Category Archives: Lucretius

A Meditation Explainer for Poets and Environmentalists

As an English professor who is also active in the environmental movement, organizing an annual environmental conference at my college, I thought it would be productive to write out to myself what I think meditation is in relation to the … Continue reading

Posted in aesthetics, atheism, atomism, beauty, Darwin, david hume, Emerson, feminism, God, Lucretius, meditation, philosophy, poetry, Uncategorized, writing | 8 Comments

No Dogs in Heaven (A Coronavirus Poem)

NO DOGS IN HEAVEN It’s their morning walk; one shall be taken. He’s masked, she’s not. They match in sweaters. He is black, but time has made him blue and atheist. She is bleach white, a poodle. Reaching the porch … Continue reading

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Spring, without God (a poem)

SPRING, WITHOUT GOD   God gave me a rose, And God is love. The rose made me   Sneeze, and I have Asthma. The rose Landed   Me in hospital, Which can’t be right If God is love   And … Continue reading

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A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.14: Binomial Definition

I’ve decided to attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter is a mini-course in … Continue reading

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A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.12: The Spell-Casting Mystifier

I’ve decided to attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter is a mini-course in … Continue reading

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A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.11: The Writerly Persona Of The Critical Thinker

I’ve decided to attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter is a mini-course in … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, atomism, critical thinking, david hume, education, edward feser, Lucretius, philosophy, reason, rhetoric, science, Uncategorized, writing | Leave a comment

A Mini-Course in Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.10: Skepticism

I’ve decided to attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter is a mini-course in … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, atomism, critical thinking, david hume, education, edward feser, Lucretius, philosophy, reason, rhetoric, science, Uncategorized, writing | Leave a comment

A Mini-Course in Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.9: Moving From Innocence To Experience

I thought I would attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter would be a … Continue reading

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A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.8: Scientific Method

I thought I would attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter would be a … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, atomism, critical thinking, david hume, education, edward feser, Lucretius, philosophy, reason, rhetoric, science, writing | 1 Comment

A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.7: Distinguishing Best Explanation From Ad Hoc Explanation

I thought I would attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter would be a … Continue reading

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A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.6: Distinguishing The Logically Possible From The Actual

I thought I would attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter would be a … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, critical thinking, david hume, edward feser, Lucretius, philosophy, reason, rhetoric, science, writing | 1 Comment

A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.4: Spanning The Bridge From Logical Possibility To Truth

I thought I would attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter would be a … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, critical thinking, david hume, education, edward feser, Lucretius, philosophy, poetry, reason, rhetoric, science, Uncategorized, writing | 5 Comments

A Mini-Course In Critical Thinking For Writers. Concept 1.3: Worldview

I thought I would attempt the first draft of a college-level textbook, writing it directly into my blog, bit by bit. Feedback and recommendations in the thread comments are welcome, either encouraging or critical. The first chapter would be a … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, critical thinking, david hume, edward feser, Lucretius, philosophy, reason, rhetoric, science, Uncategorized, writing | 6 Comments

Pareidolia, Google Deep Dream, Wittgenstein’s Aspect Seeing, and Friedrich Nietzsche

The below YouTube video on Google Deep Dream strikes me as an important reflection, not just on artificial intelligence and art, but on the human condition in the sense that pareidolia (projecting images, moods, ideas onto things) is far more … Continue reading

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Self Calming: 86 Ways To Activate Your Parasympathetic Nervous System

Below is a concise self calming list I recently brainstormed for myself–and I thought it might be helpful for others as well. I keep a copy on a single piece of paper in my pocket and look at it periodically … Continue reading

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The Poet’s Fictions (A Poem)

THE POET’S FICTIONS   No hurry, no preference; Nothing simple, Nothing personal. One fire, Great silence.   Bring your rebellion. Bring your solidarity. Imagine the bent nail, The struggle, the birth. _____

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On Having No Head: The Headless Squid Bowl, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, And The Cosmos’s Undirected, Mutually Interdependent Arising

The headless squid bowl sometimes served in Japanese restaurants is odd and fascinating. It strikes me as a metaphor for the cosmos: it goes without a head. How strange. In a sense, even conscious beings like ourselves go without a … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, atomism, beauty, climate change, david hume, edward feser, Genesis, God, Lucretius, meditation, origins, poetry, science, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

What Does It Mean For God To Exist, Think, And Act?

It’s always comforting to (seemingly) settle hard questions in thirty seconds. But as a matter of logic, if space-time is the condition for existence, and existence is bound up with space-time (as Einstein proposed), then in what sense could God … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, atomism, david hume, edward feser, Genesis, God, God, Lucretius, philosophy, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

The Enlightenment Under Attack: Free Desiree Fairooz

A woman, it appears, may soon go to jail for a year for laughing at Jeff Sessions. Her name is Desiree Fairooz. A quote from a recent article at CNN’s website: [T]he notion of an American citizen going to jail … Continue reading

Posted in atheism, atomism, Bernie Sanders, brexit, david hume, donald trump, edward feser, feminism, hillary clinton, Lucretius, Politics, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Spring without God (a poem)

SPRING WITHOUT GOD   God gave me a rose, And God is love. The rose made me   Sneeze, and I have Asthma. The rose Landed   Me in hospital, which can’t be right If God is love   And … Continue reading

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