Previous Installments #1: Introduction, and On Sources. Section II: In An Instant Even if mustering up the courage to decide something requires time, making the decision itself happens in an instant. Likewise, to become aware of something often happens in an instant. Instantaneousness and insight share a deep and unexplored connection. Heidegger called this connection … [continue reading]
Author Archives: Otto Paans
Fragments of Reality, Fragments of Solidarity.
In this essay, I’d like to respond Michelle Maiese’s thought-provoking recent critical piece on APP, “Smithereens: Reflections in a Black Mirror.” Maiese presents the following (reconstructed) argument: (1) Socialism—whether democratic socialism or social anarchism (aka anarcho-socialism, libertarian socialism, etc.)—is fundamentally concerned with respect for universal human dignity; with human freedom of thought, expression, choice, and action; with … [continue reading]
Thoughts on Postmodernity 1: An Impossible Presentation.
Imagine being introduced to someone at a party. A friend of yours wants you to meet someone she knows and facilitates an encounter. Even before you have shaken hands with your new conversation partner, he exclaims: “I am not an alcoholic!”, before proceeding to tell you his name. Chances are that you will think your … [continue reading]
Meditations & Mediations, #1—Introduction and Section I: On Sources.
Introduction If one practices philosophy in some form or the other, how should one do it? What should one do? This question is as old as philosophy itself. Apart from dealing with problems like the nature of free will, the nature of mind, causation, the acquisition of knowledge, the existence of a supreme being, Being … [continue reading]
The Blue Pill Without Amnesia–On the Philosophical Foundations of Political Correctness, Part 3.
PART 1 PART 2 6. Coercive Liberalism “We are condemned to be free” may have been a key slogan of Existentialism, but it is equally true of today’s liberalism. But at least, the existentialists viewed the human condition as absurd, since we had to experience the responsibility of freedom without ever being able to shake … [continue reading]
The Blue Pill Without Amnesia–On the Philosophical Foundations of Political Correctness, Part 2.
PART 1 4. Reversed Teleology I wish to draw attention to a different aspect of the “retrospective twist” I described in part I of this essay. As I indicated, this technique is applied by reading works of, for instance, Kant, with a contemporary mindset. It is easy to frame Kant as a bigot, racist and … [continue reading]
The Blue Pill Without Amnesia–On the Philosophical Foundations of Political Correctness, Part 1.
1. Introduction Nietzsche is well known for a terrifying thought experiment: if one night, a demon would visit you in a dream, and reveal to you that you would re-live your live again and again for all eternity, what would you do? Nietzsche’s initial hunch is that most people would wake up screaming, having glimpsed … [continue reading]
Lying in the Guise of Concern. A Democratic Tragedy in Three Acts and a Philosophical Epilogue
There are still people and herds somewhere, but not with us, my brothers: here there are states. The state? What is that? Well then! Now open your ears, for now I shall speak to you of the death of peoples. The state is the coldest of all cold monsters. Coldly it lies, too; and this … [continue reading]
The Analytic Self-Image. Thoughts on Style, Procedures, and Precision
Many essays, books and articles have been produced on the distinction between Analytic philosophy and Continental philosophy. Several recent installments in the long-running and seemingly never-ending Analytic vs. Continental debate have been posted here at APP: “Analytic” Philosophy vs. “Continental” Philosophy: Wtf? Why Does It Still Matter So Much? “Analytic” vs. “Continental” Philosophy Revisited. Which … [continue reading]
Five Theses About Real Philosophy, #1. An Attempt at Defining a Methodological Theory of Real Philosophy
I. Introduction Some time ago, one of APP’s readers asked how real philosophy as we define and practice it (two activities that are inextricably connected) is supposed to be different from other types of philosophy, and whether all philosophy that is not real philosophy should be regarded as “fake” or “inauthentic” philosophy.[i] To a certain … [continue reading]