http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php en 2008-05-16T08:59:17+02:00 daily 1 2008-05-16T08:59:17+02:00 http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/16/940-atheism-and-theism-have-much-in-common 2008-05-16T08:59:17+02:00 en Mark Journalism The cartoon accompanies a piece that I have in the Church Times today, based upon the blog here.... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/15/939-art-great-and-small 2008-05-15T19:53:01+02:00 en Mark In the news There was something pleasing about news of a great picture, 'Benefits Supervisor Sleeping', by a great artist, Lucian Freud, being sold for a record sum, breaking the day after the ephemeral hype about the Turner Prize shortlist.... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/14/938-do-you-believe-in-ufos 2008-05-14T10:08:04+02:00 en Mark In the news The British National Archives has released a dossier on UFO sightings, prompting a round of speculation on whether or not we are alone. It's a fascinating discussion, not so much because of what it reveals about ET, but because, as Jung realised, of what it reveals about modern individuals: UFOs... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/13/937-top-tips-for-wellbeing 2008-05-13T09:59:33+02:00 en Mark Happiness A tricky moment for me, yesterday. In my book, Wellbeing, I'm pretty sniffy about the texts on happiness that offer tips on how to boost your positive emotion - from saying thank you, through working less, to building strengths. My problem is that whilst based on a certain kind of evidence they... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/12/936-reasons-for-giving 2008-05-12T10:20:02+02:00 en Mark Moral matters Peter Singer is so impressive as a philosopher because he puts his money where his mouth is - literally, in the case of his giving to charity: he confesses here that he gives away a full one third of his income because his utilitarian philosophy says he should. The power of utilitarianism is that... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/11/935-a-philosophical-approach-to-illness 2008-05-11T11:02:58+02:00 en Mark Wisdom Havi Carel loves life but, now 37, she knows that she may not live to be 45. She has a serious illness. It has sharpened her focus on her mortality, though in truth it is a focus which, if they had it, might result in anyone living more fully. Philosophy has helped her develop a way of... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/10/934-the-brave-robin-an-altruistic-tale 2008-05-10T11:31:28+02:00 en Mark Moral matters There is a robin raising her young just outside my window. I know because every time we let the cats out, she becomes very agitated, hopping from perch to perch, chattering loudly, presumably as she tries to distract the cats away from the nest. Evolutionary psychology would suggest that this... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/09/933-fromm-on-standing-in-love 2008-05-09T10:36:26+02:00 en Mark Happiness So we had, here, something of Fromm on falling in love. What of the contrast he makes between that essentially romantic conception of love and his preferred form of love, standing in love? Standing in love differs because unlike falling in love, which is premised on the fact that the lovers are... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/07/932-standing-in-love 2008-05-07T13:03:42+02:00 en Mark Happiness Fromm's classic, The Art of Loving, is full of arresting ideas, if a little dated now, what with his complementary idea of gender and poor understanding of homosexuality. I particularly like the distinction he draws between falling in love and standing in love. Falling in love is perhaps the... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/06/931-einstein-god-hume-and-spinoza 2008-05-06T09:23:32+02:00 en Mark Science Published in paperback today, though I bought a copy over the weekend, Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson is an excellent biography of the man. He presents a joyous blend of Einstein's life with lovers and friends, employers and events, physics and philosophy. It would serve as a... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/05/930-festival-of-ideas 2008-05-05T10:22:54+02:00 en Mark Events If anyone is around in Bristol or Oxford this week, I'd be delighted to say hello at: The Bristol Festival of Ideas, Wednesday 7th May, when I'm talking with Julian Baggini and John Cornwell on Atheism, Agnosticism and God. The Corner Club, Oxford, Thursday 8th May, when I'm talking about my... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/04/929-is-time-travel-really-possible 2008-05-04T21:11:36+02:00 en Mark Science Kurt Gödel is well known for his incompleteness theorem: 'The complete set of mathematical truths will never be captured by any finite or recursive list of axioms that is fully formal', as Palle Yourgrau describes it in his provocative and readable book, A World Without Time: The Forgotten... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/03/928-dances-of-thought 2008-05-03T11:15:10+02:00 en Mark General Proving that academic philosophy can touch earth, The Philosophers' Magazine, invariably a good read, has had a makeover, and will now be known as tpm. In the new issue, I particularly enjoyed Jonathan Rée's essay on philosophy as an art. (You can hear him talk about it on Philosophy Bites too.)... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/02/927-two-cheers-for-democracy 2008-05-02T10:20:55+02:00 en Mark In the news Two stories dominate the UK news today, the drubbing of the ruling Labour party in the local elections, and the 'human interest' items about the missing Madeleine McCann and the monster Josef Fritzl. They show the best and worst of democracy; why, as E.M. Forster wrote, it gets two cheers not... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/05/01/926-thank-you 2008-05-01T11:04:12+02:00 en Mark General Last month, April '08, saw a record number of unique visits to this blog, reaching almost 68,000, or over 2,200 per day. Thank you! Having said that, it is always a little difficult to know just what those figures mean. The average length of visit is around one minute, which presumably means a... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/04/30/925-what-drives-the-storm 2008-04-30T11:03:48+02:00 en Mark Religion Last night, I was delighted to meet Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire who, as his new book states, finds himself in the eye of the storm over homosexuality in the Anglican Communion, he being the only out, partnered gay bishop. Needless to say, he is an extraordinarily self-possessed,... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/04/29/924-orwell-s-truths 2008-04-29T11:47:46+02:00 en Mark Philosophers Prompted by the announcements of the George Orwell prizes, I spent a very enjoyable evening delving in and out of his Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters (which you can pick up for next-to-nothing as secondhand Penguins). A 1939 review of Power: A New Social Analysis by Bertrand Russell stood... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/04/28/923-a-school-of-love 2008-04-28T09:04:49+02:00 en Mark Friendship and religion I can always recommend Thought for Today when written by Giles Fraser. And particularly recommend the thought on friendship he just delivered on Radio 4, it being about friendship - and written, I might add, with a little help from a friend. The message. Friendship always involves mixed... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/04/27/922-kant-was-right 2008-04-27T13:03:08+02:00 en Mark Personal observations Go see the film Persepolis to see how revolutions - be they secular or religious, totalitarian or imperial - ruin lives. Kant was right: revolutions require the imposition of exactly the opposite of Enlightenment, namely the practice of new, ignorant prejudices and the submission to new, corrupt... http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?2008/04/26/921-doubting-hume-was-the-greatest 2008-04-26T10:50:40+02:00 en Mark Philosophers Do you sometimes have the feeling that an opinion is coming at you from all sides? Right now, I have that feeling about the greatness of David Hume. The excellent Philosophy Bites had a recent podcast in which he was heralded as possibly the greatest English-speaking philosopher. Then I was...