Perennial Philosophy

  • Grateful emptiness

    Babies loudly screaming—so much substance!Youth intensely playing —missing no substanceAdults quietly plotting—obsessed with substance.Elders silently waiting—all substance gone.Grateful emptiness—how much longer? 04 September 2019Willow Springs Rehabilitation CenterAbilene, TX Continue reading

    Grateful emptiness
  • Finding a Way: Faith in Times of Crisis

    “Philosophy is the faith which unifies man.”   —Richard M. Owsley[1] For the entirety of my life in Bible Belt Texas, I have encountered both religionists and atheists who interpret “faith” as an irrational action: a totally emotive, rationally groundless hope… Continue reading

    Finding a Way: Faith in Times of Crisis
  • Protected: A braggart unmakes themself

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post. Continue reading

    Protected: A braggart unmakes themself
  • Suspended academic

    Here is Prometheus bound. Continue reading

    Suspended academic
  • Unchained Mind-walking

    My visit to Abilene this last week has been quiet and refreshing after teaching two courses during the second part of Summer school. Humble thanks to my colleagues Doug and Loni who co-taught one course with me at UNT. First… Continue reading

    Unchained Mind-walking
  • Silent road, cloudless mind

    Saturday, I went to visit my mother at the nursing home in Abilene, TX. Almost 91, she has become much less active, sometimes sleeping most of the day. I brought with me Bashō-Sensei’s beautiful haibun, The Narrow road to the… Continue reading

    Silent road, cloudless mind
  • Wonder of dawn

    The shared reason of the day says, “See, the sun comes up in the east as the earth stands still.” Or maybe, “See, the earth turns on its axis as it swings around the sun.” Yet neither truly responds to… Continue reading

    Wonder of dawn
  • On Bullshit Jobs – RSA

    According to a 2015 YouGov poll, 37% of the UK population believe their job makes no meaningful contribution to the world. And despite the time-saving advances promised by technology, we’re now working longer hours than ever. How has this situation… Continue reading

    On Bullshit Jobs – RSA
  • My teaching philosophy

    This is really the first assignment I give for reading in all of my courses. It is to let students know why I believe they should make a place for philosophizing throughout their life. I have taken to sending this… Continue reading

    My teaching philosophy
  • Warp and woof

    Late June after the solstice is the time when I lose sight of writing and reading. Usually there is a burst of both just after school is out—that is how conditioned I am by the school year at the age… Continue reading

    Warp and woof
  • Queering and Wyrding

    ‘Q’ then, will never be a coherent letter tacked as a bridge on some list of identities. The past decade shows the poverty or ruin of every attempt to do so. We’ve said already that these words are magic. We… Continue reading

    Queering and Wyrding
  • The Hierophant: There is more-so than the just-so

    The most intriguing nuances of experience cannot be wholly captured by words. Positive claims within consciousness-as-such can only apprehend so-much of our being-world as an encompassing phenomenon (Jaspers 1970b: 18-22). We have known this since the very beginning of recorded… Continue reading

    The Hierophant: There is more-so than the just-so
  • ‘One of a kind’ Egyptian tomb discovery revealed

    The tomb, found in the Saqqara pyramid complex near Cairo, is filled with colourful hieroglyphs and statues of pharaohs. Decorative scenes show the owner, a royal priest named Wahtye, with his mother, wife and other relatives. Archaeologists will start excavating… Continue reading

    ‘One of a kind’ Egyptian tomb discovery revealed
  • Nuclear Pasta: Strongest Material in Universe Discovered in Neutron Star Crust

    The strongest material in the universe has been discovered: nuclear pasta from neutron stars. The material is so intense it could never exist on Earth—if somehow a tiny amount were transported here, it would explode like a nuclear bomb. Instead… Continue reading

  • Greek Natural Philosophy

    The first edition of the text on Presocratic philosophy which I co-authored with J. Baird Callicott and John van Buren is now available for adoption from Cognella. Greek Natural Philosophy presents the primary sources on the Presocratics in a straightforward… Continue reading

  • Max Liboiron at #AnthropocenePHL

    The opening keynote at the Anthropocene Campus Philadelphia was Prof. Max Liboiron: How We Do Science on Permanent Plastic Pollution. Max Liboiron is a feminist environmental scientist, science and technology studies (STS) scholar, and activist. As an Assistant Professor in Geography… Continue reading

  • Socrates in the Anthropocene

    I want to thank Scott Knowles for encouraging me to leave my little town of Denton, Texas, and come up here for the Anthropocene Campus Philadelphia at Drexel University. A word of warning as I follow up my colleagues on the roving… Continue reading

    Socrates in the Anthropocene
  • Abnormal Responses: Coaxing Animal Being into a Clearing

    There is a great responsibility in being those who not only name things but gather the world. Surely a part of that responsibility rests in letting things simply be themselves and not be turned toward some human end. It means… Continue reading

    Abnormal Responses: Coaxing Animal Being into a Clearing