Socratic and Sarcastic Methods contrasted
Source. Related: On the trial of the historical Socrates, in the Philosophers, Explained series.
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MUSIC and SENSE of LIFE: SHOSTAKOVICH’S MUNDANE CYNICISM
The philosophical nature of art, as illustrated by Dmitri Shostakovich’s comments on the purpose of his music, from his autobiographical Testimony.
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Friedrich Nietzsche on the necessity of war
One of the themes in my Philosophy of Politics courses (Part 1, Part 2) is the vast gulf between the Continental and Anglo-American traditions over the desirability of war and peace. Relevant to that discussion are these quotations from Nietzsche on war: Why war is necessary: “War essential. It is vain rhapsodizing and sentimentality to
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‘Lifeboat’ Ethics & ‘Dark’ Human Nature — Lecture 3 of BUSINESS LEADERSHIP ETHICS
Lecture 3. Morals & Human Nature Dr. Hicks examines how views of humans—as naturally destructive and conflictual (via the myth of Gyges and Freudian psychology) or cooperative and productive—shape ethics and business practices. “Lifeboat scenario” claims about resource scarcity influence moral decisions and highlight the tension between social Darwinism and altruistic sacrifice in zero-sum situations,
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Dugin’s “The Gnostic” essay and the dark Left Hand Path
In a short 1995 essay, “The Gnostic,” published when he was co-founder of Russia’s National Bolshevik Party, Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin urges young Russians to drink “The wine of socialist revolution, the joy of rebellion against the forces of fate, and the sacred, berserker passion for total destruction of all that was black”. To do
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Ortega y Gasset on connecting Kant to the deconstructionists
The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955) was of the generation before deconstruction, but I was stuck by these comments on post-Kantian German Idealism: “never before has a lack of truthfulness played such a large and important role in philosophy” And: “They did whatever they felt like doing with concepts. As if by magic
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Iran’s power broker Ali Larijani is a Kant scholar
According to The New York Times, Ali Larijani has effectively been running Iran since January 2026. He was in “charge of crushing, with lethal force, the recent protests demanding the end of Islamic rule.” [Source] He is now the key power broker in Iran’s transition. A colleague alerts me to the suprising-to-me fact that Larijani
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Egoism, Altruism, Predation — Lecture 2 of BUSINESS LEADERSHIP ETHICS
Lecture 2. Egoism, Altruism, Predation In lecture two, we study three distinct moral frameworks—egoism, altruism, and predation. We examine how each type manifests across various domains of life, including business, sports, sexuality, and gift-giving, analyzing each approach through the dimensions of intent, action, and consequences. Dr. Hicks concludes by highlighting how entrepreneurial traits align with
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