Mythos, Wisdom, and Scavenger Philosophy
According to Karl Jaspers, philosophy arose in the āAxial Ageā as a kind of critical reflection on myth and tradition. Nowadays, there is widespread agreement among historians of ideas that the notion of an āAxial Ageā is itself a myth, but I think that the other part of Jaspersā idea is right, that is, philosophy indeed originates in critical reflection on myth and tradition. This doesnāt mean that this defines the scope and purpose of philosophy, of course ā as a āmatureā discipline, philosophy mostly reflects on itself ā but I believe that reflection on this idea about the origins...
Book Review of Jay Garfieldās Engaging Buddhism ā Extended Version
When the Australasian Journal of Philosophy (AJP) asked me to review Jay Garfieldās (2015) book Engaging Buddhism I didnāt realize that they have a 400-word limit for āBook Notesā. Thatās the book-review equivalent of a haiku, which posed an interesting challenge, but which also required cutting 90% of the things I have (or want) to say about Garfieldās book. This āextended versionā of my review includes both the pre-publication version of my āBook Noteā for AJP and a some additional, more detailed comments. pre-publication version of my āBook Noteā for AJP In the preface of his book Garfield observes that...
Anarchism as Metaphilosophy
Near the end of the prologue of Platoās Republic, Socrates says to his opponent Thrasymachus that what they are discussing is āno ordinary/insignificant matter, but how we ought to liveā (1.352d). As in many of Platoās writings, Socrates here played the role of his mouthpiece: āHow we ought to liveā was indeed no insignificant matter for Plato, but the starting point and ultimate purpose of his philosophical investigations. Relegating the pre-Socratic philosophers to the disciplineās prehistory, it is sometimes suggested that Western philosophy started with Plato. Alfred North Whitehead even claimed that the history of Western philosophy āconsists of a...