Fred Guerin
On Critical Thinking (Again!)
It the age of social media the virtue of critical thinking--and I mean here questioning not just others but our own beliefs and...
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Fred Guerin
- Oct 1, 2020
- 6 min
A Sunday Sermon from a Local Pagan
The historical Jesus Christ of Nazareth was a rabbi and a radical social activist. He was a flawed being like the rest of us. He sat...
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Fred Guerin
- Oct 1, 2020
- 6 min
On 'How Science Works' Within a Capitalist System
Illustration by Jasper Rietman In an interesting recent article in the New Yorker Joshua Rothman, situates the question of 'the way...
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Fred Guerin
- Oct 1, 2020
- 2 min
A National Disgrace
The first United States presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden took place on September 29, 2020, with a further two...
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Fred Guerin
- Sep 6, 2020
- 3 min
Chevron v Steven Donziger
Those of us who consider themselves on the left of the political spectrum all understand how corporations and powerful individuals can...
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Fred Guerin
- Jul 21, 2020
- 5 min
Spinoza: On The Ethics and Nature
If I were to choose between the three most celebrated 17th Century rationalists, Descartes, Spinoza or Leibniz, Spinoza would be my...
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Fred Guerin
- Jul 16, 2020
- 9 min
Law, Equity and Systemic Discrimination
There is a great deal to be said for living one’s life according to certain generalized or universal moral principles. Thus, the demand...
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Fred Guerin
- Jul 15, 2020
- 2 min
On Hope and the Possible
“I dwell in possibility…” Emily Dickinson “A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.” Friedrich Nietzsche We all hope...
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Fred Guerin
- Jul 15, 2020
- 4 min
‘All Lives Matter’ or How to Self-Righteously Erase a History of Racism
The slogan ‘All Lives Matter’, reputed to be a criticism and moral corrective to the exclusivist Black Lives Matter movement, precisely...
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Fred Guerin
- Jul 14, 2020
- 9 min
On The J.K. Rowling Controversy
What of the controversy? I would be with JK Rowling—at least in the qualified sense that I would be with anyone who had the courage to...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 25, 2020
- 11 min
A Bitter Pill, but not a Lethal One
The COVID-19 pandemic and the riots following yet another brutal cop killing of a black man, have shown Donald Trump’s duplicity,...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 4 min
On Alfie, Art and Morality
I recently watched the 1966 film Alfie with Michael Caine and Shelley Winters. Don’t bother with 2004 remake of this film—it’s a disaster...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 6 min
Why do we Punish?
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. [Albert Einstein] No...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 7 min
Why Philosophize?
“If we ought to philosophize we ought to philosophize, and if we ought not to philosophize we ought to philosophize; in either case,...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 4 min
What is the Experience of Music?
Music is the only religion that delivers the goods [Frank Zappa] Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life....
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 3 min
On Possible Paths to the Future
What’s needed now is neither fatalism nor utopianism, but a suite of practical pathways for families and communities that lead to a real...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 5 min
What is Wisdom?
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second by imitation, which is easiest; and third by...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 3 min
What is a ‘Person’?
To be a person, a being must be self-conscious, aware of its identity and its continued existence over time [Derek Parfit] Persons are...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 3 min
Should There be a Universal Basic Income?
“In a world of true abundance, you shouldn't have to work to justify your life.” Sam Harris Universal basic income (UBI)—the proposition...
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Fred Guerin
- Jun 3, 2020
- 3 min
On the Ethical Implications of a Quantum Universe
Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control…we all dance to a mysterious tune,...
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