Month: March 2014

• March 14, 2014

  The trouble with deadlines: A conceptual analysis and alternative proposal

  Dear Philosophical Friend, By means of philosophical inquiry, we determined what would be an appropriate deadline for the project you wish to complete. Specifically, we asked three questions that were based on the gift economy worksheet: 1.) Is it a generous deadline and will allow for surprises? 2.) Is it urgent enough to avoid squandering…
• March 13, 2014

  Humble elitism: Making the vertical ascent

  One who sets foot on the philosophical path may become bewildered when he begins to consider how it is possible not to be arrogant yet also how to ascend beyond the bounds of the ordinary. I have recently come to a better understanding  of how this is possible. More: of how this is necessary. 1.…
• March 11, 2014

  Why is every secular Westerner flocking to Buddhism?

  Dear Philosophical Friend, In our conversation, we followed an ‘itinerary of the spirit’ through various ‘stations’ of consciousness. A boy growing up in Northern Europe would have likely been a Protestant. He would been introduced to devotional practices, he might have believed in having a ‘personal connection’ to God, and would have felt consolation with…
• March 10, 2014

  Solitude and silence; or loneliness

  Here is the poetic argument I continue to meditate upon and revise each morning: In solitude, there is silence. In silence, there is wide hearing. Out of wide hearing comes direct speech.  * Solitude is not loneliness. Loneliness is filled with what- ever one cannot bear. * Therefore, the solitary man is stillness. Therefore, the lonely…
• March 8, 2014

  Book Launch: Awakening to Philosophical Life (March 2014)

  Aleksandra and I have recently completed the book design for Awakening to Philosophical Life: Essays Personal and Impersonal (March 2014). Consisting of personal essays which connect the particular to the general, the personal to the exemplary, the philosopher with his time, the book seeks to show one path of awakening to philosophical life. In keeping with…