Category: philosophical counseling
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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.”…
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On the sorry state of gift giving
In modern culture, the ethos of gift giving has come to resemble the genre of the apologia. The defendant–guarded, vigilant–is made to choose between pre-emption, exculpation, and exoneration. These are her weapons. “But I wasn’t sure what to get you.” A reminder of how tenuous our acquaintance, how limited our imaginations. “I know, I know, I…
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On the meaning of sighs: A philosophical conversation followed by a lullaby
The following is a short excerpt from a philosophical conversation I had recently with one conversation partner. Afterward: an afterthought, an extra thought, a lullaby of a kind. — She wrote, I sigh. Yes I sigh. The cosmic breath, of all men, of all women Of more creation, loss and love to come. I…
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On layaways, one-click drunk shopping, and being an idiot
Philosophers are idiots. Evidence for this claim abounds. First off, we’re easily confused. Because of this, we spend much of our days asking for explanations concerning the most elementary truths. Second off, we don’t readily understand topics that everyone else immediately gets, so we’re always asking people to slow down and show us again how…
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The latest version of my short public bio
It’s not a bad time to think amid the unsettled restlessness. After a plane from New York deposited me somewhere in the South. As the grass lies yellow and the moors I don’t see but imagine settle in. Might not be a bad time, then, to return to where we’ve begun, to add a few…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 