Category Archives: philosophy
Forgiving vs. Forgetting
Do you forgive but never forget, or forget but never forgive? Remember that question from silly surveys we’d fill out in junior high when we didn’t feel like doing our homework? Well, this question just came up in an email … Continue reading
Filed under ethics, philosophy, the body
On making friends
Nothing sinks more heavily in your stomach than the realization that someone who you thought liked you really hates you. More and more, i’m inclined to think that making friends isn’t a matter of chance, or even of preference; it’s … Continue reading
Filed under ethics, philosophy
One big, unsolvable problem
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” –Kierkegaard My second installment of Conversations with Yang has led me to another question: Science and Philosophy may differ in their approach to problems, but what … Continue reading
Filed under career, philosophy
Conversations with Yang, Part II: Solvable and unsolvable problems, or Science vs. Philosophy
She’s a (budding) scientist, and i’m a (budding) philosopher. Her: I would rather work on solvable problems, moving from one solved problem to the next. Me: I would rather focus on unsolvable problems, because those are the ones that will … Continue reading
Filed under philosophy
If only our minds could just click with each other
It seems that The Stone‘s contributors’ responses to readers’ comments are often better than their original posts themselves: Philosophers typically try to illuminate with a combination of argument and (re-)conceptualization. But the most careful and perspicuous argumentation, as indispensable as … Continue reading
Filed under academics, communication, philosophy
Conversations with Yang, Part I: How we accept/reject our unchosen existence
It’s funny how any extended conversation with my friend Yang gets me thinking about everything a little harder. We got to talking about free will and birth. Our birth is not our choice. Or so it seems. This is an … Continue reading
Filed under ethics, philosophy
questions on the loo, issue #6: Is it ethical to have children?
Coincidentally, on the day i wrote about birthdays, Peter Singer wrote about giving birth to new generations on the NYT’s new online column on philosophy, The Stone. Ever since reading it, i’ve been thinking about the issues raised, but even … Continue reading
Filed under childhood, philosophy, questions on the loo
Indignant
[update 04/13/10: My TA more than redeemed himself today. He started out recitation by saying that in grading our papers, he was forced to reconsider the criteria that he'd laid out for us for writing our papers, one of which … Continue reading
Filed under academics, college, philosophy
Mapping out your life is overrated
A wise friend of mine recently said to me, “Knowing what you want to do is not quite the same as knowing exactly where you can go.” School and society put so much emphasis on the where that i lost … Continue reading
Filed under academics, career, college, personal, philosophy
Protected: A confessional letter
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Filed under ethics, personal, philosophy, the body
