The Water Bearer Existential First Principles No Country for Old Men is a novel by Cormac McCarthy about promise keeping after the death of God. All of the main characters have some answer as to how to keep social contracts in the face of this. …

The Death of God and Promise Keeping with Mammon — Existential First Principles No Country for Old Men is a novel by Cormac McCarthy about promise keeping after the death of God. All of the main characters grapple with how to keep social contracts in the face of this. …

Is Pain Only in the Mind? — Overview Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason drafted the idea that space and time are inscrutably mental constructs. Pain is commonly conceived as being something that has an ontology in the senses: the sense of pain is the same as the affect. Furthermore, pain is commonly considered to be…

One Small Step for Kin Selection — Kin Vs Group Selection In One Giant Leap: How Insects Achieved Altruism and Colonial Life, Edward O. Wilson makes the case for eusociality emerging as a form of group selection, rather than kin selection. For eusociality to emerge, group members must exhibit a willingness for “collateral altruism, which is behavior benefiting others at the…

Toxic and ideal forms of masculinity. — In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway questions what masculinity has come to after World War I. Broadly, the book is about the fight against a loss of belief in things: God, masculinity, and Western culture. The war demonstrated that modern technology prevailed and masculinity and skill were not requisite to…

Discussing pain without painfulness, the gift nobody wants. — It is intuitively thought that the affective state of pain, and the sensory component, are conjoined phenomenon. From everyday experience, it sounds unqualifiedly right, all of our experiences align with this conception. I touch my stove, and I get a seamless sensory and affective experience. …

How Hemingway incorporates Feminism. — The Sun Also Rises is a novel written by Hemingway to address The Lost Generation, or the cultural malaise that followed World War I. However, much of the tension of the book is due to loss of belief not in Western culture but in gender roles. Hemingway’s Take On Feminism Brett charges into this…

Cultural Tiredness — The River to The Sea Ernest Hemingway wrote prominently about “The Lost Generation”. The Lost Generation refers to those directly involved in World War I and left thereafter in disarray and a sense of a lack of purpose. This very commonly occurs to those who have one unifying objective that cuts across society, and that…

Is it like something to be a bug? — “The question is not, can they reason? Nor Can they talk? But, can they suffer?” — Jeremy Bentham A lot rides on whether or not we decide insects can suffer. Most creatures on the planet are insects, and most humans currently operate on the assumption that insects don’t feel pain…