Touchstones

The fourscore of touchstones in 30 philosophers.

Bad Faith

30 Phil, Chapter 31, Sartre, Touchstone 80: Bad Faith. Bad faith is the idea of living a lie; it is the act of denying your inherent freedom and responsibility associated with self-awareness. When you go along to get along, you are not yourself, you are being a rock, you are a “being-in-itself.” To live for […]

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Consciousness

30 Phil, Chapter 31, Sartre, Touchstone 79: Consciousness. Consciousness is a continuous, self-aware state of existence, an incessant ebb and flow of perceptions, ideas, and emotions. Consciousness is part of your worldview with two basic states: awake and asleep. It’s a complex spectrum of levels while awake, and stages while asleep.

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Anxiety “Angst”

30 Phil, Chapter 31, Sartre, Touchstone 78: Anxiety. The birth of modern psychology: In existentialism, anxiety is the result of confronting the inherent freedoms and responsibilities of human existence. It is not necessarily about fearing specific outcomes or events but rather the realization of the vast possibilities and choices one faces in life, and the

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Eternal Recurrence

30 Phil, Chapter 30, Nietzsche, Touchstone 77: Eternal Recurrence. The Eternal Recurrence is a thought experiment that urges you to live as though your life will repeat itself infinitely. It is designed to awaken a sense of urgency and existential responsibility. The potency of this idea lies in its call for radical responsibility; it compels

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Übermensch

30 Phil, Chapter 30, Nietzsche, Touchstone 76: Übermensch. The Übermensch, or superman, is the ideal person who transcends societal norms and self-imposed limitations. They overcome the existing values and moralities of society, creating their own values, and living in a way that is true to themselves.

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Nihilism

30 Phil, Chapter 30, Nietzsche, Touchstone 75: Nihilism. Shake off societal pressures: Nihilism is a tool to examine and potentially overcome the problem of illusion in reality. You use the idea that life lacks objective meaning, purpose, and intrinsic value to break free of the illusions of life like social constructs and pressures. This updated

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Harm Principle

30 Phil, Chapter 29, Mill, Touchstone 74: Harm Principle. You’re free to do what you want, as long as you don’t harm others. It delineates between self-regarding and other-regarding actions as a basis for when societal intervention is justified. Self-regarding actions are those that primarily affect the individual who undertakes them. Other-regarding actions have broader

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Transcendental Idealism

30 Phil, Chapter 28, Kant, Touchstone 72: Transcendental Idealism. The Split and Three-Tine Fork: Transcendental Idealism is Kant’s view on epistemology. His distinction between phenomena and noumena and his three-tiered approach to knowledge. Kant introduced a crucial distinction between phenomena—the world as we see and understand it—and noumena—the world as it exists independently of our

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Hume’s Fork

30 Phil, Chapter 27, Hume, Touchstone 71: Hume’s Fork. Hume’s Fork is a philosophical tool that categorizes meaningful statements into two distinct types: relations of ideas and matters of fact. It offers a clear demarcation between different kinds of truths. Relations of ideas are statements that are necessarily true, such as “all bachelors are unmarried.”

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The Problem of Induction

30 Phil, Chapter 27, Hume, Touchstone 70: The Problem of Induction. The logic behind induction is inherently circular, hence, the problem of induction. We expect future events to be like past events because this has generally been true in the past. This justification itself is inductive, making the whole process circular and self-referential. Although induction

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Journalism

30 Phil, Chapter 26, Voltaire, Touchstone 68: Journalism. Journalism serves as a check on power, and is one of the Truth Hammers. Unlike the scientific method, which is grounded in experimentation, journalism thrives on investigation and storytelling. It doesn’t just present facts; it contextualizes them, weaving narratives that help society understand complex issues.

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Fourth Estate

30 Phil, Chapter 26, Voltaire, Touchstone 67: Fourth Estate. The fourth estate refers to the role of media in society. During Voltaire’s time, the seeds were being sown for the concept of the fourth estate. This was due in part to his tireless advocacy for freedom of speech and the press, an echo of the

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Material-Spiritual Framework

30 Phil, Chapter 25, Spinoza, Touchstone 66: Material-Spiritual Framework. The Material-Spiritual Framework explores the interplay between the material world and spiritual beliefs. It allows for an open-minded exploration of spirituality and religion, incorporating a personal journey that integrates the empirical, rational, and irrational to form a cohesive worldview. The Material World is the only realm we

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Monism

30 Phil, Chapter 25, Spinoza, Touchstone 65: Monism. Monism says the universe is composed of a single substance. An infinite reality that underpins all existence. There is only the Material World, no other realms.

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Checks and Balances

30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 62: Checks and Balances. For the preservation of individual liberty and the prevention of tyranny, political power must be distributed among different branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial. It is grounded in the idea that human nature is easily corruptible and concentrating power is dangerous. This diversification embodies the

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The Social Contract

30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 61: The Social Contract. The social contract emerges out of natural rights and civil government. A government formed by the “collective will” of the people specifically to protect these rights. Citizens consent to be governed, but this consent comes with the stipulation that their inalienable rights must be respected

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Law

30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 63: Law.  Law is one of the three truth hammers because it aims to uncover specific truths using empirical data, logic, reason, facts, and peer review.

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Due Process

30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 60: Due Process. Due process is the procedural safeguard that stands between the individual and arbitrary exercise of authority. It is the legal structure that prevents your inherent rights from being unfairly stripped away. In essence, due process is the set of rules that ensures that if the government—or

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