Author Archives

I am an independent scholar from Lethbridge, Alberta. I am all-but-thesis for a masters in philosophy. My research interests include the social aspects of belief acquisition and maintenance, language, and rhetoric. I also have an artsy bent and enjoy photography, painting, and graphic narratives. I live with my husband, Paul, a social and political philosopher, Barsi, a Border Collie-Pyrenees cross, Howard, a German Shepherd-Bernese-Pyrenees cross puppy, and two cats, Mr. Tinky and Rorschach. Paul and I have three wonderful sons and their three respective equally wonderful partners between us.

• It’s no sin

  By pammentations on November 5, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Rhetoric is, broadly put, the art of persuasion. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we’re all persuaded by rhetorical tactics and use them ourselves to persuade others. Some people find this notion unconscionable, as if there is some cognitive… Read More ›

• Ancient texts, modern perspectives.

  By pammentations on November 3, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Who said the following: “I wanted to dispel the fictions of hearsay, and to ask people into whose hands my book may come not to prefer widely circulated and eagerly accepted fantasies over truth uncorrupted by sensationalism.” *Did you guess… Read More ›

• Saturday Morning Pam-toons. Over or Under?

  By pammentations on October 31, 2020 • ( 0 )

• The doctor is in

  By pammentations on October 31, 2020 • ( 1 )

  

  Philosophy is a knee-jerk reaction clinic. In this high-charged social and political climate, remember to slooooow down.

• Thoughtlets .xxv.

  By pammentations on October 31, 2020 • ( 0 )

  If you like something a political speaker has said or the way she’s said it, ask yourself who her target audience is and whether you are a member. If so, remember the politician is soliciting your vote. It would not… Read More ›

• Thoughtlets .xxii. (worth repeating)

  By pammentations on October 29, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Look below a grand narrative, e.g. left vs right, dark vs light, and you will discover people doing the best they can with the circumstances in which they find themselves.

• As opposed to an “A” struction? Or worse, a “D” struction ?!!

  By pammentations on October 26, 2020 • ( 1 )

  I imagine structions are rated on a danger-scale from A through D. An A is precautionary for ‘in the unlikely event’, but be aware something can go wrong. A B denotes a strong likelihood of minor injury or inconvenience. C,… Read More ›

• Bread and Circuses

  By pammentations on October 24, 2020 • ( 0 )

  Somewhere around the second century CE, the Roman satirist Juvenal coined the phrase ‘bread and circuses’ which has come to mean placating one’s populace with cheap bribes to distract them from their political grievances. Here’s the logic. Thomas Hobbes observed… Read More ›

• Saturday Morning Pam-toons. A Visit to the ‘Politically Incorrect’ Confessional.

  By pammentations on October 24, 2020 • ( 0 )

• Experiment with prose poetry. About Hell.

  By pammentations on October 22, 2020 • ( 0 )

  People wonder where is hell and what is hell and others answer, hell is here. It’s here on earth, and it’s pain. People are in pain and it’s hell. People are in hell. And people are out of hell. Some… Read More ›