Metaphysics, a poem 26 Oct 201226 Oct 2012 It rains. It rains here and now. It rains on the possible fat men in that doorway. It rains in the desert. It rains in the jungle. It’s conventional. It rains in the holes. It rains in the shadows. It rains vaguely here, with a fuzzy edge to the drops. The colours of the rainbow shade into each other, But on the whole we can tell one from another. We universally hate the rain. We mutter under our breath about rain. It does not rain in every possible world. Just in the actual one, here and now. It rains on the concrete. It rains on the objects. It’s hard to determine why. God help us zombies. Humor Metaphysics
Evolution Culpability and the Catholic Church 12 Apr 2010 The facts are no longer open to interpretation: not only bishops and archbishops, but the then head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, AKA the Inquisition, knew and covered up rather than dealt with pedophiles in the priesthood, and enabled further abuse. Michael Ruse, long an accommodationist,… Read More
Epistemology 50 words for snow 7: explanations and phenomena 18 Dec 20171 Mar 2019 Series Conceptual confusion The economics of cultural categories What are phenomena? What counts as sociocultural? Species Constructing phenomena Explanations and phenomena Anyone who has ever had a child knows the issue with indefinite “why?” questions. The interrogator asks why for every answer that is given, until the responder gets tired… Read More
Biology Tautology 3: The problem spreads 25 Aug 2009 This post will look at two different aspects of the tautology problem: 1. The public aspect, as it becomes a widely used counterargument to “Darwinism”, and the rebuttals of some public “Darwinists”; and 2. How it played out in the biological and philosophical literature. Read More
It rained here as well, and now the cranes migrate southward. Shouldn’t that mean spring for your location and a happy shower rather than melancholy drizzle?
An old one you may find pleasing. Modern translation is often just given as goose so it is somewhat easy to miss. I have news for you: The stag bells, Winter snows, Summer has gone; Wind high and cold, The sun low, Short its course The sea running high; Deep red the bracken Its shape lost, The wild goose has Raised its accustomed cry; Cold has seized The birds’ wings Season of ice This is my news. …… ro gab gnáth giugrann guth translated above as ‘the wild goose has raised its accustomed cry’ I prefer ‘usualness has taken hold of the barnacle goose call’ ro-gab (take hold) gnáth (customary/usual) giugrann (wild goose/ barnacle goose) guth (cry/call) I am rather fond of it.
Zombies do not feel the rain, but act exactly as if they do. We who are men cannot tell zombies by how they react to the rain. Neither can zombies, and they act exactly as if they cannot.