I have been putting almost all my attention on the book I have been working on for far too long. I am still very much engaged in the subjects I wrote about on this blog. I have a few more chapters to draft. I will return to posting here when I finish them. Don’t give up. I am very pleased with how thing are showing up on “paper.” Most of what I have written has roots somewhere on this blog. The most important findings I am writing about is that both flourishing and care can be grounded in the same… Read More
Continue ReadingLiving in Lalaland
I have to warn you that the document you will see in a moment is not a joke. It is in reality a “joke,” but it is for real. I got notice of a new bill (H. R. 5668) just introduced into the House of Representatives. Here is the preamble: > To prohibit the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from taking the social cost of carbon or the social cost of methane into account when taking any action, and for other purposes. I hesitate to give you the name of the bill for fear… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Quest for Flourishing: Nature or Nurture?
This is another long and complicated blog post, but gets closer to closing the loop in my overall story of the centrality of flourishing to the good life and the reasons why it is so difficult to come by in today’s world. David Brooks, my favorite source of blog topics, wrote a good piece in the NYTimes today (July 8, 2016) contrasting two basic human dispositions: selfishness and empathy/altruism. The final paragraph tells most of the story of the column. > By assuming that people are selfish, by prioritizing arrangements based on selfishness, we have encouraged selfish frames of mind.… Read More
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