on Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): A Psychological Egoist, and Joseph Butler (1692-1752): A Critic of Psychological Egoism
- David Bruce: William Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: A Retelling in Prose — Cast of Characters and Act 1, Scene 1
- David Bruce: Dante's INFERNO: A Discussion Guide — “Canto 18: Panderers and Seducers; Flatterers”
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Monthly Archives: January 2018
David Bruce: Work Anecdotes
1993 photo by Alan Light [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons As a teenager, Jay Leno got a job at a Ford saleslot doing odds and ends. Among his jobs was taking the hubcaps off the cars at night … Continue reading
NOTES on René Descartes (1596-1650): Meditations
after Frans Hals [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons René Descartes (1596-1650) lived in an age of skepticism. The New Science had grown to be very important, and it had brought into question many of the beliefs that had been held … Continue reading
Dante’s PURGATORY, Canto 1: VENUS
Engraver: Gustave Doré *** VENUS *** Venus: love’s planet Can’t be seen in Inferno Dante sees it here *** NOTE: The Inferno is always dark, but no stars and planets can be seen there. The Mountain of Purgatory has both … Continue reading
NOTES on Plato (427?-347 B.C.E.): The Visible and the Invisible
PLATO https://pixabay.com/en/bronze-plato-scholar-610837/ Plato (427?-347 B.C.E.) is one of the giants of philosophy. Part of his accomplishment was to create a complete philosophical system, one whose parts — metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political and social philosophy, etc. — were closely integrated. Some … Continue reading
Dante’s PURGATORY, Canto 1: INFERNO VERSUS PURGATORY
https://pixabay.com/en/matterhorn-switzerland-europe-lake-2921923/ *** INFERNO VERSUS PURGATORY *** Here air is pleasant Purgatory: souls are saved Here is night and day *** Hell is always dark No repentance is found there Its air always stinks *** https://davidbruceblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/dantes-purgatory-canto-1-retelling-the-island-of-purgatory-and-cato-the-guard/ *** David Bruce’s Amazon Author … Continue reading
David Bruce (born 1954): Metaphysical Theories’ Strengths and Weaknesses
David Bruce One good way to choose among competing metaphysical theories is to list their strengths and weaknesses, then choose on that basis. MATERIALISM Materialism is the view that all reality consists of matter. Thus, the only things that are … Continue reading
Dante’s PURGATORY, Canto 1: Calliope
Source: Simon Vouet, The Muses Urania and Calliope (detail) *** CALLIOPE *** Muse Calliope Sing and help me tell my tale Help a suppliant *** NOTE: Dante has a new task. He has told about what he saw in the … Continue reading
NOTES on Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951): Philosophical Investigations
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1899–1951) Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) had much to say on the subject of language and metaphysics. In his Philosophical Investigations, which was posthumously published in 1953, his views on language (which had been greatly revised since the publication of … Continue reading
NOTES on Richard Taylor (1919-2003): Materialism and Personal Identity
https://pixabay.com/en/knowledge-book-library-glasses-1052010/ In the second edition of his book Metaphysics (1974), Richard Taylor (1919-2003) examines the advantages and disadvantages of believing in the metaphysical theories of Materialism (in the form of the Identity Theory, aka the Identity Thesis) and of Dualism. … Continue reading
NOTES on George Berkeley (1685-1753): Idealism
John Smibert – Bishop George Berkeley – Public Domain George Berkeley (1685-1753) was a believer in Idealism, which denies the reality of physical matter. According to Idealism, reality is mental, not physical. In his Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous, … Continue reading