Category: ethics

• January 6, 2012

  How to play the rousing game of ‘getting to know someone you’ve never met’

  Moves in the Game You’re in the middle of a game that has only 3 moves. No more, no less. Until it chances upon a catchier name, the game shall be called “getting to know someone you’ve never met.” The goal of the game? Quite simply, to have an encounter with an acquaintance. An encounter…
• January 5, 2012

  ‘Are you done with that?’

  We have nearly forgotten what it’s like to take our time. Coffee comes pierced by a talon, is pulled down by a waterfall, is ready in less than a minute. It tastes like a hot gulp of brown. Daily, we are faced with the prospects of drinking big gulps, of chugging, of downing, or of…
• January 4, 2012

  ‘The nature of a good marriage is actually very simple’

  “Call no man blessed until he has died.” –Solon For about a year, I’ve been having weekly conversations over email with an older man. We’ve been talking about living and dying, literature and philosophy, ethics and science. He’s become someone whom I admire. During a recent exchanged, I asked him about the nature of a…
• January 3, 2012

  Seneca on our overindulgent habits of reading

  It may be time to rest after a day of writing like mad about Jane Austen. For me, Austen is hard. She flees from me, is overdemanding, is so smart that I can’t keep up. Every time I try to do her justice, I fail. I take some time away from her. In about a…
• January 2, 2012

  Never love by halves

  The late philosopher Gilbert Ryle was fond of Jane Austen, so fond that he once likened Austen’s style of characterization to the technique of wine tasting. There is a joke about him that I quite like. When he was asked whether whether he ever read any novels, he replied, “Yes indeed. Each year all 6.”…