Miscellaneous

As of this writing, I haven't finished James' Pragmatism, but I found this statement in Lecture Two that, I believe, summarizes James' opinion regarding how religion fits into the philosophy of pragmatism. The italics are his: > If theological ideas prove to have a value for

There is a definite correlation between economic troubles and war: the former leads to the latter. Now, does economic trouble lead to war naturally, like clashing cold and warm fronts contribute to tornadoes? Or does economic trouble lead to war artificially, like a caught thief who gets away because, at

Three largely un-related items that could've blossomed into full-blown essays/posts, but for whatever reason, didn't: 1. “Some people have fallen for the naïve turkey-style belief that the world is getting safer and safer, and of course they naively attribute it to the holy '

I really like this observation by Nassim Taleb. It might be called the “paradox of scientific progress”: the more we understand and control, the more we unleash that we don't understand or control. Here's Taleb (emphasis mine): “Man-made complex systems tend to develop cascades and runaway

What does a secular substitute for a saint look like? If you've ever known a good person who has no religious proclivities, you probably know what he looks like: a person infused with virtues even though he doesn't believe in infusion. Jacques Barzun describes the secular

Background: When I was the editor of Gilbert Magazine [http://www.chesterton.org/explore-the-acs/gilbertmagazine/], I was responsible for the "Tremendous Trifles" column. It was occasionally hard to find a sufficient amount of interesting GKC material to fill the page, so John Peterson sent me a file full

"[T]he core of our humanity lies in the belief that the essence of the soul is its mockery of death." Stark Young, "Not in Memoriam, But in Defense," I'll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition. I'll Take My

Autobiographical Corner and Random Well, my vermicomposting isn't going well. I've now killed three batches of worms. The first batch of worms was pretty sickly, so I don't really fault myself for that one, but the next two batches that came from the nationally-acclaimed

Sainthood on the Horizon for G.K. Chesterton?: An investigation has begun into whether to open the cause for canonization of the English writer and convert. [http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/sainthood-on-the-horizon-for-g.k.-chesterton/]

Background: When I was the editor of Gilbert Magazine [http://www.chesterton.org/explore-the-acs/gilbertmagazine/], I was responsible for the "Tremendous Trifles" column. It was occasionally hard to find a sufficient amount of interesting GKC material to fill the page, so John Peterson sent me a file full