Category Archives: Philosophy

Why Writing Science Fiction Is Impossible (a Science Fiction Writer’s Confession)

Posted on January 20, 2020 by

When I was still a child, I fell in love with Sci Fi. I stayed up nights devouring stories by Asimov and Heinlein, Clarke and Bradbury, Poul Anderson, Frederick Pohl, Theodore Sturgeon, Pierre Boyle, and Harlan Ellison. Sometimes, I read … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Short Stories, Teaching Literature and Writing | Leave a comment

The Writer Puts Words in Their Place

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

I’ve seen it argued that animals (by which the authors meant nonhuman animals, for we are animals too) can’t be self-aware because they don’t have language. Yikes. The notion here is that in order for a creature to have a … Continue reading →

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Ideas Matter, Exhibit 1: The Horrific Legacy of Christian Neo-Platonism

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

The Christian Church grew up mired like a fly in treacle in the utter darkness that was Platonism–the sick, world-and-life-denying doctrine of Plato, who split the universe down the middle, into an airy-fairy spirit world “up there” and a contemptible … Continue reading →

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Using Derrida, from Notes to Krystalina

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

This is from a book-length work that I’ve been working on for many years. 2.1 Every actor has had The Actor’s Nightmare. You find yourself on stage, with a set and properties and another actor, but you haven’t any memory … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Teaching Literature and Writing, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Solution to the Fermi Paradox

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

The current NASA estimate is that there are 19,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the observable universe that are Class G stars like ours AND that have at least one planet similar to Earth. That’s at least 19 SEXTILLION Earthlike planets, folks. No, … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sci-Fi Stories: Visions of “The Future” as Verdicts on “The Now”

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

A red light blinked repeatedly in the lower left portion of Talia’s field of vision. This was meant to be scary and was, as was the fact that she couldn’t order the voice accompanying it to go mute and to … Continue reading →

Posted in Short Stories, Teaching Literature and Writing, Time, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Existentialism in Five Minutes | Bob Shepherd

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

This was back in the days Of the folk music craze. . . . [And] parties to pay for the rent. We all wanted to be existentialists, But none of us knew what the hell it meant. –Michael Smith, Songwriter, … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind | Leave a comment