Observe your cat

Posted: December 5, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Philosophy, Shooting | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Observe your cat. It is difficult to surprise him. Why?
Naturally his superior hearing is part of the answer, but not all of it.
He moves well, using his senses fully.
He is not preoccupied with irrelevancies.
He’s not thinking about his job or his image or his income tax.
He is putting first things first, principally his physical security.
Do likewise.

Jeff Cooper, 2006. Principles of Personal Defense Paladin Press

Under the law

Posted: April 9, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Philosophy | Leave a comment

The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.

Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome

The Sacred and the Human

Posted: September 26, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philosophy | Leave a comment

Resentment remains a fundamental component in our social emotions, and it is widely prevalent in modern societies. The 20th century was the century of resentment. How else do you explain the mass murders of the communists and the Nazis, the seething animosities of Lenin and Hitler, the genocides of Mao and Pol Pot? The ideas and emotions behind the totalitarian movements of the 20th century are targeted: they identify a class of enemy whose privileges and property have been unjustly acquired. Religion plays no real part in the ensuing destruction, and indeed is usually included among the targets.

Roger Scruton, 2007. The Sacred and the Human. Prospect, August 1, 2007.

Liberty under law

Posted: July 25, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philosophy | Leave a comment

The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion.
That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection.
That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right… The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.

J S Mill. 1974. On Liberty. London: Penguin Books.

Why philosophy

Posted: July 24, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philosophy | Leave a comment

We are now in a position to see that the function of philosophy is wholly critical. In what exactly does its critical activity consist?
One way of answering this question is to say that it is the philosopher’s business to test the validity of our scientific hypotheses and everyday assumptions. But this view, though very widely held, is mistaken. If a man chooses to doubt the truth of all the propositions he ordinarily believes, it is not in the power of philosophy to reassure him. The most that philosophy can do, apart from seeing whether his beliefs are self-consistent, is to show what are the criteria to determine the truth or falsehood of any given proposition : and then, when the sceptic realises that certain observations would verify his propositions, he may also realize that he could make those observations, and so consider his original beliefs to be justified. But in such a case one cannot say that it is philosophy which justifies his beliefs. Philosophy merely shows him that experience can justify them.

A J Ayer. 1936. Language, Truth and Logic. London: Victor Gollancz.