The skill – taste gap: compromising taste
“How can I improve my technique?” “How can I make my vision a reality?” We spend a lot of energy trying to close the skill… Read More »The skill – taste gap: compromising taste
Values
Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
Without … a place in the social order, a man [in a heroic society such as Homeric Greece or Saga Iceland] would not only be… Read More »Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
Seth Godin: The Mona Lisa Principle
When your ideas are spreading, when your work is remarkable, when your organization has built a social ratchet that works, one of the side effects… Read More »Seth Godin: The Mona Lisa Principle
Ends and Meanings (2): Alasdair MacIntyre on the modern self
MacIntyre believes that contemporary modern statements are ultimately ’emotivist’: in the absence of a clear telos (purpose / function / end), the statement “You ought… Read More »Ends and Meanings (2): Alasdair MacIntyre on the modern self
This is poverty, Jakarta edition
Here’s the point: even if your parents or caregivers had almost nothing, even if all they could give you was love and care, a bit… Read More »This is poverty, Jakarta edition
Ends and Meanings: Alasdair MacIntyre on the three-legged stool of Aristotelian ethics
Below is MacIntyre’s description of the Aristotelian model of morality. He believes this model began to break down during the Enlightenment, leaving us with the… Read More »Ends and Meanings: Alasdair MacIntyre on the three-legged stool of Aristotelian ethics
A disordered language of morality: Alasdair MacIntyre’s disquieting suggestion
Why does there seem to be no rational way of securing moral agreement in our culture? Why do competing moral claims (for example between the… Read More »A disordered language of morality: Alasdair MacIntyre’s disquieting suggestion
Thought experiment: Infinite inequality without injustice (1)
This may seem obvious, but it’s important. Jane and Frank work weekdays at a restaurant. One day, their boss offers them both an extra shift… Read More »Thought experiment: Infinite inequality without injustice (1)
At the Mountains of Madness: Edwardian* Science; Lovecraftian Cosmology
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a… Read More »At the Mountains of Madness: Edwardian* Science; Lovecraftian Cosmology
Moneyfesto; or, the Monetization* of DriverlessCrocodile
*(With apologies to readers in Britain for that horrifying z) Only when the last crocodile has been skinned will you realise that you are being… Read More »Moneyfesto; or, the Monetization* of DriverlessCrocodile