Tag: philosophy
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In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god
Is Philosophy gendered? I don’t mean in terms of the number of men who, until very recently, considered themselves the only able arbiters of the discipline. And I’m not sure I could even comment on whether being married could make a difference in the field one way or another. And yet… I was an obstetrician…
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Doubt thou the stars are fire
What am I doing, thinking about love at my age? And don’t get all shmaltzy about that; don’t remind me that without love, there is no hope, no future, no point in going on… It’s not that I’ve never considered those arguments, but I’ve lived through them all, and am at peace with myself and…
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The Colour of Questions
Do you remember being a teenager, and asking questions about reality: those late night discussions in the dorm at university, or the endless questions that kept throwing sparks around the campfire as you sat with your friends through the night by the lake in summer? Things like ‘What is the colour red?’ And, ‘How do…
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Is anything an island entire of itself?
For some reason, I find it interesting that we feel compelled to wrap ourselves in our own unique identity. I assume I am my named island, and forget -or don’t realize- that I am actually ‘a piece of the continent, a part of the main’ as John Donne opined in his famous Meditation (XVII). I…
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Hope is patience with the lamp lit
Gregory had hope; how nebulous is that? He and his wife are my closest friends, but it was still difficult for me to talk about the changes that were beginning to thicken over them like shadows on a winter’s day -difficult for me, I guess, but perhaps not for them. “What do you expect us…
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Is thought gendered?
There was a time when I thought I actually understood the world, but I wonder if I was just casting my eyes about me from a plinth. I was a gynaecologist in another life, and although I tried to understand the other side, perhaps I was merely looking through a glass darkly. It takes more…
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A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise
I’d like to think I’m generous; I may not have as much to contribute as Bill Gates, but I have to hope it’s the thought that counts, not the amount. Still, there has always been a nagging feeling that I could give more if I were -what?- more aware of the needs of others? More…
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Derivative Anger
I bumped into a Jessica the other day. She was standing at a corner of a busy street waiting for the little man to light up on the crosswalk sign. I hadn’t seen her for ages, but apart from the inevitable tell-tale wrinkles of a maturing face, she looked the same as she had when…
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