Published in Practical Rationality·1 day agoAristotle on Anger, Virtue, and ViceIt is possible for your anger to be virtuous? What would that look like? — Some years before that institution closed, I was invited up to Green Mountain College in Vermont, for a double-header of talks. I was to provide a faculty development workshop about lecture capture, and also to give a talk about Aristotle, anger, and virtue ethics. The latter talk was intended primarily…Aristotle10 min read
Published in Practical Rationality·May 12Does Virtue Make Us Aware of Vices?Aristotelian reflections riffing off a student’s insight — Some time back, while I was grading student essays discussing Aristotle’s virtue ethics, I posted an insight one of my students had expressed, but not fully worked through, on my Facebook page. …Virtue8 min read
Published in Heavy Metal Philosopher·May 11Classic Metal Class Session 7— The New Wave of British Heavy Metalan era and movement that produced some of the greatest metal bands of all time! — One of the most fruitful, important, and influential scenes within the ongoing development of heavy metal is what quickly came to be called the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). …Music3 min read
Published in Practical Rationality·May 8Virtues and Knowledge in Plato’s Dialogue, The Menoeven failing to define virtue, we learn about the priority of justice and wisdom — Many who have read the dialogue Meno in an Introduction to Philosophy class carry away from it a commonplace, partly-right sum-up. The dialogue is suppose to be fundamentally about trying to define virtue, and the interlocutors fail in this project, though not without making a number of efforts and attempts…Justice9 min read
Published in Practical Rationality·May 6Honor Or Ethics: Which Term Should We Focus On?Reflections on the Ethics Guy’s idea that “honor” gets more traction than “ethics” — Years back, a friend and colleague of mine, Bruce Weinstein (the “Ethics Guy”), raised a provocative question for the field of ethics, tapping the expertise and sounding the sentiments of his many Facebook friends: What do you think of “Live Honorably” as my proposed slogan? I’d use it as a…Ethics8 min read
Published in Heavy Metal Philosopher·May 5Classic Metal Class Session 6 — Ethics of Metal Bands Post-Farewell ToursGoing back on the road after saying goodbye — is that wrong for metal bands to do? — Since I go occasionally by the title of “heavy metal philosopher,” and in my professional life specialize in the field of Ethics — and since my co-host, Scott Tarulli, often brings up questions of right and wrong in our discussions, it seems pretty natural that we’d begin exploring and analyzing…Heavy Metal4 min read
Published in Heavy Metal Philosopher·Apr 20Classic Metal Class Session 5— Mid-Late 1970s British Heavy Metalwhere, when, and how heavy metal identity was being forged! — After devoting a few early sessions to the origins and development of heavy metal (session 1: early Heavy Metal & session 2: the Sabbath-Purple nexus), we decided to move forward into more music history, focusing on another fertile period, the mid- to late-1970s, and specifically on the British scene. This…Heavy Metal2 min read
Published in Gregory B. Sadler, Ph.D.·Apr 16Sassy Girl— Bringer of Joya cat’s life lived well, shared with others — Our 19-year-old cat, Sassy, died here at home two days ago. She was the last of the “four-legged family” my wife had adopted, raised, and cared for before we got together. In their early middle age I became “daddy” to her two cats, Sassy and Teensy, and to her two…Cats5 min read
Published in Gregory B. Sadler, Ph.D.·Apr 12Pidgeonholing, Typecasting, and the Vast World of Philosophydevote time and thought to a philosopher, and people will assume you’re on that philosopher’s team! Eleven years ago, I began producing videos on philosophy in YouTube. At this point I have over 2,000 in my main channel, and I produce about six new videos each week. That’s roughly 300…Philosophy12 min read
Published in Practical Rationality·Apr 9What Are “Philosophical” Courage and Temperance?In the Phaedo Socrates teaches us what these virtues really involve and require — Plato’s dialogue The Phaedo, a recounting of Socrates’s last conversations with his friends on his deathbed, includes early on in the discourse a short and startling discussion of the nature of several virtues — courage and temperance first, and then wisdom and justice. …Plato9 min read