Tag: Philosophy

Devotion.

Published on January 12, 2026

It seems that the rational soul’s active and conscious, renunciation and rebuking of prior thoughts, premises, and memories of a past life once lived, are necessary acts and daily affections: in order for the man to effectively pursue wisdom, peace of mind, ordered reasoning, and any kind of clear dialectic investigation. All of these aforementioned seem to be the prior cause to the devout life, as taught by St. Francis de Sales in his treatise for the laity, “Introduction to the Devout Life”.

If these privations, negations, and contrary dianoetic conceptions of the soul are not actively purged out and fought against, they seem to be like weeds which infect the garden of the soul that is actively attempting to plant, cultivate, and nurture fruitful ideas that bring the soul to perfection.

The nosegay ejaculations of devotion as collected personally during the meditative ascensions in purifying imperfections in the soul seem to be the key to return to the contrition, soulful stirrings, and resolutions as experienced during a full meditation in God’s presence.

To enter into God’s presence through meditation, or at least to become aware of His omnipresence, seems to be the purpose of acts of Faith, Hope and Charity. To remember the negations of the past life lived, and vigilantly defend one’s disposition, and subsequent affections caused by them, must be acts of Reasoning and Logic. Reasoning is needed to purge useless thoughts; whereas Faith, Hope, and Charity are necessary for God’s grace to fill that purged vacuum.

These things seem to work in tandem, and are both needed to bring about the purification, illumination, and – Lord willing – perfection of the hapless rational soul. In moments of emergencies, and crises, these must be opportunities to employ these acts of the soul and intellect, reject false premises void of evidence, and allow God’s grace to penetrate and transform the adopted soul, and prevent self-destruction. I.e. they seem to be invitations to permanently cement these small ascensions up the ladder of divine ascent and imprint these fruits into the soul. This is unbelievably difficult, not only to remember, but to act on in the heat of the moment. Once again, bringing our attention to what Aristotle teaches as being effective in energy, or in the moment, what is necessarily now. If we cling to this, perhaps we can more effectively, and efficiently grow in true devotion, and reasoning. There is a mysterious balance of co-operation, and submission here.

“Vacate, et videte quoniam ego sum Deus; exaltabor in gentibus, et exaltabor is terra.” (Psalmus 45:10)

EAR

Earth.

Published on January 10, 2026

A mystery it is, that we seemingly were generated into time, out of an abyss of nothingness, into a world far more ancient than ourselves, of which has witnessed the generation of substance, and subversion into ashes of countless hylomorphic rational beings, whom in their toil made many things, and left remnants of their presence here, for time and new generations to see, but not care.

“Ecce mensurabiles posuisti dies meos, et substantia mea tamquam nihilum ante te.” (Psalmus 38:6)

We were never needed, this ancient Earth existed, and will continue to exist, prior and posterior to our short time here; and yet, here we are. If we were never needed, how could the purpose of our existence in necessity be anything but an invitation to stewardship: which presupposes wisdom; which presupposes reason: which presupposes active study. Otherwise, whatever our hands touch will destroy, when it is devoid of reason, of wisdom.

“Verumtamen universa vanitas, omnis homo vivens.” (Psalmus 38:6)

I think this is evident by the way this ancient Earth is treated by us, this home of ours, in which we have cast aside our reasoning and seem to exploit in perpetuum, whilst rejecting the very invitatory vocation we were purposefully designed to assume responsibility of. They speak of going to Mars, and for what? As space is a vacuum, so any community devoid of reason, philosophy, wisdom, and theology, would be also of a vacuum, that by natural consequence, could be filled by something unbelievably devastating, privative, and contrary to reason.

The end would be the same though, after running that irrational course, a man would simply return to ashes and make room for the next generative hylomorphic being. Would that one, continue the damage done, or willfully break the cycle, and walk the paths of the ancients? Only time will tell, and time seems to be something that is merely accidental to the Earth we’ve come into.

Quid superbit terra et cinis? (Ecclesiasticus 10:9)

EAR

Exhaustion.

Published on January 9, 2026

The mind that is disordered and irrational seems to be subject to extreme exhaustion. How is it that the mind is so inclined to abstract when it is not necessary to do so? Is the prior cause of this tendency the tech driven world we live in, a lack of discipline, or the natural disposition of the hapless fool who thinks too much, or a combination of all the three? It is my sincere hope, the greatest desire of my heart, to be wise. To be free from these endless, pointless circular abstractions.

