Ezra did what Anakin couldn’t: resist the Emperor’s lure.
And this despite having a similar family history of loss.
Read MoreThoughts about how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term
Ezra did what Anakin couldn’t: resist the Emperor’s lure.
And this despite having a similar family history of loss.
Read MoreAfter his death, Kanan Jarrus is remembered by his friends with such veneration. Ezra calls him “wise and brave”, and Hera grants him a place on her sacred family tree (Kalikori).
Even the Emperor mentions Kanan by name – if his death was important enough for the Emperor to cite, then his life must been too.
Read MoreEgoism is a concept often not characterized in a helpful way. Many popular depictions fail to pick out true egocentrists while falsely accusing others of egoism.
In this four-part series, I try to draw a path from (true) egoism to unconditional love (agape in ancient Greek). The natural starting point is to understand egoism properly.
Read MoreAnalytical philosophy is great. I am an analytic philosopher myself.
But it also tends to “kill by dissecting”. What has been cut at its joints needs to be reassembled in order to become alive again.
Read MoreWhat do you do when you would like to learn or understand something, but ‘looking at’ is inadequate for that endeavor, and ‘looking along’ is not (yet) possible?
Read MoreThe Star Wars galaxy cries out for redemption.
By redemption I mean a state in which everything is as it should be, and stably so: evil and darkness should not have the possibility to creep back in.
Read MoreA doctrine, when coming under fire, should be defendable by argument; if it is not, it is either a properly basic belief and thus rather a given of experience than a doctrine, or probably false.
But even the best of doctrines are a tough act to follow if the whole weight of a rival worldview presses against them. They are then like soldiers fighting bravely for a good cause, but fighting a losing battle.
Read MoreAt first, a clarification. I do not use the term ‘good literature’ as a synonym for ‘captivating’, ‘stylistically elaborate’, or ‘well-structured’ writings, although all of these attributes may contribute to a piece of literature being good.
Thus, a book may be very thrilling and yet fail to be good literature in my sense.
Read MoreThe main question I want to ask about this film is “How could the Padres’ apostasy been made less probable?”
My theses are: (1) They should not have come as Padres (2) they should have dropped Catholic relics (3) they should have undergone a more thorough philosophical training with special emphasis on Japan’s Buddhism to meet the intellectual challenges (4) they should have dropped all notions of ‘wedding’ Japan to the Church, but rather seek to bring individuals to Christ.
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