Category: ethics
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Examination of conscience: 2nd day of spiritual exercise (1)
I’m finding myself incredibly impatient this morning, so I need to explore my sense of impatience. I should begin with the nature of impatience. And then get on with some exercise. I feel impatient when my desire for something is deferred. Some kind of obstacle gets in the way. A simple example: Someone is visiting,…
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Examination of conscience: 1st day of spiritual exercise
For St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), devout Catholic and author of Spiritual Exercises, the examination of conscience was a vital exercise for one who wished to make spiritual progress. We might liken this practice to an intellectual-moral pilgrimage: a pilgrimage of self-transformation. A word before we begin. The virtues and defects I write about are…
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Montaigne the philosopher
When Montaigne retired to his tower and started scrawling quotes on the ceiling, his only plan was to surround himself with his friends. Then he got the idea of writing the quotes down, then he began commenting on them, then musing about them and mulling them over, and finally, as if by accident, his scribblings…
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On drinks, on driving, on Plato, on life with Robert Rowland Smith
Last night I had cocktails with Robert Rowland Smith, who’s in town promoting his book, Driving with Plato. Back up because I’ve already fudged things a bit: I had cocktails, and he had beer. There we are. Temple Bar. Noho. The darkness, as you walk into Temple Bar, is seductive and complete. The figure greeting…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 