1. What is your “official” philosophy or religion?
Although I used to joke that I was a taoepicurandistotelianietzschean, and I'm probably more of an Aristotelian than anything else, "officially" I am most deeply committed to philosophy as a verb: the activity of loving and practicing wisdom.
2. What are your most favorite novels or films?
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. It's a world unto itself!
3. What are your most favorite works of music?
Recognizing that this is impossible for me to answer, I'd likely put Bach's Cello Suites at the top of the list because I could listen to and study them endlessly.
4. What is your favorite proverb or philosophical saying?
It's difficult to top Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."
5. What is your idea of common sense?
Respecting experience and being reasonable.
6. Who are some of your heroes?
Even if I wouldn't emulate them in all respects, I have great admiration for two kinds of people: those who have been prolifically creative (such as Aristotle, Shakespeare, Bach, Victor Hugo, Duke Ellington, and Keith Jarrett) and those who have maintained their intellectual independence in the face of extreme societal pressure (such as Socrates, Peter Abelard, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Jan Patočka, and Václav Havel).
7. If you were a virtue, which one would you be?
Wisdom.
8. If you were a vice, which one?
Cowardice. I don't think I'm an especially courageous person.
9. What was your favorite cartoon or fairy tale as a child?
I loved the story of John Henry the Steel-Driving Man.
10. What is your favorite poem?
Another impossible question, but I'll cheat and claim an epic poem: the Iliad.
I probably shouldn't be asked this question when I'm planning a philosophical novel, since I've put so much thought into what certain characters think. But I'll say that while I'm certainly influenced by Ayn Rand's Objectivism and Aristotelianism, plus several other similar thinkers, my official philosophy is Markism. Yes, it probably is a coherentist hodge-podge of things, but it is certainly epistemologially optimistic and related to virtue ethics.
- What are your most favorite novels or films?
Novels: I will include Atlas Shrugged here, though I prefer the Fountainhead. I also like J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. As for movies, I have to include 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Elephant Man, and Excalibur at the top of the list.
- What are your most favorite works of music?
I'm not especially oriented towards music, or at least towards any particular kind of music. I like a wide range of things. I like quirky things such as "I Feel Love", "Whip it" and "The Safety Dance". Yes, I like cultured beautiful music as well.
- What is your favorite proverb or philosophical saying?
"Whatever you do, earn your self-respect". But that's of my construction.
- What is your idea of common sense?
Forged in life experience. Ignored by most people.
- Who are some of your heroes?
Elon Musk when he's standing in front of rockets.
- If you were a virtue, which one would you be?
Sophrosyne. At least on my better days.
- If you were a vice, which one?
Gluttony.
- What was your favorite cartoon or fairy tale as a child?
Thundarr the Barbarian! Ookla! Ariel! We ride!
- What is your favorite poem?
Robert Frost's "The Road Less Travelled", misread to mean that travelling that road was actually a good idea.
This was fun to fill out, Kurt! Thanks for asking us to take a survey.
1. What is your “official” philosophy or religion?
Objectivism
2. What are your most favorite novels or films?
The Fountainhead, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, A Wrinkle in Time, Anne of Green Gables
3. What are your most favorite works of music?
Progressive rock as a genre, but if I identify specific bands and songs, then Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” “Freewill,” “Subdivisions,” “Limelight,” and “Dreamline”
4. What is your favorite proverb or philosophical saying?
Proverb: “Wherever you go, there you are”
Philosophical saying: “Wisdom begins in wonder.”
5. What is your idea of common sense?
I half-jokingly say, “There ain’t nothing common about sense.” However, if pressed, then I would regard the obvious evidence of my senses as commonsensical.
6. Who are some of your heroes?
Howard Roark, Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes, Meg Murry, Anne Shirley, Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn, Captain America, Aristotle
7. If you were a virtue, which one would you be?
Given that I am a Griffin-Claw (a blend of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw from Harry Potter), I’d say a mix of courage and rationality.
8. If you were a vice, which one?
Which one is most like “being pedantic”?
9. What was your favorite cartoon or fairy tale as a child?
My favorite cartoon as a child (in the 1970s) was Justice League.
10. What is your favorite poem?
Non-rhyming: “Your Real Quest,” by Samantha Reynolds
1. What is your “official” philosophy or religion?
Although I used to joke that I was a taoepicurandistotelianietzschean, and I'm probably more of an Aristotelian than anything else, "officially" I am most deeply committed to philosophy as a verb: the activity of loving and practicing wisdom.
