Bryan Henderson, a 51-year-old software engineer, has made 47,000 Wikipedia corrections since 2007. In every single case, he was correcting the phrase “comprised of”, which he claims is bad grammar. (The Independent) My bete noirs are as follows. What are yours? – “off of” (as in “I got off of the bus”), – “there’s” as …
Epicurus was convinced that mental pleasures surpass physical pleasures, largely because the mind has the advantage of being able to contemplate the pleasures of the past and anticipate pleasures of the future. He doesn’t mention – but probably would – that the mind also has the disadvantage of popping up and reminding you of mis-steps …
Yesterday I gave an example of how Epicureanism could (and has been!) interpreted – as a selfish creed. I gave the example of the man who abandons a wife and kids out of selfish motives of personal pleasure, offering neither help nor support to the family he helped to create. There are plenty of men …
A reader has asked me a question about Epicurean morality. A very good question about pleasure and where pleasure ends and selfishness begins. Epicurus taught that the moral good is the same as pleasure, either physical or mental, and that moral evil is the same as pain, and that you should always avoid pain. An …
The French government has unveiled new measures to promote both secular values and religious tolerance in its schools. Children will now be taught about the separation of church and state, the differences and similarities between the major religions, and asked to sign a charter banning racist and sexist behaviour, and disrespect “for any religion (sic) …
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