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Quote of the Day – Immanuel Kant

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“Always treat persons (including yourself) and ends in themselves, never merely as a means to your own ends.” ~~Immanuel Kant

If you have been playing along at home, you no doubt realize that this is a second quote from Kant very soon after the first:

“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” 

I discovered this quote in a Wondrium philosophy course I was watching, Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World.  In my first posting I commented that it was a high brow version of the Golden Rule.

I went from watching the course on Stoic philosophy to another Wondrium course, The Big Questions of Philosophy which had today’s quote.

Both are statements of what philosophical types are calling Kant’s Categorical Imperatives which are “commands or moral laws all persons must follow, regardless of their desires or extenuating circumstances.”

The professor in the first course just put the quote out there.  In the second course, the professor spent one whole class discussing Kant. Spoiler alert he is not a fan.  However, he mentioned two or three times in the 30 minutes that Kant’s Categorical Imperative is not the Golden Rule, with a brief explanation as to why.  Mainly, that the Golden Rule is more concerned with how the individual feels that any universality, i.e. self centered.

I can buy his arguments for my original Kant quote.  It probably reflects my philosophical naivety more than anything else, but the second quote does not seem that far removed from the Golden Rule.

In any event, Kant’s approach to morality is a little too rigid for me. I am never sure if it is good or bad, but I live in the gray zone on many of these moral/ethical issues. One of the few lessons I have learned from life is that there are no certainties.

I’ll go back to being least serious in another post, I promise.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Internet Littering

My Daddy’s folks are from Kentucky.  My Mama’s folks are from Oklahoma. Our childhoods were passed overseas or on the east coast, always around a Navy or Marine base.  My father was first in the Navy, and then he went to work for Kaman Aerospace.  I mention this as a frequent summer trip was back to Kentucky and/or Oklahoma.  This was in the 50s and 60s.  Initially there were no Interstates. Even later when the Interstates were under construction it was still a hodge-podge of Interstates and two lane roads. These were long, slow trips, not uncommonly in bumper to bumper traffic on two lane roads not always in the best repair.  Heaven forbid if there was an accident.  It would back things up for hours. Air conditioning in a car, surely you jest.

Vivid Childhood Memory

A vivid memory that implanted on my very young Continue reading “Internet Littering”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #7,591

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

Our treadmill is a little old.

How old is it?

It is so old that it does not even have a way to hold a cell phone or tablet so that you can watch a video while using it.

Our treadmill is a little old.

How old is it?

It so old that it does not even a really efficient way to hold a water bottle.

Just saying.

Thank you Johnny Carson.  ( I included a link to Hereeeeee’s Johnny, as I bet there are one or two generations that have no idea that he was once the king of late night television.

“How old are you?” they asked.”

“Two,” I replied, “too damn old.”

And so it goes in the La casa de los viejos.

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Word of the Day – Vituperative

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Adjective: Vituperative
    1. uttering or given to censure : containing or characterized by verbal abuse
  • Synonyms:
    1. abusive
    2. outrageous
    3. insulting
    4. vitriolic
    5. obscene
  • Usage:
    1. “The increasingly vituperative public discourse around Oslo, the threats and incitement, and the spike in acts of terror aimed at derailing the peace process were taking their toll.”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading Can We Talk About Israel? A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted by Daniel Sokatch

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Missouri GOP Looking to Criminalize State Teachers

The following article appeared in the local alternative newspaper RiverFront Times:   Missouri Bill Makes Teachers Sex Offenders If They Accept Trans Kids’ Pronouns

1st Objection

Personally, I am not a big fan of this whole pronoun phenomenon, BUT as it says in the Book of David 1:1

“Within the bounds of the Golden Rule, people being who they are, and loving who they love are not immoral acts.”

I once worked with a fellow named Walter.  He was very insistent on being called Walter and not the diminutive of Walt. I understand as I prefer the formal David to any of the diminutives of that name, but most of the time I just let it slide.  I am just generally glad someone has acknowledged my existence by calling me by name.

I see selecting a personal pronoun, more of less, in this same category.  And yeah, I realize there is a serious qualitative difference, but isn’t it the GOP that spouts all these libertarian ideals… like getting rid of helmet laws and allowing folks to carry firearms wherever they want.

The kicker for me is from the article:

“We showed that the more contexts or settings where they were able to use their preferred name, the stronger their mental health was,” the author of the study, Stephen T. Russell, University of Texas at Austin professor and chair of human development and family science, said. 

