Philosophy

Tamara Dawes, On Sex Trafficking and Homelessness, Rotary Club of Sunrise FL Speaker
Philosophy

Tamara Dawes, On Human Trafficking and Homelessness, Rotary Club of Sunrise FL Speaker

02/27/2025 Bruce Strom 0

I’m just a mom that has seen families sleeping in cars, on plazas, and numerous other places with nowhere to turn. Recently, I had a brief encounter with a single mother and her sixteen-year-old son; they were on a plaza with two small black bags containing all their possession asking for money to buy food. The security guard approached and asked them to vacate the premises, because people were complaining about their presence, and she didn’t want to call the police. The kind security guard allowed me to get some personal information from this mother whom I tried to help. The desperate mother related how frustrated she was in her hopeless attempts of trying to find accommodations, as the shelters are unable to accept them because of the Covid-19 mandate that limits their capacity. I informed her that I too have made numerous calls, so I can attest to the information she shared. […]

Did Pythagoras Influence Plato? How Mathematics and Music Reveal the Divine Order
Greek Philosophy

Did Pythagoras Influence Plato? How Mathematics and Music Reveal the Divine Order

01/10/2025 Bruce Strom 0

Diogenes concludes that “the most important aspect of human life, according to Pythagoras, is the power to persuade the soul towards good or evil. Men who acquire a good soul are blessed,” while evil men “are never at rest,” nor can they keep to the narrow path. “Justice has the force of an oath, which is why Zeus is called the God of Oaths. Virtue is harmony and health and goodness in its entirety and god itself.” The universe is governed by “the laws of harmony. Friendship is harmonious equality.”
Diogenes then shares Pythagoras’ instructions for purification, some of which resemble the ancient Jewish laws. “Purity is attained by cleansing, ablution, and sprinkling with lustral water, and by avoiding all contact with cadavers, women in childbirth, and that defiles,” and beans and eggs and other forbidden foods. […]

Meno, a Platonic Dialogue. Why did Xenophon Despise Meno?
Philosophy

Meno, a Socratic Dialogue. Why Did Xenophon and Plato Despise Meno? How Did Meno Die?

12/21/2024 Bruce Strom 0

Xenophon, in Robin Waterfield’s translation, remembers:
“It was obvious that Meno longed to be rich; he wanted military command because it would bring him a greater share of the spoils, he wanted prestige because it would help him increase his wealth, and he wanted to be on good terms with the most powerful men because then he could avoid being punished for his crimes.”
Xenophon continues, “Meno thought that the quickest way for him to achieve his goals was to use perjury, lies, and deceit. In his opinion, openness and truthfulness were synonyms for stupidity. He evidently felt no affection for anyone, and if he claimed to be somebody’s friend it soon became clear that he was trying to sabotage him.”
Xenophon said that “Meno was frightened of people he found breaking promises and committing crimes, because he regarded them as well protected, and he tried to exploit people who were moral and honest because he regarded them as weak.” […]

Carter on the Virtues of Aging and Retirement
Current Events and History

Jimmy Carter on the Virtues of Aging and Retirement

10/01/2024 Bruce Strom 0

Who do we consider to be old? Jimmy Carter recollects: “In general, our own age determines who we consider to be an old person. When I was in the navy and serving on my first ships, I assumed that officers and men who were retiring after twenty years of service were old, and that those who held on for a maximum of thirty years were almost too set in their ways to deal with the changing realities of modern navy life.” […]

Why I Joined Rotary
Business and Science

History and Philosophy of Rotary International, and My Personal Experience

04/26/2024 Bruce Strom 0

Early in its history, the Rotary Clubs adopted the Four Way Test. The Rotary website states that “the Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say, or do:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?” […]

How Do We Treat our Neighbors Who Suffer From Dementia? Also, Guidance for Over-55 Condos
Philosophy

How Should We Treat our Neighbors Who Suffer From Dementia? Also, Guidance for Over-55 Condos

03/16/2024 Bruce Strom 1

The challenge facing all of us is the difficulty in distinguishing between the elderly who have dementia from those who are cantankerous or troublemakers. Indeed, even the experts may not be able to tell when dementia is in its earliest stages. So be patient with cantankerous elderly neighbors, they might be suffering from early-stage dementia, evaluate whether they have enough to eat and drink. Be quick to call the police and welfare agencies to evaluate the situation, but in Florida and other states, the police need to be the first contact.

