To Carry Fire

Of the many concepts that are ethically important, one is incredibly valuable in this age of inflated self-importance and unhealthy narcissism: genuine self-respect. What is "genuine" self-respect? It is, more correctly, just "self-respect", but needs to have the qualifier to distinguish it from fraudulent self-respect: that which is proposed by the self-help circles and certain religious traditions. These forms of fraudulent self-respect are called "self-respect", "self-esteem" "unconditional positive self-regard", etc, but amount to an unhealthy psychological concept called narcissism. Narcissism vs. self-respect is a debate which seems too muddy to consider, but can be distilled into key similarities and differences. Similarities include the focus of both concepts on what the self is, what the self does, and why the self does what it does. Differences arise from the different answers to these questions. So, while a narcis...

Well. Here we are, another year. Here in Ohio, we're experiencing our first significant snowfall of 2019. I have to admit that it looks beautiful. Something about white snow covering everything the eye can see is refreshing. It's the frame of mind of renewal that brings me to my purpose for writing this blog. Most mornings, I wake up and lay in bed. My fiancée needs to get to work, so she's up soon. I dawdle on my phone, checking Facebook, not for anything, but just to pass the time. We eat breakfast and she goes off to work. She's new at her job, but she's getting the hang of it. I move from laying in bed to sitting on the couch, not for anything, but just to pass the time . Star Trek: The Original Series is the show I'm watching right now, but it's not just Star Trek I watch. I watch YouTube videos about video games I'll never play, Vines I'll forget in seconds, and motivational hacks I'll never use. I'm not spending my ...