Author: Huenemann

The next class I teach might use “Existential Comics” as the only text –

Ah – to read the full comic, please click here!

Seneca was easily within the 1% – and yet –

The problem, for Seneca, is not that owning slaves is bad for the slaves, or that the rich man’s wealth might be better spent feeding the hungry than buying another ivory-legged table. The problem is rather that owning too much – whether slaves or tables – can be damaging for the owner, because he (it is always “he”) will be unable to achieve what we all really need, which is the peace of mind that comes from virtue and truth. “We would belong to ourselves if those things were not ours,” he declares. Consumerist desires are essentially insatiable, because they are desires for things we do not really need: “You see, it’s not thirst; it’s disease.”

The rest of the article (by Emily Wilson) is here.

After so many years, I thought we might be up for a change. What do you think?

Very interesting podcast here on the “History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps” site. I’m sure we have mentioned this site before, but let me recommend it again as a source for grasping some of the more fascinating details in the history of philosophy.

As a proud Senior and a student aide, I argue to Freshmen (who are not listening, but deeply pondering their nipples) that there is definite value in reading about ancient lives because there is no such thing as time. Human nature (they start to lose attention) has always been and will always be the same thing. You can count on that. Every great book (their attention is now gone) has the basic elements of everything that makes up our current lives. Snatch some ancient Egyptians from 2500 years ago and sprinkle them onto the Moon with iPhones, and you tell me if their twitters aren’t all about who’s sleeping with whom, and who has the biggest cock. (Now their attention’s back.) Sex, death, war – these are things that eternally recur.

Read the rest here. (Glad to see the new blog for USU Classics and Literature!)