Category Archives: Philosophy

A casual stroll around philosophy land, usually inspired by late night reading

S&F in Philosophy Now: The Moral Worth of Animals

Posted on by
Reply

The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Samuel Kaldas’s article Descartes vs. Cudworth on The Moral Worth of Animals (Philosophy Now, Issue 108). In this article, the writer compares two views on the nature of animals and their implications for our moral responsibility towards them. It’s interesting to compare Descartes views – disturbing to many today – to those of his contemporary Cudworth, who held surprisingly modern views for his time. Article link provided below.S&F Descartes 300 dpi 400 x 800 https://philosophynow.org/issues/108/Descartes_versus_Cudworth_On_The_Moral_Worth_of_Animals

 

 

S&F in Philosophy Now: Personal Identity

Posted on by
4

The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Joshua Farris’s What’s So Simple About Personal identity? (Philosophy Now, Issue 107). The article discusses the various theories about what makes up personal identity. For example, some feel that identity is ultimately the result of the collection of memories over time, whereas others argue that it is more attributable to the persistence of character over time, among many other competing theories that I’m not sure we will ever be able to truly resolve.

S&F Identity small

Ernie, in process

Posted on by
2

Allo!  It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I wanted to give a quick update on a character some might remember from time past: Ernie the Philosopher.  As Ernie is in process of migrating to book form (all very grassroots for now), I thought I’d post a few pics from the ‘beta’ book. 🙂

It remains to be seen what’s next, but it’s been gratifying to witness a 3D Ernie, and I’ll be sure to post any news as it unfolds.  The original Ernie stories can be seen here: https://simonandfinn.com/stories/ernie-stories/

June 2015 Update: Happy to announce that the story, Ernie & The Forest of Envy, tied for first place in Toronto Writers’ Cooperative Helen Knight Short Story contest.

E1E2

 

S&F in Philosophy Now: Are We Naturally Violent?

Posted on by
4

I forgot to post this December cartoon!  It accompanied the print version of David Barash’s Are Human Beings Natural Violent and Warlike?  (Philosophy Now, Issue 105).

S&F Wolves 1000 x 2200 small

 For more on Professor Barash’s work, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_P._Barash

S&F in Philosophy Now: Critical Reasoning

Posted on by
4

The following cartoon accompanied the print version of Marianne Talbot’s How to Think: Critical Reasoning (Philosophy Now, Issue 106). The full article can be viewed here: https://philosophynow.org/issues/106/Critical_Reasoning    —  enjoy!S&F Critical Reasoning small

 

Draft pages, illustrated story

Posted on by
2

I’ve been working on a story for some time now and have been trying out a few formats and styles. The first version was wordless, and seeing as that didn’t work out so well, I’m trying my hand at including words.  Here are a few draft pages, hopefully they aren’t too difficult to make out… I have a fraught relationship with my scanner as will no doubt become evident.  Some of you may recognize the character from previous illustrated posts on Camus quotes. 🙂

HM1 mod smallHM2 mod smallHM3 mod smallOther similar posts:

Invincible Summer – Camus

Camus – Hold them at a distance

 

 

S&F in Philosophy Now: Obscurantism & Politics

Posted on by
1

S&F - Obscuranticism 400 x 900This cartoon accompanied Obscurantism & The Language of Excess, an article written by Siobhan Lyons for Philosophy Now.

The article, which is well written as well as entertaining, deals with the concept of obscurantism, that is, the “darkening or purposeful withholding of knowledge, or communicating in a purposefully complicated manner”.

The link between obscurantism and politics isn’t all that much of a stretch.

Invincible Summer – Camus

Image

6

ORIG Camus - Invincible Summer Small

Autumn

Image

5

Autumn - Camus small

Camus – Hold them at a distance

Image

5

Camus - Distance