Applying William James’ Pragmatism

There are many reasons to believe in God, some of which aren't very good. However, there are patterns and designs that suggest there might be a god, but this isn't the place for natural theology. What I would like to discuss is William James' pragmatism which attempts to make judgements and relieve the mind from …

Just Published My Short Story “The Exile”

https://www.amazon.com/Exile-Stephen-C-Pedersen/dp/1709217456/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=stephen+pedersen+exile&qid=1577841971&sr=8-2 You can get the paperback on Amazon for $5.99, the Kindle for $.99 This is a short, poignant allegory which begins in the ancient city of Babylon. The protagonist is a man who wrestles with darkness, but who ceaselessly strives towards the light. However, after forty circling centuries have passed, the polymath leaves everything …

An Analysis of Matthew Arnold’s Literature and Science

Percy passed an essay on to Daedalus for him to read, but first he gave the setting in which it was created. Percy told him that it was addressed to the United States in 1883, in reply to Thomas H. Huxley's “Science and Culture," delivered in Birmingham on October 1st, 1880. Huxley was known as …

Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H.

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), a Victorian poet, completed his In Memoriam in 1849 where he wrestled with the contradictions between the idea of a providential god with the evolutionary and materialistic science of the day after the death of his best friend. The poem is divided into 133 cantos. He was son to a clergy …

Pan Psychism’s Fitness

What kind of fabric is reality woven from? I remember my youth reading a physics book by Brian Greene who popularized string theory with its many and varied dimensions, and the super-cooled higgs field that was the precondition for the big bang. My early mind was shaped by science. However, once I made contact with …

Mary, Quite Contrary: Consciousness Unexplained

What is the ultimate nature of reality? In Philosophy of mind, there are many positions regarding what has real being. On a commonsense level, dualism seems to be the reality. Thoughts, beliefs, and qualia really do seem to be different from tables, apples, and automobiles; therefore, according to dualists, there are two types of stuff …

Frankenstein’s Creature

The monster tells him of the horrors of alienation and isolation as he unintentionally scared men, women, and children. He tells Frankenstein of one family whom he had admired and tried to gain their love. The creature found a space on the side of the house that was hidden from sight. There he listened and …