2. What are your most favorite novels or films?
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. It's a world unto itself!
3. What are your most favorite works of music?
Recognizing that this is impossible for me to answer, I'd likely put Bach's Cello Suites at the top of the list because I could listen to and study them endlessly.
4. What is your favorite proverb or philosophical saying?
It's difficult to top Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."
5. What is your idea of common sense?
Respecting experience and being reasonable.
6. Who are some of your heroes?
Even if I wouldn't emulate them in all respects, I have great admiration for two kinds of people: those who have been prolifically creative (such as Aristotle, Shakespeare, Bach, Victor Hugo, Duke Ellington, and Keith Jarrett) and those who have maintained their intellectual independence in the face of extreme societal pressure (such as Socrates, Peter Abelard, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Jan Patočka, and Václav Havel).
7. If you were a virtue, which one would you be?
Wisdom.
8. If you were a vice, which one?
Cowardice. I don't think I'm an especially courageous person.
9. What was your favorite cartoon or fairy tale as a child?
I loved the story of John Henry the Steel-Driving Man.
10. What is your favorite poem?
Another impossible question, but I'll cheat and claim an epic poem: the Iliad.
Okay, I'll bite:
- What is your “official” philosophy or religion?
I probably shouldn't be asked this question when I'm planning a philosophical novel, since I've put so much thought into what certain characters think. But I'll say that while I'm certainly influenced by Ayn Rand's Objectivism and Aristotelianism, plus several other similar thinkers, my official philosophy is Markism. Yes, it probably is a coherentist hodge-podge of things, but it is certainly epistemologially optimistic and related to virtue ethics.
- What are your most favorite novels or films?
Novels: I will include Atlas Shrugged here, though I prefer the Fountainhead. I also like J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. As for movies, I have to include 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Elephant Man, and Excalibur at the top of the list.
- What are your most favorite works of music?
I'm not especially oriented towards music, or at least towards any particular kind of music. I like a wide range of things. I like quirky things such as "I Feel Love", "Whip it" and "The Safety Dance". Yes, I like cultured beautiful music as well.
- What is your favorite proverb or philosophical saying?
"Whatever you do, earn your self-respect". But that's of my construction.
- What is your idea of common sense?
Forged in life experience. Ignored by most people.
- Who are some of your heroes?
Elon Musk when he's standing in front of rockets.
- If you were a virtue, which one would you be?
Sophrosyne. At least on my better days.
- If you were a vice, which one?
Gluttony.
- What was your favorite cartoon or fairy tale as a child?
Thundarr the Barbarian! Ookla! Ariel! We ride!
- What is your favorite poem?
Robert Frost's "The Road Less Travelled", misread to mean that travelling that road was actually a good idea.
Thank you for filling out the survey, Mark!
This was fun to fill out, Kurt! Thanks for asking us to take a survey.
1. What is your “official” philosophy or religion?
Objectivism
2. What are your most favorite novels or films?
The Fountainhead, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, A Wrinkle in Time, Anne of Green Gables
3. What are your most favorite works of music?
Progressive rock as a genre, but if I identify specific bands and songs, then Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” “Freewill,” “Subdivisions,” “Limelight,” and “Dreamline”
4. What is your favorite proverb or philosophical saying?
Proverb: “Wherever you go, there you are”
Philosophical saying: “Wisdom begins in wonder.”
5. What is your idea of common sense?
I half-jokingly say, “There ain’t nothing common about sense.” However, if pressed, then I would regard the obvious evidence of my senses as commonsensical.
6. Who are some of your heroes?
Howard Roark, Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes, Meg Murry, Anne Shirley, Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn, Captain America, Aristotle
7. If you were a virtue, which one would you be?
Given that I am a Griffin-Claw (a blend of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw from Harry Potter), I’d say a mix of courage and rationality.
8. If you were a vice, which one?
Which one is most like “being pedantic”?
9. What was your favorite cartoon or fairy tale as a child?
My favorite cartoon as a child (in the 1970s) was Justice League.
10. What is your favorite poem?
Non-rhyming: “Your Real Quest,” by Samantha Reynolds
Rhyming: “The Thinker,” by Berton Braley
Thank you for sharing, C-A! I feel like I know you a little better now. <3