For the original post with Hegel Quote and comments, see here. (disclaimer: I only slept for about 3 hours last night – writing a big paper, preping for Kant class today, etc., so I may ramble more than usual) Responses to all, in order, at last: (beginning with Zen’s first post after my last post… got it?) Zen – “How could God be other than an abstraction AND mere difference in the Christian world?” um… I think the Christian God... Read more

Well, given the response to the last post andgiven that I’m too tired/busy to write anything of substance these days andgiven that the ONE TIME I did try to write something of substance my browser locked up and dumped my whole post before I could save it, I hereby post yet another quote for discussion/rambling/etc. : (this is a summary of a larger text) “The interaction between self and others, how all action takes place at the interface between the... Read more

Who said this? What does it mean? (feel free to be creative) “Neither the one nor the other has truth; the truth is just their movement in which simple sameness is an abstraction and hence absolute difference, but this, the difference in itself, is distinguished from itself and is therefore selfsameness.” I’ll identify it and give my explanation as comments come in. Read more

A pain dances in the head. Just behind the brow, by the eyes, near the ears, groans in the bones around the nose. Dancing. In the back now, now the neck. Ah, to the head again; pressure. Such is life with a head cold. The world slows. Focus comes inward. Senses dull. Thoughts slow down. In the past an excuse to do nothing: surf the net, watch videos, drink O.J. and sip soup. Now an opportunity for mindfulness: watching thoughts... Read more

“Huh?” That’s what I heard from one friend when I asked her, “don’t you ever feel… I don’t know… epistemic anxiety?” Apparently it’s quite common, even if us common folk don’t know exactly what it is. Here is how it works: Say you’re on a plane to London and the passenger next to you asks, “do you know when the plane will land in London?” You look at your itinerary and confidently reply, “yes, 3pm.” The passenger thinks for a... Read more

From my analytic philosophy professor: (how to answer test questions) “…don’t just spew, writing whatever occurs to you at the moment. Spewing is bad.” Read more

“Who are you and why are you here?” – the questions; introductions as we stood at the trailhead, primitive tools strewn neatly upon the moist dirt before us. I’m Justin Whitaker. I’m a life-long Montanan. I studied philosophy at UM-Missoula and earned an MA in Religious Studies (Buddhist Studies) from Bristol, UK. Now I’m here again in Montana, studying philosophy, trying to make up for my woeful ignorance about the state I’ve grown up in. I’ve lived amongst these woods,... Read more

How did it come to this? Me: overworked, stressed, worn out, tired, etc. This after just one month of the semester and no break in sight (my winter break will be dominated by frenzied travel, paper writing, grading, and prep for teaching spring semester). My current schedule has me starting at about 6 or 7 am every day and finishing around 9pm (or 6ish a few times a week). Some people can handle that, but I’m fairly lazy by nature... Read more

Like many of you, I have been upset by the recent cancellation of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” because of a perceived threat from unknown Muslims because of possibly offensive material… (the opera house has since reconsidered) The material in question is a scene in which the opera’s protagonist takes the stage and places four severed heads on chairs before the audience: those of Poseidon, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. The scene relates the sentiment that “the gods are dead” and that man has... Read more

I’m running late – after a weekend hiking trip for my ecology class and yet more (never ending) preparation for the Buddhism course I am teaching I find myself a bit tuckered out. This week I again caught site of the Dalai Lama gracing the front of the Buddhism section of my news-stream. He was in Buffalo, New York last weekend to talk primarily with lawyers about how Buddhism can influence the legal system (click here for the official website... Read more