In 399 B.C.E., the year Socrates was put on trial in ancient Athens, he met a prosecutor (for lack of a better word) on the steps of the Court of Archon. His name was Euthyphro, and, astonishingly, he was prosecuting his very own father for murder. He felt it would be "pollution" to allow his father to go unpunished; a stain upon his good name. They get to talking, and soon Socrates has the arrogant man in his grasp. This blog is about the nature of values according to Socrates, which is essentially Socratic dialogue. The question being explored, specifically, is whether goodness is goodn ..read more

All due respect to Tom Morris, who is an intellectual titan. He wrote this piece in a LinkedIn post. At first I was very excited to repost it as a blog. It had a decent length, and the title – wow! – I figured it had to be good. Well, it wasn't, exactly. The issue with the post was not that it wasn't fair for Morris to use that title to draw readers to his works of fiction. I am fully willing to grant that his books are about wisdom in the indirect sense, and like many fantastic and hallmark examples of literature throughout the ages – Tolstoy, Austen, Hemingway, Jong – we can find much in the ..read more

There is a strain of experiments buoyed by theory that is in the category of social psychology - the branch of the study of human behavior that locates a human being in their social context. That is, people may have some individuality, some trait-like tendencies to think, feel, perceive, and act in a more or less typical way (i.e., based on their personality type). Social psychologists study how human beings function in relation to their environment. This essentially radical environmental approach doesn't mimic the approach of Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner - dyed-in-the-wool environmentalists ..read more

In my previous posting on historian and political analyst Fareed Zakaria's book In Defense of a Liberal Education, I introduced the topic, shared how it was that the author came to value a true and deep kind of education, and extolled America's great history of "an education to all that was not skills-based." The "Great Books" approach found fertile soil in the United States in the 1930s and in the ensuing few decades. Now, in an era of iPads, Slurpees, and 300-horsepower cars, most students want to study business, psychology, or marketing. Fareed Zakaria and I believe that skills, such as STE ..read more

Siddhartha in the ancient language of Magadhi means “one who has accomplished a goal.” This is a very fitting name for a very influential historical figure that is still shrouded in myth and legend — Siddhartha Gautama, also known as The Buddha. While we do know he existed, there is still a lot that we don’t know about him (and will never know). It has been over 2,500 years since The Buddha’s death, and to this day his insightful and inspirational message influences and motivates hundreds of millions of people every day. This is what living a life of value is all about: pursuing a path for one ..read more

Every day features more outrages from the political-religious Right, so this blog features 50 quotes by freethinkers, secular-humanists, atheists, and agnostics who have birthdays in the month of February. The post Quotes by Freethinkers, Rationalists, and Reformers appeared first on Values of the Wise ..read more

Some Montaigne quotes, such as the following, are abstruse and unwieldy: “Difficulty is a coin which the learned conjure with so as not to reveal the vanity of their studies and which human stupidity is keen to accept in payment." Other Montaigne quotes are as accessible, substantive, and as beautiful as a ripe peach: "It is only a fool who never suspects he could be foolishly mistaken." His study of "the ancients" as well as his own works place quotations in their proper place: upon high.  This blog is a compilation of some of the pithiest and profoundest Montaigne quotes humanity i ..read more

Freedom of speech is a liberty that is woven into the very fabric of the United States. We have a long history here of continuing the tradition and system set up by the founders of America, such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Except for certain periods of a marked diminution of free speech and dissent (such as the Alien and Sedition Acts, McCarthyism, and the juggernaut of the post-9/11 Middle East wars), one could rest assured that if they wished to stand on a soapbox and absolutely trash the POTUS, one would not be prevented from doing so. Of course, there are libel and slander laws ..read more

We all believe some things without sufficient (or, perhaps "good") evidence to support the belief. It is often innocuous—"My son is going to win his game this Saturday!", or "Our financial problems will get better, don't worry, honey", or "Go Pats!" However, belief without evidence is highly questionable. This blog gets into religion, politics, and such from the perspective that belief in something should, by and large, be apportioned based on what the balance of solid, dispassionately-perceived evidence indicates. The post Skepticism, Belief, Doubt, & Evidence appeared first on Value ..read more

Beauty is one of the age-old values--up there with Truth, Justice, Goodness, Kindness, Wisdom, Modesty, etc. The fact that it tends to be capitalized is a tip-off that it's a big deal! Persons from Aristotle to modern poets, philosophers, and people of all kinds think about and experience Beauty. But what does it really mean? Is it prettiness, like a flower? Is it coherence and unity? Is it elegance and profundity? This blog features three dozen of the best quotations on beauty from different types of persons, from different cultures, genders, and religious orientations. The post Quotations on ..read more