Recent Philosophy Commentaries

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Dispatches
Just because I’ve been off-line for two weeks doesn’t mean I’ve been off sleeping. The French philosopher Albert Camus once observed, “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” Here’s a snapshot of some of the wild things you may have missed: A former senior vice president at Lehman Brothers wrote a letter in May 2008...
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March 24, 2010
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Cheating
Okay folks, without cheating, how many “hits” do you get when you type the word “cheating,” into a search engine? I discovered almost six-million sites listed on Google that covers everything from poker to academic to relationship cheating.  (Here’s a bouncy little do-it-yourself I found on YouTube). To be fair, some of these sites discuss the problems and consequences of cheating.   » Read more...
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December 2, 2009
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Speaking of Emperors…
Are my guiding principles healthy and robust? On this hangs everything.   – Marcus Aurelius In writing these commentaries, it’s interesting to see how one topic will lead to another. Last Friday’s discussion revolved around the ethical question of whether the end justifies the means, a theme from the filmThe Emperor’s Club. In browsing my bookshelf, The Emperor’s Handbook, a 2002 translation...
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November 23, 2009
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Character as Destiny
There’s a scene late in the film The Emperor’s Club when William Hundert, a teacher who believes that character is the path to true success, dispenses a final lesson to an errant student. “All of us, at some point,” Hundert tells an older but no wiser Sedgewick Bell, “are forced to look at ourselves in the mirror and see who we really...
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November 20, 2009
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This One’s for Frank
A good friend of mine owns an art gallery with a peaceful and immensely satisfying restaurant currently serving lunch. “I would like you and your wife to have dinner on me,” Frank says.  “We’re trying out a new menu.  Just tell me what you think of the food and service.” My first reaction – great a free dinner and all for...
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October 5, 2009
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Uncommon Sense
In words that I can only describe as abominably ignorant, a number of state legislators and others have said the following regarding President Obama’s planned address to school children regarding education and achievement via the Internet Tuesday. Senator and candidate for governor of Oklahoma Randy Brogdon (R-Owasso): “President Obama has shown time and time again that he has little regard...
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September 5, 2009
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The Examined Life
Ever since I started searching the Internet I started collecting quotes.  I opened a file and every time I came across a quote that made a connection, I’d add it to the file.  It didn’t take long to discover a pattern – that true wisdom knows no period in history, religion, culture, race, age, gender or TV channel. Here are...
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August 3, 2009
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The Task of a True Statesman
Sitting in a Chinese restaurant, I remember opening a “fortune cookie” which read:  Confucius say… Wealth and renown gained without honor are nothing but drifting clouds. More than 2,500 years later, the Chinese philosopher and social thinker would probably laugh to discover that much of his wisdom has been distilled and tweaked to fit inside the modern invention of a cookie which...
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July 17, 2009
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The Noble Life
You’re facing a crisis. “Know what you can control and what you can’t.” People challenge and criticize you. “Refrain from defending your reputation and intentions.” Some people use harsh language and bombast. “Conduct yourself with dignity.” If you’re looking for the calm while working your way through a great storm, the ancient Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus just might be the...
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March 30, 2009
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It’s Ethics, Stupid!
The genesis of this site began with an experiment. I have long believed that ethics-related stories consistently dominate the news. You can’t open a major newspaper without finding at least one, usually more, ethics scandals in sections A and B. But I never sat down to take a closer look. So, from January 1 until December 31, 2007 I decided...
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March 3, 2008