Why does James claim that pragmatism has "no dogmas, and no doctrine save its method," and at the same time that is "a certain theory of truth (p. 183)?"

James states that "purely objective truth...is nowhere to be found (p. 187)," so why does he later insist that "our ideas must agree with realities (p. 198)?"

Why does James say that the pursuit of "true ideas" is a "primary human duty (p. 195)?"

If James disputes the notion of absolute truth, then why does he claim that truth "has an 'eternal' character (p. 197)?"

Is James convincing in his use of the pragmatic method to refute the rationalists?

If all religious beliefs can be regarded as "true" if they have "practical value," how should we decide what to believe?

Why do people hold beliefs that seem to be against their best interests?

Blog exclusive! (But see below.) Is pleasure the goal of life for Montaigne?

Would it be better to have no laws than too many (p. 2)?

Should justice attempt to reward as well as punish (pp. 9-10)?

If people are quite different from one another, how can self-study enable Montaigne to gain knowledge of others?

How can we know when we should oppose our natural inclinations (pp. 24-25 and elsewhere)?

What does Montaigne mean by saying that he fools his imagination with "plausible reasons" (p. 33)?

Did we (meaning me) somehow overlook this question? It seemed to me one of the most interesting. - Hugh

Why does "subterranean conduct" so often result from "supercelestial thoughts" (p. 65)?

Is Montaigne a conformist?

What is wrong with Jake sexually?

Why is Robert Cohn so frequently an object of abuse?

What makes Jake and Bill friends?

Why does Jake steer Romero to Brett?

Does Brett or Jake achieve a resolution at the end?

What, if anything, is sexist about this novel?

Hemingway's style seems repetitive, from the level of the sentence to the level of episodes. Is it appropriate?

Blog only! Why is the Englishman Harris included in the Burgete scene?

Is it primarily a concern for the good of society or for the rights of individuals that leads Mill to assert his principle of the liberty of action?

Should sane adults be allowed to commit suicide, according to Mill's principles?

Does the present state of human society reflect that "man is a progressive being (p. 19)?"

How do we know that "mankind" is better off under conditions of liberty (p. 21)?

Does constant questioning of accepted standards of behavior make a society stronger?

Does Mill's defense of free opinion apply to cases of whistle-blowing and leaking?

Is the individual sovereign over his or her property, as "over his own body & mind (p. 18?)"

Hello everyone. I am trying this blog page, but I suspect that no one will notice it or that it will reach no one. I was trying to reach Chris Groger to ask where he found the qupote from marquez he read at the beginning of the last discussion. Here is another: "What matters is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it." Memory is pivotal in One Hundred Years of Solitude, though I would make a distinction between the narrator's memory of the stories and events he learns from his grandmother and the memory of the characters, or the lack thereof. How we recollect, and of course we are constantly remembering things without being fully aware of it, defines us not just as human beings but as individuals. It is a realm of both experience and existence which we are often not aware of, but which informs everything we do. I did not mean to overly criticize the other member for his negative attitude toward Solitude; I can understand his response. But it did feel we had an oblication to try to understand the novel on its own terms. Steven

To what does the "solitude" of the title refer?

Why is Jose Arcadio's death made comic (pp. 131-2)?

What is the meaning of the plague of insomnia? What brings it on?

What's with all the little gold fishes?

Does time in Macondo go in a circle, or backward, or forward?

What is intended by the return of several characters (Melquiades, Jose Arcadio Buendia, Prudencio Aguilar) from the dead?

Is Macondo a lost paradise?

What advantage is there to the confusing profusion of similar names (Jose, Arcadio, Remedios, et al.)?

Is Melquiades the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude?

Blog bonus! Who is "the man who would be king?"

Blog bonus! Why does Peachy sometimes refer to himself in the third person while relating his tale?

Is it fair to ascribe to Kipling his characters' attitudes toward the colonized populations?

Why does Dravot wait for the third offer of food before accepting (p. 99)?

Why do Dravot & Carnehan agree to keep "away from the two things that make life worth having (p. 93)?"

Why does the narrator say he "fears" (p. 85) his king is dead, when he knows it?

How true is it that "women belong to no caste, no race (p. 32)?"

Were you surprised when Matilda "threw the invitation spitefully on the table (p. 32)?"

Why does the author have it occur to her husband rather than to Matilda to borrow jewelry (p. 33)?

Why does Matilda eventually tell Mme. Forestier the true story of the necklace (p. 37)?

Whom does the narrator think he is addressing?

What are the "laws of nature" (p. 145-6) or "laws of consciousness" (pp. 154-5)?

When the underground man claims to take delight in guilt and degradation, is he telling the truth, lying, or deceiving himself?

