The Useless Tree

Taoism

  • Chuang Tzu on the “Eight Honors and Disgraces”

         Back in April I commented on the "Eight Honors and Disgraces" campaign in the PRC press. It is a throwback to old-fashioned socialist, and quasi-Confucian, ethical exhortation: a series of slogans meant to define public and political morality. … Continue reading

  • There Goes Pluto!

         After much wrangling, the International Astronomers Union has demoted Pluto from "planet" to "dwarf planet."  Does it matter what we call it?  Maybe not.  It brings Walt Whitman to mind: When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer When I… Continue reading

  • The Fame Motive

         In today’s NYT we have this article,"The Fame Motive," which considers our desire to find personal validation in the attention of others: Money and power are handy, but millions of ambitious people are after something other than the… Continue reading

  • Taoism is not Corrupt

        I just found an article at the Asia Times that discusses government corruption in India, China and Indonesia.  An interesting comparison, but it had this rather bizarre paragraph: Culturally, the Taoist framework of self-maximization has much to do… Continue reading

  • John Mearsheimer, Taoist

          Just found this little piece in the Block Island Times (h/t War and Piece) about a talk given by a few international relations specialists at the Naval War College in Newport.  John Mearsheimer was one of the participants. … Continue reading

  • Global Disability

         I did not realize that the United Nations is negotiating an international convention to define and protect the rights of disabled persons around the world. Thomas Schindlmayr’s op-ed in today’s International Herald Tribune brought this to my attention. … Continue reading

  • Modern Love: The Form of this Body

           This week’s "Modern Love" column is a very poignant piece, by Jennifer Glaser, reflecting on her boy friend’s untimely death.  He was dying of leukemia and they made love as they could until the illness separated them… Continue reading

  • Stretch onto tiptoes

          Here’s a story from yesterday’s Washington Post: Adolescent alienation isn’t a new phenomenon. But the unhappy teenagers clinical psychologist Madeline Levine sees in her practice aren’t merely going through a developmental phase, she writes. In her new book,… Continue reading

  • War Doesn’t Work

        We cannot say that war has never worked – I’m sure we can all think of some instances where war has produced something better than what existed before.  So, maybe I should say that using "Third Generation" war… Continue reading

  • Wayward Cliches

          I have come to learn how difficult it is to convince people that ancient Chinese philosophy really might have something interesting to say to the modern world.  When I say the words "Chinese philosophy," eyes glaze over and… Continue reading