Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

I am reading a book by Kitaro Nishida, a Zen-tinged Japanese philosopher who was prominent a century ago.  An Inquiry into the Good.   That title reminds me a bit of Spinoza calling his masterwork Ethics. Spinoza had ethical points to make, but wanted to ground that in comprehensive premises about the world and our place in it. Nishida likewise has a (quite Zen) conception of the good to convey, but wants to start at the beginning.  The beginning is a very Jamesian place, as Nishida acknowledged. His beginning is the fuzzy boundary between cognitive psychology and epistemology.  "As psychologists say, we can will a movement simply by recollecting a past memory; if we direct our attention to the memory, the movement will follow naturally.  From the standpoint of pure experience the movement itself is but a continuation of the sensation of movement in recollection....We tend to think of the will as some special power, but in fact it is nothing more than the experi...

The world recently lost my younger brother (younger by a mere 13 months), Mark Henry Faille. The manner of his death was shocking to some of us, but is not something into which I wish to go here. This blog is not for gossip, or even for intensely personal reactions to family events. It consists chiefly of my reflections on the universe at large.  I was honored by the decision of Mark's widow that I deliver the eulogy at the service. I discussed there, and so in effect I discussed with family and friends, some philosophical considerations tangential to Mark's death.  Adapting a bit the words of the Desiderata , I'll say only here that I spoke my truth quietly and clearly, conscious that others may well think my words dull and ignorant, but hoping that they will see a story worthy of their attention there nonetheless.  Mark was extraordinary in his combination of skills, his lack of ambition in connection with any of these skills, and his utter lack of ...