Tag: Ethics
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The Banality Of Evil, Revisited: The Horror of Just ‘Let[ting] Off Some Steam’
When we think of someone spraying bullets through stained glass windows into a Catholic church where young children are observing morning mass, we should feel horrified. In an effort to make sense of our horror, however, we should not resort to psychological categories like “mental illness.” If we do, then, sadly, we’ve failed to reckon…
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On Violence And Universal Love
In an ABC News interview following the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, a neighbor, Pat Scallen, recalls how he ran from his house to the scene and sought to help in whatever way he could. Soon, he saw children running out of the building. According to ABC News, Scallen said the girl [who,…
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Courage Is The Most Important Virtue For Our Time
In 2012, I argued, “The most important virtue for our time is courage.” Yesterday, I read Christopher Rufo’s manifesto, “New Right Activism,” in which he states, “The most important virtue of our time is courage.” Despite the fact that Rufo’s claim is situated within a particular political context–for him, it’s the New Right’s attempt to…
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Self-control As An Aid For The Inward Turn
The nondual teaching says that one must turn inward in order to know that one is, right here and right now, being-peace. And yet, actually turning inward seems, at first, to be nearly impossible. I touch on this conundrum in this talk: The question then arises, “What is it that makes an inward turn possible?”…
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Contrition As A Key To The Spiritual Life
What role does contrition or shame play in nondual spirituality? Perhaps an interesting one insofar as it could be a gateway. To what? So long as one takes oneself to be an agent, the teaching says, just so long are the fruits of one’s actions “one’s own.” Honesty, then, encourages one to admit, perhaps, that…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 