“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead
-
Three Stanzas Remembered
I remember more With each passing glance, With every standing trance That stalls me on my way. I am moved by that which gives All faces their romance, And frozen by the stare That makes me stay. But time cannot stand The memory of more Than what it makes unpleasant For me to understand. Read more
-
Aristotle and the historical myopia of science
Another response to PZ Myers’ blog. I’m responding to this fellow in particular: Aristotle decided observation was irrelevant? Are you joking? If we are going to base physics on how nature is actually experienced, then Galileo is the one ignoring observation. Galilean physics are based on ideal geometrical models, not actual observation, where friction Read more
-
Divine Imagination
I’ve been having a very stimulating discussion with a Christian theologian named Jason Michael McCann. He has held up a mirror to my ideas and allowed me to see them in a new light. His criticisms are fair and I hope we will each benefit from continued exposure to what may turn out to be Read more
-
Gravity Is Love, And Other Astounding Metaphors : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR
This NPR article mentions one of my professors, cosmologist Brian Swimme. Here is my comment: Dr. Swimme calls gravity love, and I think it is an apt metaphor. Anthropomorphic? Perhaps, but how else are we to really understand gravity unless we can relate it to our human experience of the universe? And it is not Read more
-
Belief in a Personal God
The following is my response to the theologian Jason Michael McCann’s blog post about the personal nature of God in the Christian tradition. Yesterday, he posted a critical response to one of my short essays on materialism and imagination that I will also respond to soon. JMM, The distinction between truth and fact (which I understand Read more
-
Idealism, Materialism, Non-dualism
A response to Owlmirror on Pharyngula, You suggest that idealism is incoherent because 1) it doesn’t explain “things acting under purely physical rules, rather than mental states.” -What is a physical rule, exactly? How are these rules or laws determined, and why, as in the case of our particular universe, are they so organized as Read more
“In one sense philosophy does nothing. It merely satisfies the entirely impractical craving to probe and adjust ideas which have been found adequate each in its special sphere of use. In the same way the ocean tides do nothing. Twice daily they beat upon the cliffs of continents and then retire. But have patience and look deeper; and you find that in the end whole continents of thought have been submerged by philosophic tides, and have been rebuilt in the depths awaiting emergence. The fate of humanity depends upon the ultimate continental faith by which it shapes its action, and this faith is in the end shaped by philosophy.”
—Alfred North Whitehead
Site Navigation
Follow me on social media.
© 2006-2024 Matthew David Segall
Footnotes2Plato 