A Page Turning Prayer: Reviewing Jim Johnstone’s ‘Dog Ear’

There exists a quote by Leonard Cohen regarding Charles Bukowski that struck me in my adolescence, “He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.” For the much-accomplished Jim Johnstone, award-winning Toronto poet and author of Dog Ear, I would say the opposite is true—his work elevates us: ‘Bringing the ghetto uptown’, so to speak—fitting …

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What Do We Mean? On Frege’s ‘Sense & Reference’

There are many theories surrounding the meanings of words and names: some are simple and some are complex; some are well defined and some are poorly explained by their creators. The theory I will be discussing in this paper is that of Frege and his idea of the ‘sense’ of a word. In my understanding …

On Autonomy

As we attempt to construct a universally applicable standard of morality, we inevitably encounter the highly debatable issue of autonomy: namely, questions arise such as ‘what is the nature of autonomy?’ or ‘are we really autonomous at all?’. These questions are of the utmost importance to a system of ethics in which every individual is …

Post-Anarchist Meta-Ethics: Balancing Social and Individual Liberty

Introduction In light of recent developments in the colloquial description of ‘anarchy’ and the practical demonstrations of ‘anarchist’ activity across the globe (ranging from protests throughout Europe, revolution in the Middle-East, and the recent Occupy movement), the word ‘anarchy’ is in need of a clear and simple definition that captures the general philosophical sense of true anarchy; …

Reflections on Songs beyond Bounds

Clicking on the picture below will link you to my review of Marc di Saverio's debut poetry collection, Sanatorium Songs (Palimpsest Press). I first met Marc in the strangest way that I imagine you could meet someone--through the graffiti of a sanatorium lavatory. We were later (formally) introduced to each other by a mutual acquaintance who believed …