Transgender youth already face a heightened risk of suicidal ideation. Another recent study, this one by the Trevor Project, showed that in 2022 nearly half (45 percent) of LGBTQ youth surveyed seriously contemplated suicide. One in five attempted it.

Sadly the article went on to say:

Missouri remains at the forefront of anti-trans legislation efforts and is one of the most prolific in the nation for bills targeting trans youth. 

2nd Objection

My wife, Señora, was a  special education teacher, retiring after more than 30 years in the profession.  It had changed from a job she dearly loved to one she had a very hard time with.  The last three or four years she taught, at the beginning of the school year she cried for a couple weeks from having to go back.  It is, without a doubt, a very hard profession, one that does not pay particularly well when you consider the level of education and expertise required.  I could write several blog articles on why the profession has become so difficult, but the burnout rate speaks for itself.  If you are interested here is an article on the subject: K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S.

And now the Missouri GOP wants to criminalize teachers for doing their jobs and supporting students that who in all likelihood are already having a very hard time adjusting. I just cannot get my head around the fact that there are individuals out there that want to force teachers to register as sex offenders for saying he or she when this person’s rigid beliefs insists it should have been she or he.

Some things are more than a little wrong.

A Little Lagniappe

Interestingly enough the British newspaper, The Guardian, picked up this story: Missouri: home to child marriage, corporal punishment and sick ‘child welfare’ ideas

Sometimes I do not know if I am more embarrassed by living in Missouri or being from Oklahoma.

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Brooks & Dunn – Neon Moon

Warning:  This song is a bit of an earwig.  I just want to share the delightful pain of that imaginary burrowing insect, although I suppose earwigs could apply to other things than songs.

I made reference to this song in my posting: My Musical Roots?, since then I have played this YouTube video about 20 times.  As mentioned,  back in the 90s, my pick-em-up radio had decided to only feed me AM stations, leaving me with nothing but country stations for music. I had experienced a double whammy I really do not need to get into here. At the time it seemed like they were playing this song at least once an hour. Talk about a crying in your beer song… does that still hold true if it is a dark ale instead of a Busch Light? Bud Light? Coors Light?  Cowboys and rednecks  like their light beers. I reckon, though, that sometimes a girl just needs to wallow in her nostalgia.

All that aside it is a great song, if you like country music.  This video has had 46 million views in the last two years.  Not bad for a song released in 1992.

Remember I warned you.

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Quote of the Day – Paul Randolph Rush

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“Bond, James Bond…”

“Oh, James, you’ve just killed lots and lots of people, and I’m horny as hell.”

~~ Paul Randolph Rush riffing on what ever Bond girl would be thinking if not saying

A wise-ass, but very to the point, comment he made to an email going around amongst my siblings and the 6th Rush Boy.  Probably the best exposition of the 007 movies I have ever seen or heard.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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My Musical Roots?         

A love of music is something that Señora and I share.  An important inflection point in our courtship story, Señora and the Curmudgeon, was our second date, an indoor Bluegrass music festival taking place in St. Louis that first winter of our romance.

Shared Musical Loves

Bluegrass seems to be a style of music that you either love or you look at the other person thinking, “WTF.”  Obviously, we both are fans.  Our other commonality in the realm of music is that we both have very eclectic taste, liking a wide array of musical styles.  Although, our favorite genres are folk music and a style of roots fusion music that is referred to as Americana.

 Musical Talent

One key musical difference between the two of us is Continue reading “My Musical Roots?         “

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Quote of the Day – Isaac Bashevis Singer

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence.  I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“We must believe in free will, we have no choice.” ~~ Isaac Bashevis Singer

Whether or not we actually have free will, whether or not we are actually agents acting freely, is a topic that philosophy and religion have been debating (hotly?)  for millennia. Modern science seems to come down on the side of no way Jose. But for the sake of my own sanity I am going with Singer.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Word of the Day -Inveigh

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page.  Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns.  I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.   

  • Verb: Inveigh
    1. to protest or complain bitterly or vehemently
  • Synonyms:
    1.  admonish
    2. berate
    3. blast
    4. castigate
    5. censure
    6. condemn
    7. except
    8. expostulate
    9. kick
    10. lambaste
    11. object
    12. protest
    13. rail
    14. remonstrate
    15. vituperate
  • Usage:
    1. “Begin inveighed against the kibbutzniks as ‘millionaires lolling around their swimming pools,’ code for Ashkenazi elite, and won the support of Israel’s Mizrachim”
  • Encountered:
    1.  While reading Can We Talk About Israel? A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted by Daniel Sokatch

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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