Wednesday 25 December, 2024
Having’s one’s cake…
… but not yet eating it.
Merry Christmas! And thank you for reading this newsletter during 2024.
Quote of the Day
”Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
Nelson Mandela
Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news
J.S. Bach | Wachet Auf | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Andrew Litton up) in August 2010.
Perfect antidote to the carols that are on endless repeat on broadcasts this morning. Of for another antidote why not try Thea Gilmore’s lovely Midwinter Toast?
Long Read of the Day
Lying about Santa
Andrew Curry is one of the wonders of the online world — a blogger who is unfailingly interesting, original and thought-provoking. His latest edition has a nice topical note — a distillation of a seasonal exchange between two philosophers.
Probably only The Conversation would run an article by a philosopher explaining why it was wrong to lie to your kids about Santa, and then publish a retort by another philosopher a couple of days later. But since this is a pressing and divisive issue in many households, and one which will peak in the next 24 hours, I thought that Just Two Things could perform the public service of rehearsing the two sets of arguments.
In the red corner—lying about Santa is just plain wrong — is Joseph Millum of St. Andrews’ University. In the blue corner — chill a bit — is Tom Whyman, of the University of Liverpool. And now I’ve written this out, it is just the most Conversation thing ever.
Joseph Millum starts by pointing out that in general, parents try not to lie to their children…
I guess most parents don’t think about this interesting ethical question. But then, most of us are not philosophers! Hope you enjoy it.
Books, etc.
Now this was an appropriate Xmas present for a fox (like me) rather than a hedgehog. Gray’s intellectual journey has been interesting over a long and productive life. He’s moved from being an advocate of free-market liberalism to becoming one of its most vocal critics. He’s also been sceptical of the idea that human history shows steady moral or political improvement (Musk, Trump and Orban, anyone?) or that we can fully control our destiny through reason. And he’s very sound on cats. So I’m looking forward to reading this slim volume over the next week.
My commonplace booklet
A friend of an artist friend of mine who lives in the Barbican asked a generative AI to create a Christmas card.
My friend’s comment: “There is still a way to go before it takes over the world.”
Yep.
Linkblog
Something I noticed, while drinking from the Internet firehose.
Every hotel needs a dog-stick library Link
(Ignore the invitation to log in to Instagram. Click on the X to close the pop-up.)