Constructive gadfly
stevendedalus's Articles In Philosophy
November 26, 2003 by stevendedalus
Eliminate the credit card today and tomorrow rolls in Great Depression II. The bread line of the 30s was a result of blanket layoffs owing to the crash of capital, which is the facade of wealth. In reality what is the stock market but a gigantic credit card by which surplus capital is lent out to those who wish to partake in the growth of an economy. A child of wealth [capital in trust] not unlike royalty is crowned the billionaire of tomorrow by the simple process of investing in those that get...
December 7, 2003 by stevendedalus
 Alienation is a teleological principle of materialism: the presupposition that there is a world out there necessitates alienation of human endeavor — I am, therefore I think about. The nonrational animal extends its activity no farther than the limitations of its species truncating surplus labor — with the exception of some hoarding instincts — yet the input of its life is cruelly disproportionate to the use value of its output. A good share of its labor is wasteful, competitive, futile and o...
December 10, 2003 by stevendedalus
Intelligent Design may well be a sub-element of the universe, but it is terribly inefficient; or possibly, more like Plato’s Demiurge working feverishly to rectify the sprawling mistakes of itself, which relegates so much of the universe’s labor to chance and apparent necessity working in mysteriously destructive ways. Why could not the Big Bang be an Instant Epiphany wherein consciousness took hold of its own direction, rather than being left to disorderly debris on chance of evolving into a ...
January 2, 2004 by stevendedalus
If all life on the earth were destroyed today, tomorrow would resort to its nature and begin again. If the planet were totally obliterated the mystery of the cosmos would eventuate the likes of another: this is the nature of the Supra-being who thrives on cognition -- nay, is cognition intertwined with prescience. To think otherwise is a contradiction of the very subsistence directly responsible for the being forging the misconception, which is sense of the other, however distorted. So, too, t...
January 1, 2004 by stevendedalus
                                                        Out of the logically, rather, mythologically, constringent density of the Absolute, there springs a Child of Spirit destined to become the embodiment of his Father's repressed urge to glory. As this child gaily bursts into space and time created with every skip and jump in order to mold clouds of images with which to play, and like all children afterwards, cherishes some, coldly discards others. The child enjoys the destruction of his vola...
December 16, 2003 by stevendedalus
Before Moses ordered “Thou shalt not kill” was murder okay? Did not human reason already intuit that it was bad to take a life in virtue of the instinct of self-preservation in the other as well as the self? — doubtless. Nevertheless, there were those of the “others” who did not go beyond the perception of self-survival, thus failing to take into account the other guy’s rights. As a matter of fact, this type, was all too aware of self-preservation as a powerful tool in getting others to follow...
January 27, 2004 by stevendedalus
Euthanasia defies reality. Some people and sects actually believe that not only is suffering inevitable but it is necessary just as others question that without evil can there really be good or what does health mean if there be no sickness? I suspect a further argument would be thankfulness for brutes like Saddam; for what value would democracy carry without its counterpart? Yet is not a preemptive strike upon such butchery in a sense a denial of euthanasia by putting an end to the suffering...
January 15, 2004 by stevendedalus
The word terror was first introduced to the lexicon [“reign of terror”] during the French Revolution, since the beginning of time it was called massacre of mostly innocents — now labeled genocide —and usually in retaliation from other nations or from internal strife. Now only the names have changed, such as IRA, Zionists, al Qaeda, Baathist, PLO, FARC, the left and right in Italy two decades ago. At one time some were considered freedom fighters. To assist in distinguishing guerilla warfar...
January 10, 2004 by stevendedalus
Atheism, agnosticism, and humanism are not faiths; they are philosophies. They have no right to infringe upon traditional customs regarding the symbolic value of beliefs. Examples: “In God We Trust,” the White House Christmas tree, and Christmas trees across the nation; prayer in Congress, Christmas Day, and all other religions celebrating their faith. However, the Ten Commandments without purging cannot be displayed on public soil or buildings. Purged of its uniquely religious overtones its d...
January 7, 2004 by stevendedalus
I find it intriguing that there are folks who are adamantly for or against capital punishment as though there were some ironclad a priori causation for such views. Those for it, seem always to fall back on the “eye for an eye” rationale; those against resort to taking a life is God’s matter and not one of humankind to sit in judgment. In practice neither is valid; for there are innumerable variables in deciding the appropriate sentence. Nevertheless, what is a priori is that murder is wrong. ...
January 7, 2004 by stevendedalus
Built into the teaching profession is the saccharine psychology that teachers love children. Perhaps in a vague sense this is true; however, the sentiment of loving children is essentially maternal and a throw back to the one-room-schoolhouse, and should not be perceived as a prerequisite to good teaching — unless the concept is linked to Socrates’ pejorative of “midwife of ideas.” Socrates cared for ideas when they were his but scorned ideas of others that did not measure up to his own. A mat...
January 3, 2004 by stevendedalus
Politics and religion don’t mix — easier said than done. True, there is the separation clause that ostensibly keeps religion — instruction and display — out of schools. The clause also prevents public display of religion on public property. Christmas, however, being the only religious national holiday, gives rise to controversy over religious displays, except for lights and perhaps modest articles of faith. The tradition of a national holiday lends genuineness to the posture that the nation is...
January 3, 2004 by stevendedalus
What do we do about this diversified society that have as many mores as law on the books? Any society which presupposes that mores are necessary to promote the health and stability of a nation is back to the 17th Century bending to the will of the Puritans. Mores and cultural sects have no place in the philosophy of law and morality. As abrasive as it may be to public opinion, respecting the cultural relativity within each society must endure just as parents must grimace over the latest fad of...
January 1, 2004 by stevendedalus
God, a kindly mother or father, is without saying devoutly to be wished. Many of us would settle for the reality of the highly structured hierarchy of the Grecian divinities who in the main control the visible world and are protective. Alas, it is but a wish, a grand fantasy to give us hope that in the end there resides a high purpose to heretofore unspeakable sacrifices and atrocities of early and current development. We pray that our departed loved ones have not died just to be tagged by pal...
April 20, 2004 by stevendedalus
Uncertain World There is scarcely any certainty in the world. The best that can be expected is the mental impressions upon things an events. When we infer that Saddam is Saddam [S=S] there is certainty since the subject and predicate are the same. When we state S=M, the predicate adds to the subject, even though the subject itself is not changed: Saddam is a Murderer. However, the statement is an assertion and not true unless followed with contingent predicates or sufficient reasons, such ...