You cannot even say that since this person has a long history of being a troublemaker, then this person is not in an early stage of dementia. Dementia is not like the common cold, when today you have a cold, and yesterday you did not. Dementia often progresses slowly, which means that the personality of someone with dementia does not change as much as it evolves, and often their worse behavior will worsen. Someone who is angry will often simply become angrier. Often their actions are captive to their emotions, which means that the person with advanced dementia literally cannot be blamed for their actions. […]

Modern Stoic Philosophers: My Favorite Maxims: Viktor Frankl, Nelson Mandela, and Others
Philosophy

Modern Stoic Philosophers: My Favorite Maxims: Viktor Frankl, Nelson Mandela, and Others

02/23/2024 Bruce Strom 0

Why don’t the Roman Stoics discuss justice as much as Plato? In the direct Radical Democracy of Athens, the citizens served on the juries and passed the laws, which meant that ordinary citizens participated in rendering justice. This is why Socrates sought to educate ordinary citizens on justice. But in the Roman Empire, the totalitarian Emperors and their servants were responsible for the administration of justice, the ordinary citizens no longer directly influenced the administration of justice. But that is not the case in modern America and most democracies, many ordinary citizens serve on juries and vote for many political officials, local and national. Justice should be our concern.
You can make a strong argument that Stoicism, like Judaism and Christianity, is founded on the two-fold Love of God and neighbor, that you should Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Plus, we have the St Maximus the Confessor corollary, that we should be eager to forgive our neighbor. […]

Greek Stoic and Cynic Philosophers: My Favorite Sayings
Greek Philosophy

Greek Stoic and Cynic Philosophers: My Favorite Maxims: Heraclitus, Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Zeno

02/16/2024 Bruce Strom 2

Diogenes was an exile in Athens who wanted to study under Antisthenes. Although Antisthenes threatened him with his staff, Diogenes was obstinate, he wanted to be his student, he shouted, “Strike, for you’ll not find wood hard enough to keep me away from you, as long as I think you have something to say.”
Diogenes noticed a mouse scurrying about in Athens, and he decided that, like the mouse, he would not be concerned about where he lived, so he lived in a tub, a large earthenware pot in the marketplace. When he saw a boy drinking water with his hands, he threw away the cup he owned, and later he threw away his bowl. He went barefoot even in the winter, his possessions consisted of a cloak and what he could carry in a knapsack.
Once, when traveling, he was captured by pirates and sold to a man who employed him to raise his sons to follow Cynic Philosophy. When his friends offered to ransom him from slavery, he refused, saying that “lions are not the slaves of those who feed them; it is the feeders, rather, who are the lions’ slaves. For fear is the mark of a slave, and wild beasts make men fearful.” […]

Major Roman Stoic Philosophers, My Favorite Maxims: Epictetus, Rufus, Seneca & Marcus Aurelius
Philosophy

Major Roman Stoic Philosophers, My Favorite Maxims: Epictetus, Rufus, Seneca & Marcus Aurelius

02/02/2024 Bruce Strom 4

Many of the writings of the Stoics sound like passages from the Pauline Epistles. Indeed, Seneca was a contemporary of St Paul. There are epistles written between them, though nearly all scholars think they are spurious. Was St Paul inspired by the Stoic writings of Seneca? Although the Jewish rabbinic tradition was the primary source of inspiration for the Epistles and the Gospels, stoicism was an important secondary influence. In particular, stoicism deeply influenced the desert monastic tradition, which in turn influenced medieval monasticism. […]