“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead
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Timaeus, or the Universe as a Living Thing
Cosmology is an art that involves speaking about the whole: to do cosmology, I must share stories with others concerning what we all belong to. This can be done in many languages –some musical, others mathematical– and if I succeed, perhaps in English text. The universe is a body, according to Plato– a Living Thing. Read more
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Ongoing discussion on PZ Myers’ blog
Anyone interested in following the thread I’ve been participating in over on Myers’ blog, here’s the link: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/i_was_wondering_about_that.php A little taste of what’s been going on there (one of my posts): @ 201 John Morales writes: “those assumptions (of science) are that there is an external reality, and that it is consistent, and that only Read more
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Noospheric Evolution: Science and Religion
A few weeks ago, a contest put on by Discover Magazine was brought to my attention. The publication asked for short video submissions explaining evolution (by which they meant specifically Darwin’s theory) in a lucid enough way that even the most dim-witted of creationists would be able to grasp it. From Discovery’s submission page: “Think Read more
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People, People Everywhere
People, people everywhere, Wake up and look around. Where are we, as people, Upon this planet, Our forgotten ground? Hear the quiet whisper of Earth Falling forever with the Moon Into the depths of the Sky Toward the Sun, never reaching The light that showers down upon us; Greet each day without shame With the Read more
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A New Day on Earth
A new age is being born from the ashes of a corpse consumed in the fire fueled by demonic dreams of animals gone made. These crazed beasts foresaw the future, and in fear of death, harnessed the rhythms of the stars to grow the seeds that fed empires and sailed ships across continental seas in Read more
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Unearthing the Earth: A Phenomenological Excavation of our Being-on-the-Earth
“Eco-phenomenology offers a methodological bridge between the natural world and our own, or rather the rediscovery of the bridge that we are and have always been but—thanks to our collective amnesia—have forgotten, almost irretrievably. It is not enough to disguise our forgetting; there is also a matter of remembering—remembering the earth.” -Charles S. Brown and 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
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Footnotes2Plato 