In preserving this mental faculty from unnecessary abstractions, it seems that it either comes with experience, or through studying with a master teacher like Aristotle. Time will tell, and we’ll see.

EAR

Unnecessary things.

Published on January 8, 2026

Why do we concern ourselves with things outside of our proximity and control? What is it to us of what happens elsewhere in another city, another state, another land, where the moon is out, while here the sun is risen? Is life, in the moment, right now, not full of its own concerns?

I have stripped myself of all the outside noise of this world, and I wouldn’t say that I’m anymore at peace than the poor fool who concerns himself with sifting through the cacophonous media. What I can say is that I can more clearly control what exactly is consoling my soul and strictly eliminate the unnecessary noise that may disturb it. Yet, despite operating in this mode of simplicity, there is still struggle, a fight for reason, for the ordering of the intellect, a labor for wisdom. It is not easy, but very difficult, and in this wrestling as it were, there is much to look forward to, much to hope for, much to dream of, many wonderful and beautiful experiences in store.

But it’s not for free, it’s not for the faint of heart, but for the valiant, the persistent. There is too much work to do, such little time to do it, the clock keeps ticking, and the last thing we should do is concern ourselves with unnecessary things.

EAR

Slugs.

Published on January 7, 2026

What is this unwillingness to speak up? This desire push things on other people, to not share the burden, but watch someone else suffer for the sake of your own comfort, laziness, and illusional peace of mind? Why do people do this? I think it comes from an unwillingness to take risks. To make oneself vulnerable to defeat, or possibly victory. So, like a bunch of fat slugs, we hide in our little holes and deflect, redirect, forward, and forget. This can’t be human, or normal behaviors. It seems to be a sign of a culture that is slowly dying and imploding on itself. A culture and society that is devoid of reasoning, logic, and wisdom, ethics too.

In this cesspool of sloth, everyone is operating in this mode but pretending to act as if they are indeed acting upon anything at all. Yet, when one calls things out for what it is, feathers get ruffled, feelings get hurt, and tenured positions become threatened. Passive aggressive toxicity rises, and enemies are made. The very same enemies who, prior to you speaking up, were your friends when they were permitted to shove their responsibilities onto your desk, your inbox. Now, no longer.

The cost of this is the deprivation of the victim’s peace of mind, his willingness to serve is exploited, and the freedom to study is slowly taken away from him. This is a great paradox, a culture that prides itself on being scientific and learned, becomes the very black hole which destroys any contingency for the higher things that it imagines itself to be promoting.

EAR

Deserts.

Published on January 6, 2026

Deserts seem to be the place, where a man’s intellect and heart are tried, and tested, by an arid desolation that permeates to the core of one’s entire being. They also seem to be a reminder of the place that one left behind, when pursuing wisdom, and the incarnate Word. Though to be completely honest, a desert must not have been apparent to one prior to taking up the labor of seeking wisdom, and the grace of baptism. We must have been severely distracted, blissfully ignorant, or in serious denial of the severity and danger of this condition.

It seems to me there are a few options in response to this season of aridity: distraction, despair, or persistence. To distract is to be in denial. To despair is to be buried alive. To persist is to grow. It also seems that this desert never really goes away but lingers as we are reminded of what we left behind. Perhaps as we persist in wisdom, this reminder of the desert only grows more painful, and distasteful when it presents itself. It’s as if to go back to it, would only bring greater torment, because your eyes have opened to the truth, and you cannot unsee, or unlearn what you now know.

So, the only option is to persist and go on. To do anything else, seems unbelievably unreasonable, and irrational.

EAR

Mnemonics.

Published on January 4, 2026

Had I not stumbled upon the mnemonic chart of syllogisms, as used by the Renaissance masters for their students at that time, I would have been utterly lost in this chapter. I honestly could not figure out, why in the world Aristotle would provide all these different examples of invalid syllogisms, and not provide one demonstration of a valid one with predefined terms from natural philosophy. I was trying to understand the point and purpose of this. Every example he provided did not make any sense to me and felt very absurd to even reason with: “Some horse is no white, no crow is a horse, therefore no crow is white.” I kept asking myself, “So what? That, ‘no crow is a horse, while some horse is not white?’ What does that have to with a crow not being white? It has nothing to with it; these things are irrelevant and prove nothing about each other.”

