Tag Archives: philosophy/religion

Aristotle With a Contemptuous, Therefore Surprisingly Contemporary, View of Democracy

Posted on December 15, 2025 | Leave a comment

“A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employments.”

Aristotle

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

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Potboiler

Posted on December 1, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Potboiler: A work written merely to gain a livelihood. The term is at least as old as the 18th c. A classic example of the potboiler that transcends its immediate end is Johnson’s philosophical ‘novel’ or didactic ‘romance’ (qq.v.) Rasselas (1759), which was written in the evenings of a week to defray the expenses of his mother’s funeral and to pay her debts. See KITSCH. 

Excerpted from: Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. New York: Penguin, 1998.

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Cultural Literacy: Animism

Posted on November 20, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on animism. This is a half-page worksheet with a two-sentence reading and two comprehension questions. The first of these two sentences, duty obliges me to mention, is quite long and might be best rewritten, especially for emergent and struggling readers.

While this ethic–I hesitate to call it a religion because of its manifest respect for the material, natural world, something Christians, for example, tend to dismiss as paganism–is global in scope, I post it here during National Native American Heritage Month 2025 because the indigenous peoples on this continent, virtually to a one, were animists in some manner or another.

Incidentally, I particularly like the turn of phrase “so-called primitive people” in this document.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Joseph Brant

Posted on November 20, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Joseph Brant: (1742-1807) Mohawk Indian chief and Christian missionary. Brant was converted to the Anglican Church while attending a school for Indians in Connecticut. He fought for the British in the French and Indian War (1754-63). He led four of the six Iroquois nations on the British side in the American Revolution, winning several notable battles. After the war Brant was granted land along the Grand River in Ontario, where he ruled peacefully and continued his missionary work.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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American Indian Religions, South

Posted on November 7, 2025 | Leave a comment

“American Indian Religions, South: Religious beliefs and practices of the indigenous peoples of South America. The ancient Andean civilizations  of the Chimu and Inca had highly developed religions. The Inca religion combined complex ceremonies, animistic beliefs, belief in objects having magical powers, nature worship, and sun worship. The Incas build monumental temples, occupied by priests and Chosen Women. Priests conducted divination, and sacrifices were offered on every important occasion. Human sacrifice was offered when the need was extreme. In present-day South America, as many as 1,500 distinct native cultures have been described, and religious beliefs vary greatly. Creation mythologies are of first importance, often describing the origin of the first world and its fate as well as the creation and destruction of subsequent worlds. Ceremonial initiation into adulthood is widely practiced, both for males and females, with the initiation ceremony of acting out events from the dawn of creation. Initiations are also used to mark the ascent of individuals into positions of religious authority, with priests, diviners, and spirit mediums playing special roles. The shaman specializes in inducing states of ecstasy, controlling the passage of the soul out of and back into the body. Ritual fires, musical instruments (especially the rattle), esoteric languages, and sacred songs may demonstrate the shaman’s command of invisible powers. Christianity has come to be a strong component of folk belief among many native peoples, but it continues to be interpreted in the light of local tradition, and elements of traditional religion continue to survive.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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American Indian Religions, North

Posted on November 7, 2025 | Leave a comment

“American Indian Religions, North: Religious beliefs and practices of the indigenous peoples of North America. They are characterized by a conviction that spirit moves through all things, animate and inanimate, and the living are intimately connected with the souls of the dead. They discover recognizable things in the world of animals, plants, trees, as well as in natural features such as mountains, lakes, and clouds. Because North American religions were so highly localized, it is impossible to determine how many have existed, and their beliefs have varied widely. Whereas Iroquois elders speak of a perfectly wise and good Creator who planned the universe, the Koyukon envision the creator as a Raven, a trickster god who is only one of many powerful spirits. Whereas nearly all Navajo ceremonies are performed on behalf of individuals in response to specific needs, most Pueblo ceremonies are performed communally and scheduled according to the cycles of nature. However, all native North American religions share certain features: ancestral lands and locally sacred spots are important; access to some knowledge is restricted, and initiation is required to acquire it; kinship obligations are central; the oral tradition includes narratives that record human interaction with nonhuman powers; and generosity is a religious act. Contact with Europeans led to development of new religious movements, including the Ghost Dance tradition and the Native American Church.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Posted in Essays/Readings, Independent Practice, Social Sciences

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Praxis

Posted on October 31, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Praxis: The Greek word meaning ‘doing’ is widely used for all purposeful human activity. In his later, Marxist-influenced work, Sartre, for instance, defines praxis as political action in the world, or as the practical transformation of the world in accordance with a desired end or formality (1960). Praxis is a specifically human activity; the dam-building of a beaver is not praxis because it is an instinctual and unchanging response to a natural environment, and because it implies neither the mastery of existing technology nor the development of new technical means. Beavers will always build dams in the same manner; human engineers will develop new ways of doing so. Although praxis is determined by a finality of goal, its outcome is not always predictable, and it may be reversed into a counter-finality that frustrates the original intention. The outcome or material development of praxis is referred to as the ‘practico-inert’; the relationship between the two is not dissimilar to that between the in-itself and the for-itself.

In his Prison Notebooks, Gramsci (1971) uses the term “philosophy of praxis” as a synonym for Marxism.

Excerpted from: Macey, David. The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. New York: Penguin, 2001.

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Cultural Literacy: Sect

Posted on October 24, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of a sect. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two sentences and two comprehension questions. A simple but effective introduction to a concept students really ought to understand before they graduate high school.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Emerson on the End of the Human Race

Posted on October 16, 2025 | Leave a comment

“The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

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Octavio Paz

Posted on October 10, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Octavio Paz: (1914-1998) Mexican poet, writer, and diplomat. Educated at the University of Mexico, Paz published his first book of poetry, Luna Silvestre (“Savage Moon”) in 1933. He later founded and edited several important literary reviews. Influenced in turn by Marxism, surrealism, existentialism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, his poetry uses rich imagery in dealing with metaphysical questions, and his most prominent theme is the human ability to overcome existential solitude through erotic love and artistic creativity. His prose works include The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950), an influential essay on Mexican history and culture. He was Mexico’s ambassador to India 1962-68. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1990.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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