Tag: Philosophy
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Open Mind, Free Speech, Science, Religion
A friend sent me a link (https:\\unherd.com) to an interview featuring Iain McGilchrist (a psychiatrist, neuroscience researcher, philosopher and literary scholar). I found myself in agreement with much of what I was reading so, for once, instead of inflicting my own scribbles on you, here is a grouping of selected and edited extracts from what…
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“In the Beginning was the Word” …
These are the opening words of John’s Gospel, most probably written around 100 CE. Whoever John was, he tried to convey a late 1st century understanding of the person and significance of Jesus. In doing so, he borrowed the term logos from Greek philosophy. This can indeed mean ‘word’, but also includes a variety of…
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A Still Not Answered Question
After the Nativity stories, a bit of philosophy for a change. Socrates was loved by those who enjoyed seeing know-alls, in public, tied in infuriating knots by his probing questions. He wasn’t loved by those on the receiving end. One day, he met a young man, called Euthyphro, on his way to court to accuse…
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“Here comes the Sun”
WE’RE inclined to forget that the Sun, which we so enjoy when it’s shining on us (but not too fiercely), and which we so much miss when the days are short-lived and freezing, is a furiously raging nuclear furnace. It’s turning hydrogen into helium, and releasing the resultant energy in everything from blistering surface bubbles…
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Honest to God?
It seems to me that if we’re to be ‘honest to God’, (understood as being, in some way, the originator and sustainer of all that is), we must face the challenge presented by the philosopher Bertrand Russell, who cuts to the chase in an impressively concise way (unusual for a philosopher, some might say). “That…
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My Religious Paradigm (4) Two key questions
Continuing this series, in which I’m asking myself, having once been a preacher, what my current religious ‘paradigm’ is, I’m now at the point of thinking about what I can positively say about ‘God’ and belief in him/her/it. While noting that the word ‘God’ can mean many different things, let’s leave its definition open for…
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FROM “Pensées by Bryan Magee”
Philosopher, author, broadcaster (1930-2019) “One of the most reliable signs that you need a holiday is the conviction that you cannot spare the time to take one.” “People’s assumptions about you tell you a great deal about them.” “We can never be sure that something is right, though we can be sure that something is…
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Words, Wittgenstein, and the Language of Religion (ii)
In his second thoughts, Wittgenstein, instead of a ‘picture’ theory, suggested a use or tool theory of meaning. A ‘picture’ can only represent a single state of affairs, but a ‘tool’ can be put to a wide variety of ‘uses’. To understand language, we need to look at how it functions in life, at how…
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