A life in words

  • Culture Peace

    Of a commonwealth, whose subjects are but hindered by terror from taking arms, it should rather be said, that it is free from war, than that it has peace. For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from force of character…. Spinoza, Tractatus Theologico-Politicus V.4, 1670, trans. A. H.…

  • A false dichotomy

    Objective and subjective are the same thing. Somehow. But we all default to dualism – it’s very hard to actually conceive of how the material and experiential worlds are equivalent since, of course, it’s one of the great unsolved problems of our time. That laughter can be provoked by manipulating a certain location in the…

  • Philosothought

    The acknowledgement of difference is the first step on the path to the integration of difference. Those who discriminate must resemble the thing they discriminate against at least enough to recognize it. To pattern match, the system must somehow embody the pattern. The seed of overcoming discrimination is present within the discrimination itself.

The principal difficulty lies, and the greatest care should be employed in constituting this Representative Assembly. It should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them. That it may be the interest of this Assembly to do strict justice at all times, it should be an equal representation, or in other words equal interest among the people should have equal interest in it. Great care should be taken to effect this, and to prevent unfair, partial, and corrupt elections.John Adams, Thoughts on Government, April 1776