On Slicing Through “Conspiracy Theories”
A Philosophical Happy Hour on how we ought to approach conspiracy theories.“The truth is out there”? Human history finds itself interwoven, in every age, with falsehood. We suffer, to steal a phrase of Umberto Eco’s, a “fatal imbalance between story and plot”—between what underlies, the reality, and what sits atop, the narrative. In recent years, […]
On the Thought of Immanuel Kant
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the structure and merits of Immanuel Kant’s key contributions to theories of knowledge and morality. Immanuel Kant’s philosophy remains a turning point in the history of thought, one that has shaped not only modern theories of knowledge—which “epistemology” has wound its way into countless other domains of human activity—but also […]
On the Renaissance and Human Dignity
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the notion of human dignity as conveyed through thinkers of the Renaissance. The philosophy of the Renaissance—a somewhat deceptive but now inescapably common name for the movement, occurring roughly (with some notable outliers) between 1350–1650, to retrieve Platonic thinking, emphasize the arts of grammar and rhetoric over that of logic, […]
On Contemporary Atheism
A Philosophical Happy Hour centered around a reading of Jacques Maritain’s essay, “The Meaning of Contemporary Atheism”. Included in a collection of essays under the title, The Range of Reason, we find Jacques Maritain’s, “The Meaning of Contemporary Atheism”. We will gather this Wednesday (2/26/25) to discuss this essay’s primary intention—explaining what it means and […]
On Habits of Speaking Well
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the use of language to convey thinking: from daily conversation, to professional presentation, let us ask after the habits of speaking well. How does one learn to speak well? Many courses are offered with proposed solutions—from the WikiHow to MasterClasses and entire college majors. Yet it seems, upon brief reflection, […]
On Leadership
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the nature of a leader, the act of leading, and the concept of leadership in society. Entering into this Happy Hour post, I saw two paths before me: the first and more immediately attractive was the literary road—to think of Hector and Achilles, Odysseus, Aeneas, Virgil in Dante or Satan […]
Felicitates de Quodlibet, II.1
A Philosophical Happy Hour on… whatever! Renewing our Felictates de Quodlibet series for 2025, in which we talk about whatever we want, so long as it is interesting, and for as long as we are interested. Or, to put this otherwise: do you have a philosophical question—any question whatsoever—you want seriously to discuss with other […]
Why the Study of Signs
A Philosophical Happy Hour on why the study of signs constitutes the recovery of genuine philosophy and may result in the infusion of philosophical habits into culture. Few words common in modern “intellectual” environments sound as sophisticated or are used as carelessly as “semiotics”. Given that it is often associated with French structuralism or deconstructionism, […]
On Reality, Realism, and the “Real World”
A Philosophical Happy Hour on what makes something “real”, what is “reality”, what is “realism”, what belongs to the “real world”, how we know “the real”, and why it is important. “Just wait until you get into the real world.” “That isn’t a real problem.” “Get a real job.” We have all heard expressions such […]
On the Mystical
A Philosophical Happy Hour on the mystical, the esoteric, the unknown—the traditions of secret learning, their dangers, their refutation, and the true good of mystical contemplation “I believe the universe is a great symphony of numerical correspondences, I believe that numbers and their symbolisms provide a path to special knowledge”, says the antagonist of Umberto […]
