Tag Archives: gods

Republican Governor Rick Perry Calls on Texans to Pray For Rain

Reuters reports that the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has called on Texans to pray to God for rain, and quotes him as saying the following: It is fitting that Texans should join together in prayer to humbly seek an … Continue reading

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Did Homer suffer from Hamlet-like self-consciousness? Garry Wills thinks so.

In the New York Review of Books, Garry Wills takes a hard whack at a notion Harold Bloom has long promoted and that seems to show up across a lot of disciplines (and most recently, in a book co-authored by a Harvard philosopher): literate … Continue reading

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What is a Human, Really? Thinking about Definition via Aristotle

If your definition of a word is to be any good, Aristotle was the first to notice that it should say something general and something specific. Aristotle designated these two components the genus and species of a definition. Thus you might … Continue reading

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Andre Glucksmann One More Time

I think this is a great quote. It comes from the French philosopher, Andre Glucksmann: Socrates’s uncertainty revealed a rupture that gave birth to philosophy. The divine word is a mystery; it can mean everything or nothing. Zeus neither speaks nor … Continue reading

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The Greek God Pan

Then: Now:

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What I Believe About Religion

I don’t believe that any of the specific gods (Zeus, Allah, Yahweh, Vishnu etc.), in their contingent culture-based personalities, exist. But I do believe that the ontological mystery to which people direct their religious gestures (like prayer, candle-lighting etc.) speak … Continue reading

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Is Atheism Just the Denial of Gods?

Sometimes contemporary atheists try to wall-off the psychological implications of becoming an atheist by saying: “Atheism is just the denial of gods. Nothing more.” But though this may be a reasonable starting definition for what an atheist is, it is … Continue reading

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Euripides’s “Bakkhai”: Is Dionysus Jesus?

Euripides’s “Bakkhai” is an extraordinary play, and functions on many fascinating levels. At one level it can be read as an indictment of rationalism, and a warning to the audience against atheism. Toward the beginning of the play, for example, … Continue reading

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