Category: philosophical counseling
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A secular version of the Parable of the Talents
Our time on earth is finite; we know that we shall perish. How are we to best spend our days? How to use our gifts? On the one hand, we could believe that all our words and deeds do not amount to much since these will be erased with the passing of time. Hence, we…
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Plotinus on sculpting the self
In Enneads I 6, 9, Plotinus writes, Go back inside yourself and look: if you do not yet see yourself as beautiful [i.e., as participating in the Idea of Beauty], then do as the sculptor does with a statue he wants to make beautiful; he chisels away one part, and levels off another, makes one…
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The tentative, provisional, and presumptive
A common error in thinking is to believe that a request, an invitation, or an offer is structured according to a Yes or a No. Either I accept or I reject. Either I assent or else dissent. However, in many cases a binary operator may not be accurate or appropriate. Thus, one needs to consider,…
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The salamander and the black-and-white bird
Up to me came a salamander to be warmed by the sun. The wind was cool and I felt chilled, so I sat down and began to climb. When I returned to be warmed by the sun, along came a little black-and-white bird hopping closer and closer to me. He was hopping along the low-lying…
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Philosophical portraiture by Aleksandra Marcella Lauro
Aleksandra is working on a series on philosophical portraiture. The ultimate aim is to depict a life either as it is in the midst of transforming or after it has been transformed. In this series, she seeks in particular to portray the salient virtues of an excellent human life. In the example below, we see Humility…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 