Suggested Readings

A few recommendations by The Philosophy Garden for your reading pleasure

Was Aristo an agnostic Stoic? It’s sometimes asserted that all ancient Stoics believed in Providence, and that this belief is necessary to justify the rest of their system of philosophy, especially their ethics. In fact, there’s no more reason for modern thinkers to conclude that belief in Providence is a necessary premise for Stoic Ethics than it is for more or less any other ethical system. … (Donald Robertson’s Stoicism)

Philosophical misanthropy. The condemnation of humankind is very topical these days. Given the global environmental crisis, the rise of far-right ideologies, destabilising social and economic equality, and other moral evils, many people issue denunciations of the state of humanity. Sometimes, the talk is just that – talk: expressions of frustration at our collective moral failings. Sometimes, though, there is a more practical spirit. At the more extreme end are those people who urge the end of our species, such as anti-natalists, including the Voluntary Human Extinction movement, who say humanity should stop reproducing. More moderate positions include those calling for a radical transformation of humanity, perhaps in the direction of smaller, simpler ways of life. The collapse of our industrial, consumerist form of life may be succeeded by life with a different, hopefully better, character – a hope offered for example by philosopher and Green activist Rupert Read in his recent book, Civilization is Finished (2019). An appropriate term for these exercises in the moral condemnation of humanity is misanthropy. … (Philosophy Now)

Chestfeeders, illegal aliens, and announcing your pronouns. Why do so many people roll their eyes at changes in social norms like use of the pronouns “they/them” to refer to nonbinary people?¹ Other examples that annoy and outrage include land acknowledgments (bigger in Canada than the US and even bigger in Australia and New Zealand), pronoun sharing in introductions, renaming streets and buildings originally named after now controversial historical figures, and the use of terms like “birthing person,” “chestfeeding,” and “menstruator”. Why do these piss so many people off? … (Small Potatoes)

What nobody tells you about breaking habits. Most people who want to eliminate their bad habits try to do so by directly suppressing them — just forcing themselves to stop. Often they find that simply doesn’t work. In his novel Women in Love, D.H. Lawrence gives a truly remarkable description of the opposite technique. … (Donald Robertson’s Stoicism)

A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Unlike other animals, human beings spend a lot of time thinking about what is not going on around them, contemplating events that happened in the past, might happen in the future, or will never happen at all. Indeed, “stimulus-independent thought” or “mind wandering” appears to be the brain’s default mode of operation. Although this ability is a remarkable evolutionary achievement that allows people to learn, reason, and plan, it may have an emotional cost. Many philosophical and religious traditions teach that happiness is to be found by living in the moment, and practitioners are trained to resist mind wandering and“to be here now.” These traditions suggest that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Are they right? … (Science)

Could the meaning of life be lorem ipsum? Suppose the most important idea in the entire universe was written down in plain sight, but overlooked by everyone. That the words, assumed to be nothing but incomprehensible garbage, were being used as a filler — placeholder text for graphic design? That would be pretty ironic, wouldn’t it? … (Donald Robertson’s Stoicism)

How to tell if a conspiracy theory is true. In 1997 I appeared on the late G. Gordon Liddy’s radio talk show while on a media tour for my first book, Why People Believe Weird Things. Liddy asked me if I thought conspiracy theories are weird beliefs and if we should be skeptical of them. It was a set-up question that he himself answered after I demurred to the man behind the Watergate conspiracy. Most conspiracy theories are false, Liddy told me, for two reasons: (1) the competency problem and (2) the leakage problem. Most conspiracists, Liddy explained from his considerable experience working with them, are bumbling fumbling nincompoops who can’t keep their mouths shut—”three people can keep a secret,” he added, echoing Benjamin Franklin, “if two of them are dead.” … (Skeptic by Michael Shermer)

What ants and orcas can teach us about death. In the summer of 2018, off the coast of British Columbia, an orca named Tahlequah gave birth. When the calf died after just half an hour, Tahlequah refused to let go. For more than two weeks, she carried her calf’s body around, often balancing it on her nose as she swam. The story went viral, which came as no surprise to Susana Monsó, a philosopher of animal minds at the National Distance Education University in Madrid. Despite the vast chasm that seems to separate humans and killer whales, this orca mother was behaving in a way that was profoundly relatable. … (New York Times)

Four commonly misunderstood Latin proverbs. The other day a student told me that, during her studies as an art student, she had to sculpt a small statue as an assignment for one of her courses. She did so without having put much thought into it. The professor approached her and started praising her work, giving it much more and much different meaning than the one she originally wanted to convey by making the statue. My student did not say anything, as the situation was favorable to her, but there sure are situations in which misinterpreting a product of art can lead to misunderstanding and forming a wrong image of the author and the message he/she originally wanted to get across. This is often the case with quotes from literature, especially the ancient ones that we regularly use for our own purposes—whether it is to express an attitude, to defend an opinion, show our feelings, or even just to sound smart. … (Classical Wisdom)

Managing the mind. A Martian, I’m told, recently visited a terrestrial garment factory. He was surprised to see that the boss never touched a sewing machine. Even when she asked someone to order new material, it was only after other minions had brought her details of stock levels, work-in-progress, and garment orders. This woman who calls herself ‘the boss’, the Martian concluded, is a mere puppet, her every action being manipulated by these minions. Her only creative input was to make up a story justifying her instructions. Students of the literature about the mind may recognize this fable as a metaphor for the way a certain school of neuroscientists describe the conscious mind as a helpless bystander manipulated by unconscious processes – because conscious decisions are always preceded by unconscious activity that shapes the conscious outcome. … (Philosophy Now)