Author Archives
I’ve completed all but defence of my thesis for a masters in philosophy. My disciplinary interest has been in the acquisition and maintenance of our beliefs. But I also have a background in the study of rhetoric, linguistics, and philosophy of language. I’m taking a hiatus from the student life, but am intellectually active. For example, I’m a research assistant for my husband, Paul, a social and political philosopher. Paul and I regularly discuss and vet each other’s work. So, while I don’t have a PhD, neither am I simply pulling things out of my derriere.
Paul and I delight in our four pets: Barsi, a Border Collie-Pyrenees cross, Howard, a German Shepherd-Bernese-Pyrenees cross puppy, and two cats, Mr. Tinky and Rorschach. Between us we have three wonderful sons and their three respective equally wonderful partners, and we delight in all. We live in Lethbridge, Alberta and, until covid, we travelled overseas throughout our summers.
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Thoughtlets . xxxviii.
Lately I’ve been troubled by laughing-at-stupid-people infotainment, especially in partisan news media, and on both sides of the political spectrum. I’d like to watch a broadcast that doesn’t devolve into some version of nanny-nanny-poo-poo-you-have-stinky-pants. That the frowning anchor wears a suit… Read More ›
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Thoughtlets. xxxvii.
Even the ancients wondered why patterns in human behaviour and events occur. We shouldn’t wonder at their wondering since they, like us, were concerned with prediction and control for matters of survival and social flourishing. “Perhaps there is a sort… Read More ›
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Thoughtlets. xxxvi.
Tacitus, an Roman historian, writes these words in the Annals sometime around 117 CE, “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… Read More ›
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Plato’s Legacy: Intellectual Curmudgeonry
Try this. When you step out of bed in the morning, open the curtains, take a big breath, and exclaim: What a wonderful day! I can’t believe how rational people are! It’s because somebody, say Plato, opened the curtains one… Read More ›
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Thoughtlets. xxxiv.
The Assumption(s) of the Soulless Shoes David Hume noted,
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Thoughtlets. xxxiii.
Don’t be deterred from searching a well-trodden path for novel things. Hard packed ground can conceal many treasures.
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Thoughtlets. xxxii.
A scapegoat is (usually) a person or group of people unjustly blamed for some set of circumstances arising from the actions of others. Scapegoats bear the brunt of crowd hostility and, once identified by an angry mob, find themselves in no-win,… Read More ›
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Thoughtlets. xxxi.
Resistance is not raising up an army and trading fire, by that time too many have needlessly suffered — as will many more. Resistance is inviting someone you’ve been taught (and are expected) to hate to your table and treating… Read More ›
