Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
The Straussian Moment
gwern.net
‘Were there a species of creatures intermingled with men, which
though rational, were possessed of such inferior strength, both of body
and mind, that they were incapable of all resistance, and could never,
upon the highest provocation, make us feel the effects of their
resentment; the necessary consequence, I think, is that we should be
bound by the la
... See moreWhere Balibar, as a consequence, sees our inconvertible cruelty as always about to undermine our politics, and our confidence in politics, Wendy Brown sees neoliberalism – which she defines in Undoing the Demos as ‘a peculiar form of reason that configures all aspects of existence in economic terms’ – as ‘quietly undoing basic elements of democracy
... See moreAdam Phillips • On Wanting to Change
view. For instance, in the mid-1700s David Hume wrote a lot about the “natural benevolence” of human beings. And a century later, even Charles Darwin himself attributed an “instinct of sympathy” to our species. But
Dalai Lama • The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living
his human flock, and it was thus right and natural for his subjects to obey him
Jessica C. Flack • Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight: The Evolving Idea of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute, 1984–2019 (Compass)
When we talk about justice today, we almost always find ourselves talking about rights we believe are entrenched in nature and have been enshrined in our founding documents. This language reflects a liberal conception of human action and interaction, casting us as rational agents who reach agreements with one another through calculation and negotia
... See morecan human beings come to understand their own well-being as linked to that of others, in wider and wider circles, beyond family and tribe?