Some philosophers have been tightening with their little logic spanners the shy offering of
LIFE . An attempt to capture our attention has worked like blood in a swimming pool of barracudas. Poor Mr. Joyce is quite skeletonised and yet the article itself has much to interest the philosopher who is prepared to exercise charity and finger tightening. The mystery of how humans arrived in a slow ascent from rocks and gas given the loss of many intermediate steps is not likely to be laid to rest in a logical fashion and caviling about the definition of life is captious.
Perhaps there ought to be a pejorative word like 'scientism' that applies to philosophy. Klismatism (klismos/chair) perhaps.
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Here also the impiety of those is refuted who cavil against Moses, for relating that so short a space of time had elapsed since the Creation of the World. For they inquire why it had come so suddenly into the mind of God to create the world; why he had so long remained inactive in heaven: and thus by sporting with sacred things they exercise their ingenuity to their own destruction. In the Tripartite History an answer given by a pious man is recorded, with which I have always been pleased. For when a certain impure dog was in this manner pouring ridicule upon God, he retorted, that God had been at that time by no means inactive because he had been preparing hell for the captious.
- John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis
Klismatics -- I like it Jim. I'll go read the linked article now...
The best thing about the article is the author's name: Ferris Jabr. Turns out he's working on his master's in journalism while also serving as an intern at Scientific American.
Well John you've moved to North Carolina but I'm still tracking you ( 'cavil' and 'captious') I've never read Calvin but his curious tense - 'you shall have had been saved' hovers on the borders of sense.
The conceptual mugging of jabr is all good fun until someone loses an eye. I wasn't aware that he was an intern. They deserve a two Ho Christmas.
And a triple good one to you and many more of them.
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