Jun 8, 2021Kant and the Art of BMW Maintenance: From German Idealism to German Engineering.Introduction Today, when we think of modern Germany we may find that images of high-quality engineering come to mind; beautiful, high-performance vehicles such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, or exquisitely machined hand tools like Bosch and Stihl. …4 min read4 min read
May 1, 2021Metaphysical Logic and The Interpretation of DreamsIn his On Dreams (1901), Sigmund Freud puts forward the fascinating theory that we do not sleep in order to dream but that we dream in order to sleep. …3 min read3 min read
May 1, 2021Pointing Towards Christ: Prefigurations of Christian Teleology in the Early Greek ThinkersIntroduction Antonio Gaudi once said that originality consists of returning to the origin. …3 min read3 min read
Apr 16, 2021The Hard Problem of ConscientiousnessRecently, a few of the online course makers I follow have been writing and vlogging about their experiences pursuing a viable and self-supporting intellectual life online. …3 min read3 min read
Mar 29, 2021Kant’s Project in the Critique of Pure Reason and its Implications for Scientific TheoriesMy own understanding of Kant’s project is that he was trying to determine how it is possible that we can reason about phenomena about which we have no direct experience; such as the question of what happens to us after we die (Kant, 2001, pp.25, 35). The first thought that…2 min read2 min read
Jan 7, 2021Zarathustra’s Ape: How He Became What He WasThat morning, Peter* woke up feeling down again. Dragging himself out of bed, Peter was nonetheless determined to head to the marketplace and see the tightrope walker who was due to be giving a performance that day. …6 min read6 min read
Dec 1, 2020Necro-Ethics Part 10. Skin in the Game: Drones & War without WarfareHaving now explored several key themes of Gregoire Chamayou’s critique of drone warfare in the previous sections of this digest, it is now possible to come to a conclusion about the overall themes underpinning Drone Theory (2015). First of all, what is so fascinating about Chamayou’s critique of drone warfare…3 min read3 min read
Nov 30, 2020Necro-Ethics Part 9. Mechanised Atrocity and the Death of the Subject‘A robot commits a war crime. Who is responsible?’ (Chamayou, 2015, p.210) Having spent most of Drone Theory exploring the negative consequences of the increasing separation of body and machine in drone warfare, towards the end of the book Chamayou follows this trend to its its logical conclusion: the total…2 min read2 min read
Nov 20, 2020Necro-Ethics Part 8. Drones and the Divine Right of Kings: Hobbes vs. RousseauA central theme of the previous posts in this exploration of Gregoire Chamayou’s Drone Theory (2015) (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) has been the place of the body in warfare and how drones undermine this link, with dangerous results. …3 min read3 min read
Nov 14, 2020IndieThinkers Annual Progress ReviewIn November last year I signed up for Justin Murphy’s IndieThinkers. …6 min read6 min read
