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Fred Guerin
Jul 15, 20202 min read
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, 20204 min read
‘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, 20209 min read
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, 202011 min read
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, 20204 min read
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, 20206 min read
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, 20207 min read
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, 20204 min read
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, 20203 min read
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, 20205 min read
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, 20203 min read
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, 20203 min read
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, 20203 min read
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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Fred Guerin
May 31, 20203 min read
What is ‘Critical’ About Critical Thinking?
“Dare to think for yourself”. (Immanuel Kant) “What you think is less important than how you think”. (Christopher Hitchens) “Critical...
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Fred Guerin
May 31, 20203 min read
The Dehumanizing Cult of Behaviourism
If you really want to talk 'cult' then you need go no further than the pseudo-science of behaviourism. The latter theory has had a...
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Fred Guerin
May 31, 20202 min read
How Free Should Freedom of Speech Be?
Philosopher's Café “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” [George Orwell]...
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Fred Guerin
May 31, 20204 min read
COVID-19, Neoliberalism and the Politics of Depravity
There are two realities that the present pandemic has made abundantly clear: 1. The environmental destructiveness of our current...
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Fred Guerin
May 26, 20202 min read
Is Privacy Important?
Philosopher’s Café “Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than...
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Fred Guerin
May 25, 20203 min read
Does God Matter?
“I am afraid we are not rid of God because we still have faith in grammar”. [Friedrich Nietzsche Twilight of the Idols] “We are each free...
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Fred Guerin
May 25, 20205 min read
Retribution or Restoration?
In a retributive punishment oriented legal system it is claimed that when justice is done, and seen to be done, it provides a catharsis...
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