Learning of Barbara, Celarent, Darii, and Ferio shed light on this question. It was such a huge breakthrough for me. Once I learned their propositional order, then it became a piece of cake to simply diagram out each syllogism in my notes and see why these were not working. In fact, I was able to quickly recognize what was universal, particular, privative, categoric, and the quick determination of the validity of each demonstration. I also noticed a commonality between the four perfect first figure syllogisms: viz. B A, C B, C A. Coming back to my original conundrum of not understanding why he demonstrates these as he did: it seems that he is showing us examples that are wrong, in order to make what is true more apparent to us.

Aristotle, Prior Analytics. Book I, Chapter 4.

EAR

Necessity.

Published on December 31, 2025

What is necessary seems to be a convergence point for the intellect to enter into, in order to be transfigured by what is in energy, in order to be at rest and at peace. I.e., what is necessary is what happens right now. What is priority is right now. What happened before, or what could happen later, are useful to know, in moderation. It seems to me that an unhinged, wild mind is incapable of resting in what is in energy now and is tormented by what was or what could be. Perhaps without training in Prior or Posterior Analytics, there would be no possibility of a human mind, naturally predisposed for analysis, to escape this inevitable fate of insanity. This seems to be the great parody of the human rational faculty. Indeed, it might be the reason why some, by consequence of their decisions as new independent and young adults, suddenly find themselves distracted by various earthly things in order to relieve themselves of the potency of insanity by way of unhinged abstractions.

Therefore, I think peace seems to be tied to what is necessary right now; yet, to defend that peace, I think one needs to be trained in how to properly deal with what was and what could be. Having both of these—a condition of being present while being absolutely capable of entering into inductive or deductive abstraction, regressively or progressively to deal with whatever comes—is essential to living in the way we were designed to.

EAR

Modes of service.

Published on December 30, 2025

It seems to me that there are two modes of operation: serving others and serving oneself; within the three vocations that encompass all of mankind: the productive, the political, and the contemplative.

Beginning with the political, it seems obvious to me what a self-serving politician would do. They campaign on promises, and upon election, do whatever is necessary to line their wallet and belly with cash and Turkish delights, respectively. Whether this contradicts the original promises is beside the point; the point is to get the cash and the Turkish delights. On the contrary, a politician genuinely serving others seems to be one who never rests because the contingency to help those he represents is vast, and his efforts are never good enough, thus necessitating a perpetual drive toward the golden mean.

Next are the productive ones. The self-serving among them seemingly ask the same kinds of questions: “What can I make that will help me acquire more, for the sake of getting more?” and “What corners can I cut to maximize my yield at little to no cost to me, even if it leaves my customer high and dry, which is no concern of mine?” On the contrary, the one seeking to serve others asks, “What can I make that will help people now?” and “What can I do to bring the absolute best quality into this thing I am making and wish to share?”

Lastly, the contemplatives. The selfish ones seem to ask, “What little bit can I learn for the sake of appearing wise to others, so that I may not be interrogated, but pretend to be the sole source of truth and become a guru who will sell things and write many books?” On the contrary, the legitimate philosopher asks, “Where can I go? Who can I turn to, to pursue the truth and know the truth, so that I may better serve others by revealing to them the wisdom I have received from those who served me by sharing what they know?”

EAR

Conversions, & contingencies.

Published on December 19, 2025

I could not understand what the difference was between the fact that a necessary universal privative proposition is converted, and a contingent universal privative proposition is not converted. I thought that perhaps the answer would be revealed by asking figuring out why this was the case metaphysically. So, I went down the rabbit hole and tried to do an abstraction, and brought it to the tutor: “Why are universal privative propositions impossible? I reason that it is because even if A and B were not, the fact that they are, begins from somewhere, or some inductive universal predicate, or point of origin. E.g. every man is not every rock, and every rock is not every man, but both exist, and so therefore, they can’t mutually and indefinitely exclude the other into subversion.”

I overstepped myself, and the tutor tried to clarify and reel me back, while citing from Posterior Analytics, and later chapters in the Prior Analytics. I was not having any of that, so after a dialectical tennis match, I felt utterly lost, and that was not a good feeling. With a shattered brain the tutor finally brought me back to my original question, and demonstrated in a way in which clarity returned, and I could see again: “… the key difference between the conversion of necessary and contingent universal privative propositions lies in their logical necessity and how their conversion relates to syllogistic validity. First: “A is present with no B” being the necessary, and the second: “It happens that A is not present with any B” being the contingent.”

EAR

Aristotle, Prior Analytics, Book I. Chapter 3.