Category Archives: Existentialism

A Brief Explanation of Everything. You’re Welcome.

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Bob Shepherd

NB: The following is a story. It is not fact. It is based in facts, yes, but it is entirely speculative. This was an exercise I set myself to create a myth that is completely consistent with current scientific understandings. … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Existentialism, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Short Stories | 3 Comments

Robert’s Rule

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Bob Shepherd

ROBERT’S RULE: If you are wondering whether a new policy, procedure, technology, law, regulation, or system is a good idea, just think of the worst person at the worst time in the future wielding its power. –Robert D. Shepherd Bob’s … Continue reading →

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Posted in Ed Reform, Existentialism, Technology, Trump (Don the Con) | 2 Comments

A Solution to the Fermi Paradox

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

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

Existentialism in Five Minutes | Bob Shepherd

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

“This was back in the days Of the folk music craze. . . . [and] parties to pay for the rent. We all wanted to be existentialists. None of us knew what that meant.” –Michael Smith, “The Ballad of Elizabeth … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind | 6 Comments

Wise Abandon

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

Look at anything. Really, really look at it. And it will become quite strange. Here you are, for example. And all the past is gone. And all the future is not yet. You probably believe, in fact, in the instant … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Three Meanings of “Meaning”

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

I just saw a dumb article in Quartz claiming that as science has revealed to us a mechanistic universe (and a view of the human brain as mechanism), we’ve come to face a new kind of “existential crisis” as we … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Existentialism, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Teaching Literature and Writing | 3 Comments

The Look, Social Media, and the Prolongation of Adolescence

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Bob Shepherd

Older people are supposed to complain about the kids these days. Northrop Frye, the great literary critic, wrote in The Educated Imagination that one of the earliest written texts produced by humans said that children no longer obey their parents … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Philosophy, Technology | Leave a comment

Aidan Reading on the Way to Preschool

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Bob Shepherd

So, Aidan was asking whether I thought that the being of self-consciousness is such that in its being its being is in question, and I said, “Come on, Aidan, you’re old enough to figure that out for yourself,” which he … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Short Stories | 3 Comments

The Tractatus Comico-Philosophicus: Martin Heidegger

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Bob Shepherd

Martin Heidegger Cares (Except When He Doesn’t) We didn’t ask for this crap. We fell into it, like some amnesiac thrown onto a stage, without a script, in the middle of a play already underway. (So, your first reaction is, … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Humor, Philosophy | 1 Comment

The Tractatus Comico-Philosophicus: Søren Aabye Kierkegaard

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Bob Shepherd

Søren Kierkegaard Takes a Leap of Faith Being a human being is weird. We’re not predetermined. Because we are free, nothing is required of us. All that we have, then, are our absurd commitments. Real commitment is shown when we … Continue reading →

Posted in Existentialism, Humor, Philosophy | 1 Comment