On Sophocles and conflicting virtues: from “After Virtue” by Alasdair MacIntyre
The ancestor of one of these sets of answers is Plato, for whom as we have seen the virtues are not merely compatible with each other, but the presence of…
Category: commonplace book
On virtues of the heroic ages: from “After Virtue” by Alasdair MacIntyre
The exercise of the heroic virtues thus requires both a particular kind of human being and a particular kind of social structure. Just because this is so, an inspection of…
On Nietzschean irrationalism in bureaucratic society: from “After Virtue” by Alasdair MacIntyre
Reading Alasdair MacIntyre’s “After Virtue” – about two thirds of the way through. Whatever the virtues of the central arguments, there are an awful lot of thought-provoking quotes some of…
The Collapse of Complex Societies – Joseph Tainter
Somewhere along the way I came across references to Joseph Tainter’s The Collapse of Complex Societies and finally read it in recent weeks. Tainter’s prose style reminded me a little of John…
From “The Collapse of Complex Societies” by Joseph A Tainter
The citizens of modern complex societies usually do not realise that we are an anomaly of history. Throughout the several million years that recognisable humans are known to have lived,…
From “Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible” by E Randolph Richards and Brandon J O’Brien
In scripture, the godly life is portrayed as a lifelong work, not a list of don’ts. The active pursuit of virtue, particularly through the discipline practice of godly habits, is…
From “When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible” by Timothy Michael Law
“it is unfortunate that these issues cause greater concern to modern readers for whom contradictions and inconsistencies pose problems, but in the world in which the Bible was shaping up…
From Nostromo
Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions. Only in the conduct of our action can we find the sense of mastery over…
Séamus Sweeney 