The British philosopher Mary Midgley (née Scrutton 1919-2018) prepared this script for a talk on the BBC radio in the 1950s. The editor rejected it as a “trivial, irrelevant intrusion of domestic matters into intellectual life.” The text is published here for the first time. — The Raven
Now I rather think that nobody who was playing a normal active part among other human beings could regard them like this. But what I am quite sure of is that for anybody living intimately with them as a genuine member of a family, Cogito would be Cogitamus; their consciousness would be every bit as certain as his own.
'Entire"?It could also be asked to what extent is feminism an entire critique of philosophy? — Jack Cummins
We do not see Experience these days as a narrow shaky gangway between the two towers of the Knower and the Known, but as a rich countryside, containing and building both of them. Such a view is both more fruitful and closer to the facts.
That's the gem; My moment of greatest certainty was when I held my daughter, smelling of vernix. Descartes' Second Meditation is too contrived to be taken seriously. — Banno
Good plan.Then let's put an end to this silly analytic thing we call philosophy and instead enjoy the sunrise — Hanover
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high over vales and hills
And there and then I came upon
My dog being sick on the daffodils! — Apocryphal, attributed to Spike Milligan.
Yes, that seems to be one of the points being made...There is an odd anti-feminist feel to this view of personal isolation. — Paine
None of these philosophers […] had any experience of living with women or children, which is, after all, quite an important aspect of human life […] I wrote [this] article drawing attention to this statistic and asking whether it might not account for a certain over-abstractness, a certain remoteness from life, in the European philosophical tradition. — Midgley
My attention was drawn to this small joy. I thought I should share it with you. — Banno
It is about growing up, and being human, and the inherent limits of great men. — Banno
In this sense, philosophy can be a form of therapy, helping us to clear conflict, prioritise, and see things clearly. — Midgley
Stoicism is not therapeutic?It is also remarkably recent in the history of philosophy — Leontiskos
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