Have you ever wondered how your beliefs are formed? We all have worldviews that are informed by our beliefs about life. But how are our beliefs created? And by whom? In this article, I explore one possible answer offered by cognitive science. Especially its new branch of inquiry - cognitive science of religion (CSR) - …
Category: On Philosophy
Could Our Beliefs Be an Evolutionary Advantage?
The current world population amounts to approximately 7,8 billion people. You, me, all of us. According to the latest estimations, roughly 85% of us feel affiliated with one of the currently practised religions. The remaining 15% do not necessarily all identify as atheists, some see themselves as agnostic or simply non-religious, having no strong views …
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Common Sense and Truth – Reflections
"How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!" Homer, some 3.000 years ago "The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin, in the Legion's courtyard, San Francisco* How reliable is our common sense? It gets us by on a day-to-day basis mostly without big blunders. So we can agree that common sense is reliable as an adaptability …
Book Review: “Mind and Cosmos” by Thomas Nagel
Thomas Nagel is a renowned contemporary American philosopher, born in Belgrade (modern-day Serbia) on July 4, 1937. Outside philosophical circles he is perhaps best known for his 1974 essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" where he argues against the material/physical reductionist account of the mind and especially - of consciousness. This remains Nagel's central …
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Being Great to be Good Enough? Philosophical Exploration
Is 'good' good enough? Or is 'great' needed to qualify for being good enough? Although it sounds absurd if taken from a purely logical perspective, it is yet another proof of our inherent complexity that often contains outright contradictions. I know what it feels like to expect and demand greatness from myself simply to feel …
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Ancient Tale of Happiness
Human longing for a happy life is probably as old as the humanity itself. However, happiness is one of those fleeting concepts that receives new meaning with the change of time, shifts in values, developments in culture. In other words, happiness is a moving target. What has been our track record so far in trying …
Revolutions, Omelettes, and Philosophy
What on Earth can revolutions, omelettes, and philosophy have in common? A lot, as it turns out! At least if you think about it from the perspective of Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997). He was a philosopher, a thinker, a historian of ideas, and, according to many (I agree with them), one of the most fascinating, capturing, and creative …
Let’s Talk Miracles – What Are They?
Last year around this time I wrote about miracles. More specifically, the 18th century Scottish philosopher's David Hume's views on them. It is that season again when my thoughts, at least sometimes, turn to the topic of miracles. Perhaps especially this year. Wouldn't the world really need a few good miracles now! It turns out, …
Spreading the Word: On Being Yourself
This Friday, I share with you two short videos. Something inspiring for the weekend. And perhaps something to think about. I've decided that Fridays are good days to post my 'Spreading the Word' pieces. So, from now on, they will appear on Fridays instead of Thursdays. It is a somewhat striking and very sad truth …
Hospitality in the “Odyssey”
It is one of the world's classics, Homer's Odyssey. The story of Odysseus' adventures on his 10-years-long homeward journey after the 10-years-long Trojan war is a legendary one. It is also an old one - first written down roughly some 2,700 years ago and probably existed in the oral tradition before that. If you have …
