Philosophy
The sale of the last privately owned version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has me thinking about the old Mastercard commercials where they list a number of purchases and the cost of each, only to end with something emotional that gets labeled "priceless." What is meant by that word?
We talk about cultural treasures, like great works of art, as priceless, yet they do sell for amounts. Similarly, your child's happiness is important, but wouldn't you skip that ballgame or that ice cream cone if someone offered you a large enough sum of money or if you needed to in order to keep your job that pays the Mastercard bill?
Theologians have long had a debate about the God's eternal nature. Does it mean that God is present at each moment of time or does it mean that God exists outside of the realm of time? If it is the latter, what does it mean and why use a temporal predicate to indicate it?
Similarly, if we say that something is priceless, does that mean its cost is infinite or it exists outside of the realm of cost? If it is the former, then no amount of money would cause you to forgo it. If it is the latter, what does it mean and why use a financial predicate to indicate it?
- Modern Mencken
Tomorrow is Mencken day at the Enoch Pratt Library, honoring one of the great intellects of Baltimore. Who would be the modern day version of H.L. Mencken? Is there a writer who is smart, ascerbic, conservative, and wry? P.J. O'Rourke? ...
- Fricking Fracking Fixtures
Two questions from Michael Schmidt. First, "Frack" a suitable substitute for the expletive "fuck," and "frickin'" (or "frikkin'") is a suitable substitute for the participle "fuckin'". Why, then, is "frick" rarely used as a substitute...
- Can You Really Own A Position?
I've been thinking about the use of the verb to own with respect to an intellectual view. When a student is being wishy-washy about a proposition he or she is arguing for and clearly believes, I'll tell the student to "own the position." ...
- The Ethics Of Bag Fees
Did a bit of flying last week and the thing that always annoys me is what people believe counts as carry-on baggage. If it has wheels and you have to roll it, then you aren't carrying it. If you aren't carrying it, then, by definition,...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...
Philosophy
What Is Priceless?
The sale of the last privately owned version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has me thinking about the old Mastercard commercials where they list a number of purchases and the cost of each, only to end with something emotional that gets labeled "priceless." What is meant by that word?
We talk about cultural treasures, like great works of art, as priceless, yet they do sell for amounts. Similarly, your child's happiness is important, but wouldn't you skip that ballgame or that ice cream cone if someone offered you a large enough sum of money or if you needed to in order to keep your job that pays the Mastercard bill?
Theologians have long had a debate about the God's eternal nature. Does it mean that God is present at each moment of time or does it mean that God exists outside of the realm of time? If it is the latter, what does it mean and why use a temporal predicate to indicate it?
Similarly, if we say that something is priceless, does that mean its cost is infinite or it exists outside of the realm of cost? If it is the former, then no amount of money would cause you to forgo it. If it is the latter, what does it mean and why use a financial predicate to indicate it?
- Modern Mencken
Tomorrow is Mencken day at the Enoch Pratt Library, honoring one of the great intellects of Baltimore. Who would be the modern day version of H.L. Mencken? Is there a writer who is smart, ascerbic, conservative, and wry? P.J. O'Rourke? ...
- Fricking Fracking Fixtures
Two questions from Michael Schmidt. First, "Frack" a suitable substitute for the expletive "fuck," and "frickin'" (or "frikkin'") is a suitable substitute for the participle "fuckin'". Why, then, is "frick" rarely used as a substitute...
- Can You Really Own A Position?
I've been thinking about the use of the verb to own with respect to an intellectual view. When a student is being wishy-washy about a proposition he or she is arguing for and clearly believes, I'll tell the student to "own the position." ...
- The Ethics Of Bag Fees
Did a bit of flying last week and the thing that always annoys me is what people believe counts as carry-on baggage. If it has wheels and you have to roll it, then you aren't carrying it. If you aren't carrying it, then, by definition,...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...