Category Archives: Articles

THE MAJESTY OF PARENTAL LOVE is without equal. In my Philosophy 191 class, I had a Korean student say “I love you” in Korean and then a Syrian student say those words in Arabic and then a Latino student say those words in Spanish. Finally, the words “I love you” were said in English and French. Most significantly, none of those utterances of “I love you” sound at all alike. Yet, every new born infant to whom those words are regularly spoken to in just the right manner will come to the most fundamental sentiments of her or his developing years, namely that she or he is unequivocally loved by her or his parents. And that ever so basic sentiment that actually defies explanation is none other than the ever so salubrious launching pad for that child’s development. If I am right that not even God can substitute for the majesty of the direct experiencing of parental love from both parents, then the evil that we are doing by allowing parents to place their own self-interests above the self-interests of their children can be rightly characterized as unspeakable. Continue reading →

Who makes the best friends? The answer is that those who have been profoundly loved. Companion friends bring something quite special to their relationship with one another, something that surely money canComnot buy. Part of what they bring, surely, is a most majestic sense of self—a sense of self which is anchored not in arrogance but in tremendous self-knowledge and which is mightily animated by a sense of gratitude. Nothing contrtibutes to that end like parental love. One reason for thinking that parental love is the basis for companion friendship is just the fact that parental love at its best is not about erotic love and friendship at its best is not about erotic love. Continue reading →

Did I tell you that I love technology? I do. I have all sorts of technological gadgets. Yet, the trend towards conformity in technology bothers me to know end. Alas, I recently encountered a former student, a Mr. James Michael Curcio, who is more like me than not with respect to refusing to become servile to technology. All I can say is: Oh, how wonderful! Continue reading →

Creative Blame radically undermines the wherewithal or, at any rate, the motivations of a person to take stock of her or his life by, among other things, undermining the exercise of foresight. One consequence, then, is Creative Blame will destroy the good of human society as we know it. Given the present trajectory of Creative Blame, it is just a matter of time before the very idea of individuals being responsible for their very own lives will have no purchase at all upon our lives. Continue reading →

There is no better indication of the demise of a society than the extent to which self-deception prevails in an increasing global manner in that society. The practice of being irresponsible and blaming others has increasingly become the norm in American society. And make no mistake about it: That is a most ominous sign. Continue reading →

Accents do not bother me.  If a person speaks well, it simply does not matter to me that she or he has an accent.  What does bother me enormously is the complete abuse and misuse of English.  And seems to … Continue reading →

There is simply no correlation whatsoever between being free and being responsible. Never have so many been so free and at the same inclined to blame others for their own mistakes and foolhardiness. What Plato grasped as well as anyone, if not more fully than anyone, is that freedom without the proper moral training will mutate into a form of living hell Continue reading →

By now, you have come across Gene Marks’s article “If I were a poor black smart kid”, that was published in Forbes Magazine 12 December 2011.  Let begin by saying that in terms of the actual strategies recommended by Marks … Continue reading →

Since public records can be mistaken, it behooves any company to be extremely careful in supposing that two people are related merely on the basis of public records. Every cardholder should be treated with a modicum of decency. American Express blatantly violates that basic precept by the use to which it puts public records with respect to (some of) its cardholders. Continue reading →

We are rightly suspicious of any man who goes out of his way to spend an inordinate amount of time with children alone. Alas, our mistake has been to think that such behavior is acceptable if the man is married or a priest because no such man would have the sexual desires of pedophile. And my simple point here is that we continue to reason in that very erroneous way. Alas, at this point in time, such erroneous reasoning on our part is downright inexcusable. A 40-somethng unmarried male grasps from the very outset that it simply does not look good for him to have bunch of young boys constantly having out at his home. The odds are, then, that he does not so behave. By contrast, a married man or a priest has reasoned that he has a “cover” for having young boys around. And we as a society have been way too easily pacified by that “cover”. And that makes us part of the problem. Continue reading →