Eric Scheske

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On Small Talk

On Small Talk

Small talk. I dislike it. It can be argued that it is part of the lubrication that keeps social wheels moving smoothly, but I'm not talking about cordialities ("Hi," "How are the kids doing?" etc.). I'm talking about extended conversations that are

Edward Frenkel on Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy

Edward Frenkel on Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy

"Nietzsche wrote this book called The Birth of Tragedy and he presented this theory . . . of two sides of a human. One that comes from Apollo, and that's the left brain so to speak: everything that has to do with logic, and reason, and analyzing, dissecting, conceptualizing. And

McLuhan Sighting

McLuhan Sighting

"Philosophize This" dedicates an episode to Marshall McLuhan. It's very good. The podcast is here. The transcript to the podcast is here. You ask people that question what would you rather be? Blind or deaf? And 99% of people say they'd rather be deaf.

The Fable Behind The Master and His Emissary

The Fable Behind The Master and His Emissary

The Master and His Emissary takes its title from a story by Nietzsche (McGilchrist, humorously, drops a footnote and says he can't remember where he saw it . . . and apparently the editors at Yale couldn't, either). It goes like this: A wise spiritual master ruled a small

Was Descartes Nuts?

Was Descartes Nuts?

The Cartesian view of the world adopts a stance normally found only in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Referring to a famous passage from the Meditations on First Philosophy in which Descartes describes looking out of his window and seeing what he knows to be people passing by as seeming to

Shift in Drinking Habits

Shift in Drinking Habits

It seems alcohol is reeling. Every week, I see stories about another industry that's hurting, but few stories point to the culprit: legal marijuana. In my generation, I see many adults who drink far less but smoke far more (or eat edibles). I've known at least

All Gnostics are Left-Hemispheric, but Not All Left-Hemispherics are Gnostics

All Gnostics are Left-Hemispheric, but Not All Left-Hemispherics are Gnostics

The difference between political gnosticism and cultural gnosticism

Chesterton and the Millennial Nun

Chesterton and the Millennial Nun

In an essay that appeared some years back in the Huffington Post, Eve Fairbanks asked why after fifty years of decline, millennial women were discovering religious vocations. Fairbanks is not alone in her confusion. Many Catholics are also puzzled: not long ago, traditional women’s religious life, with all the

The Free Market is Anti-Gnostic

The Free Market is Anti-Gnostic

That's why I'm always drawn to it. It doesn't deny or decry a structure of oppression. It just says, "That's the way things are; deal with it." The gnostic says, "I hate the way things are, so I'

Louis Markos

Louis Markos

Louis Markos is one of the most engaging lecturers I've ever listened to. If you get a chance to pick up his lectures at The Great Courses or otherwise, I highly recommend him. He's also responsive to emails. He has given me invaluable guidance in forays