“the unbridled onward rush into the abyss”
From “Timekeepers: How the World Became Obsessed With Time” by Simon Garfield: “Optimistically, the more benign form of frenetic standstill is not a new thing. In the terminology of popular…
Month: January 2018
Silence in the Cairngorms – from Nan Shepherd’s “The Living Mountain”
Having disciplined mind and body to quiescence, I must discipline them also to activity. The senses must be used. For the ear, the most vital thing that can be listened…
Daniel Kalder on Cold War Armageddon
Children of the 1980s recall the pervasive atmosphere of imminent nuclear devastation which we somehow survived. Not unlike Daniel Kalder with the naval base warning siren, I found that the…
Two Views on the Nature of Language: Nietzsche and Auden
Originally posted on anenduringromantic:
“That for which we find words is already dead in our hearts,” says Nietzsche. “There is a kind of contempt in the act of speaking.” Language, then,…
Silence and the limits of language
“That for which we find words in something already dead in our hearts. There always is a kind of contempt in the act of speaking.” – Nietzsche, The Twilight of…
“Mental health apps offer a head start on recovery” – Irish Times, 18/01/18
Originally posted on A Medical Education:
Here is a piece by Sylvia Thompson on a recent First Fortnight panel discussion I took part in on apps in mental health. Dr…
“Shouting about humankind being part of nature may mask a fear that it is nothing of the sort.”
From Peter Reason’s “In Search of Grace”, a passage on a theme that has often occurred to me. Philosophically, one can unpick the concept of “nature” and any separation between…
Schopenhauer on noise
From “A Cabinet of Philosophical Curiosities” by Roy Sorensen: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) contends that there is no point in arguing about whether noise is annoying. If noise bothers…
Séamus Sweeney 