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Rising Tides Sink All Cities
A rising tide lifts all boats… this is the collective bargain, the “social contract” so to speak, which justifies the world most of us live in today. That bargain is not only ending, but the very foundations on which it could be proposed are swiftly evaporating. A new report even questions whether humanity will survive…
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Finding the Sociobasis
At the end of Book 16 of the Analects of Confucius, a passage describes how a lord’s wife refers to herself, how she is to be referred to by her subjects, and by subjects abroad.[1] Due to its direct and ritual-focussed nature, apparently many commentators have taken this section as a later addition, taken from…
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The “Ecumenical Method” for Thought- or, How to Start in the Middle
Oftentimes we cannot start from the beginning, for we do not yet know where that lies. At the same time, if we start from the end then we have done very little work indeed, and are not likely to convince another, or even ourselves, in our arguments. Instead, what we often take to is summarising…
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To be the Fountain, to be the Rain
If He makes me a goblet, I become a goblet, If He makes me a dagger, I become a dagger, If He makes me a fountain, then I shall give water, If He makes me rain, I’ll bring forth the harvest, If He makes me a needle, I pierce the body, If He makes me…
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Appreciation and Preparedness
11.26 in the Analects of Confucius tells of a conversation between the master and his pupils, where the former asks what each would do if accorded the proper appreciation. The answers which displease Confucius are ambitious plans for statecraft; what pleases him is Zengxi’s answer, that spend a pleasant Spring afternoon bathing in a river.…
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Revisiting the Present
Let’s set the scene. Over the past few centuries, the productive capability of humanity, which we can call our power over nature, has increased dramatically. The traditions grasping the societies that led this advance, and which can (to a certain extent if not entirely) be credited with its emergence and continuation, have spread throughout the…
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Redemption of Functionalism
It seems that many criticisms of functionalism rest on ideas that it is extremely “conservative” or assumes the benevolence of extant institutions. Whether past examples of functionalism are actually guilty of these aside, functionalism as a concept is definitely not defeated by such criticisms, as the targets are nowhere near essential to it. I feel the…
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Underlying Philosophies
Is philosophy useful in understanding and predicting the way human society works? Is there any point in generalising about the way people act, or does this erase too many important details? Is there even such thing as a “logic” by which people work, or is that all tacked on after the fact, created by people…
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Motivation and Examination
The motivational view of the human mind transforms the very concept of intellectual pursuit, of interrogation, of the adoption of new ideas. If we accept that human actions and decisions emerge from a radical calculus of internal motivations, then the concept of purpose becomes extremely important- that is, everything is deemed to have a purpose,…
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The Possible Gravity of Morality
Probability and scale go a long way towards solving the question of how morality can exist- the question of the importance of morality. Kant noticed this problem, though likely not alone or first, that the likelihood of moral success is linked fundamentally to the existence of morality. That is, if one’s ability to act morally…
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