El Filósofo

Think Deeply, Feel Fully

Filosofical Fragments

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    Faith, Religion, and Reason

    We’ve all heard the tired line about how faith and reason are opposed to one another, right? You may have heard things like, “Religion is irrational,” have you not? And you may scarcely have wondered about people who say they have faith but do not claim to be religious; or those who are religious but,…

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    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

    One time, when I was on a zen retreat, we sat around in a circle and took turns screaming imperatives as loud as we possibly could. They were very dramatic, too. We’d scream things like “Don’t waste your life!” and “Wake up!” or some such thing. Sounds easy, right? Wrong! It looked really easy, and…

  • Cities and Stars

    I would generally consider myself a city person. I like the walkability of cities, the goings-on, the diversity, the scale, etc. But I must be honest, and I admit that I enjoy a trip to the country just as well. It’s a great feeling to get the city fumes out of your lungs and enjoy…

  • The Boy with the Snake Tattoo

    I’ve thought for some time now that, if I were to get a tattoo, I would get one of the Ouroboros. You’ve probably seen it, even if you don’t recognise the name off the top of your head. You know, it’s the image of the snake eating its own tail. Yes, I know: it sounds…

  • The Representation of Nothingness

    Have you ever tried to think of how mind-bogglingly big infinity is? I mean, really, have you tried to picture it? You wouldn’t be able to do so, of course. If you did, I expect the sheer volume of the concept would shatter your mind. On the other hand, however, are you able to picture…

  • Depresso Espresso

    What I’m about to say is, in all honesty, incredibly personal and pertinent to me even as I write this, so it’ll likely be quite some time before anybody even has the opportunity to read what I’m about to say. Still, I thought I ought to write it all down because, if my sixth grade…

  • The Zen Dialectic

    Probably my favourite class from undergrad was Plato and the Roots of Western Philosophy; and consequently, if anyone ever asks where to start with philosophy, I tell them to start by reading Plato. This is not because I think Plato’s ideas are absolutely right. (In fact, not one year after I finished that course I…

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    The Pizza was Immaterial

    I want to wrestle with my conscience a wee bit. You see, the other day I was on my way home from picking up a pizza for dinner when I was stopped in the street by someone who asked for a slice. Naturally, I thought this to be a very strange thing to ask of…

  • Ex nihilo

    In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth. —Genesis 1:1 This verse from Genesis, as understood by orthodox Christian theology, describes God creating the world ex nihilo; that is, from nothing. Imagine that! Granted this was said for comedic purposes, Ricky Gervais once remarked that this was an incredible statement: it’s not like God…

  • The Answer / The Question

    What is “the answer”? That is, the answer to life, the universe, and everything? According to the Deep Thought supercomputer of Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s not an answer that we would like. Do you want to know what it is? Are you unperturbed on account of some morbid sense of curiosity?…