Tag Archives: Amy Dickinson

Solipsism

May 1, 2024 – 10:56 am

Aristotle sets the example that Thomas Aquinas follows in the Summa. We are reading chapters viii and ix of Book IX of the Nicomachean Ethics. The Philosopher makes the best case against two positions that he ultimately argues for:

  1. One should be selfish.
  2. One needs friends anyway.

Highrise under construction above a green playing field
In “Sanity” I used a photo of the same skeletal building from the other side

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By David Pierce | Posted in Aristotle, Pirsig, Principles of Art | Also tagged , | Comments (7)

Paternity

April 11, 2024 – 5:18 am

According to the last three chapters of Book VIII of the Nicomachean Ethics:

  1. All friendship (φιλία) derives from that between
    • parent and child or
    • man and woman.
  2. The friendship of utility is unstable, because inevitably the principals believe they don’t get what they deserve.
  3. Fathers deserve all honor – the reward of the superior in any relationship.

Empty beercans and waterbottle stand on a concrete manhole cover next to a fence on which hangs a big bag for refuse
There’s a trashbag nearby, but the people who drank beer here (in small cans, but a high proportion of alcohol, 9%): I assume they are boys, and they are used to being cleaned up after by their mothers
Şalcıkır Parkı, Tarabya
Sunday, April 7, 2024

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By David Pierce | Posted in Aristotle | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (5)