What happened to the underground man after his confrontation with the officer on Nevsky Avenue (p. 193)?

What does he mean by saying to Lisa, "They - they won't let me - I - I can't be good (p. 265)?"

Is the underground man mad?

What purposes does the editorial framework (pp. 139 & 272) serve?

What is the relation between Part I and Part II?

Is the narrator, Sonny's brother, lacking in affect?

Why do we never learn the name of the narrator?

Is Sonny's friend just a narrative device, or is he a real character?

Is there, as Sonny's brother says, "no way not to suffer?"

What causes the narrator to change his mind about Sonny's career?

Will Sonny survive?

What statement does the story make about the relationship of art to suffering

Why is the story told with such a complicated time structure?

Does Miranda’s awareness of herself – of who she is – depend on her father’s revelation of his past (I.ii.)?

Why does Prospero command Ariel to disguise himself “like a nymph o’ th’ sea” (I.ii.301)?

Why does Prospero abjure his “rough magic” & drown his book (V.i.50-57)?

When does Prospero decide to pardon his enemies?

Why do Antonio & Sebastian remain morally unchanged, while Alonso repents (V.i.)?

Is Caliban human?

Is Ariel a comic figure? Is Caliban?

Is there dramatic tension in the play?

Blog Bonus! Compare what Protagoras has to say about punishment (324a; p. 19) with Foucault.

Examine the argument that justice is the same kind of thing as piety (330c-331b; pp. 25-26). Are the premises true? Are the conclusions valid?

P1: Justice is some thing, not no thing.
P2: Justice itself is a thing.
P3: Justice itself is a just kind of thing.
P4: No one virtue is the same kind of thing as any other.

C1: Piety is not a just kind of thing.
C2: Piety is an unjust kind of thing.

Who offers the better interpretation of Simonides' poem, Protagoras or Socrates?

Or is Socrates right to say that differences of interpretation cannot be settled (347e)?

Is pleasure the good?

Is Socrates right to explain weakness of will as ignorance (355b & ff; p. 52)?

Does Socrates succeed in demonstrating that courage is a kind of wisdom?

Does the dialogue clarify whether virtue is teachable?

Is "Protagoras" a good example of the superiority of dialogue over monologue in philosophy?

Apply an insight from Foucault to the subject of punishment in Sophocles' "Antigone."

Does Foucault intend something more than a grisly example of early modern punishment by his account of Damiens' execution (pp. 337-339)?

According to Foucault, why is there "a shame in punishing" (p. 343) in modern justice?

What does it mean that punishment has become "an economy of suspended rights (p. 344)?"

According to Foucault, how does the concept of power-knowledge affect one's view of punishment?

What does Foucault mean when he says:

"The soul is the effect & instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body (p.359)?"

Is Foucault correct in asserting that we must "rid ourselves of the illusion that penalty is above all...a means of reducing crime?"

Do you think that the modern system of punishment illustrates Foucault's observation that:

"the body becomes a useful force only if it is both a productive body & a subjected body."

Why does Hume define “self” as mind or consciousness?

How can we have a “true idea of the human mind” when the mind cannot be perceived by the senses?

Is Hume saying that the “self” does not exist or that we cannot have an idea of the “self?”

In what sense are you the same person that you were 10 years ago?

Why do we need to believe in our identity, rather than in our perceptions?

Do you believe that people can change their characters?

Does Satan win his bet (pp. 2 & 3) that Job will curse God?

Has Job lost faith in God when he cries out (p. 6), "What is my strength, that I should hope?"

Which is Job's main complaint, that the Lord is unjust or that He is unmerciful?

What explanation of innocent suffering is approved?

How do God's assertions of power & knowledge (pp. 26-29) address Job's complaints?

What does Job repent of?

Do God's actions in the epilogue restore the notion of his justice?

How does the Book of Job differ from "Antigone" in its treatment of unmerited suffering?

Can Creon's claim (p. 243), "An enemy is an enemy, even dead," be justified?

Antigone says there are laws against Creon's treatment of Polyneices' body, but they are unwritten. Do we acknowledge unwritten laws? How do we enforce them?

Which is the higher duty, to one's family or to the state?

Oops! I missed this one altogether. Hope you have comments.

What makes "Antigone" a great work?

Is Ismene a coward?

How can she claim to be equally guilty?

Why did Antigone return to cover Polyneices' body a second time (pp. 235 & 239)?

The first time was enough for "the ghost's peace (p. 235)," however it was done, but the body was still subject to carrion birds (p. 228).

Is Creon a tyrant?

Assuming that his disdain for cronyism is sincere (p. 233), does this mark him as less of a tyrant, or more?

In Ode I (p. 238), is the chorus thinking of Antigone or Creon?

How did Haimon get into Antigone's tomb?