All the Goodness in the World
We are bargain hunters, all of us. We make bargains with God, with reality or the cosmos or karma or whatever. We are convinced someone or something out there is keeping […]
Tag Archives: life
Was John Stuart Mill Wrong?
Ever heard of John Stuart Mill’s famous Harm Principle? Maybe you don’t recognize Mill’s name, but my guess is that you hear this principle really often. In his treatise On Liberty Mill […]
The Death of Death
With words that inspired a generation – and that animated a core moment of the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics – the Beatles’ most enduring song set people’s hearts aglow with […]
On Present and Future Selves
Unlike animals that live in the moment and merely cope with the world (however smoothly), we are… drawn out of our present selves toward some more skilled future self that […]
Evolution explains everything
Does evolution explains you and me? Our thoughts, desires and beliefs? Why we appreciate poetry and disdain injustice? For the past decades, many scientists have affirmed so, extrapolating an overarching, […]
Hope for the Marathon Life
At a recent dinner party there was, unfortunately, far too much testosterone in the air when several ladies collectively expressed doubts as to whether the men present could run a […]
What is the Point of Living?
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridall of the earth and skie: The dew shall weep thy fall to night; For thou must die. (From ‘Vertue,’ by […]
Longing for Death
Adolf Hitler spent a fortune in 1936 to buy a painting and hang it in his office. A secluded isle, surrounded by the boundless mysterious sea, is approached by a […]
And then, what?
“Eat your vegetables”, parents will often advise their children at the table. A few years ago, however, the common advice in Europe was very different: “Be careful with raw vegetables.” An […]
A Life Well Lived
The Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C died on Thursday, February 26, at the age of 97. Fr. Ted, as he was known, served as the president of the University of Notre […]
Wondering Fair 