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Maggie: I want to talk about a friend of mine today.  Is that okay? John:  Sure.  But are we really talking about a friend? Maggie:  I know I sometimes say we are talking about a “friend” when I really mean me.  But this time, it is a friend.  And I’m worried about him. John:  What … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Hikikomori or Social Withdrawal

Maggie:  What are we talking about today? John:  Well…  You are about to graduate, right? Maggie:  Sure am.  Why? John:  You are entering an exciting time in your life. But it is also a paradigm shifting moment where you are moving from dependence to independence. Maggie:  I like the way you put that: paradigm shifting. It is … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): Advice to a 2020 graduate

Maggie:  I want to talk about depression today.  Is that okay? John:  Sure.  But is there a specific reason this topic has come up? Maggie:  Are you asking if I am depressed? John:  A little bit.  Just wondering if this is a personal topic or a topic relating to your friends? Maggie:  It may be … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): Helping our friends who are suffering from depression

Maggie:  Can we talk about a few things that have been taking up most of the space in my brain lately? John: Sure.  How do you want to approach these topics?  Maggie:  I don’t know what you mean. John:  Do you want to talk about them together, in a freewheeling discussion?  Or do you want to … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): Talking about COVID-19 with Our Teens

Wrestling with a Difficult Topic  John: I want to change our topic for this discussion. Maggie: We’re not going to talk about the history of astronomy? John: We will get back to it. But today I want talk about genetic diversity. Maggie: You know it’s hard for me to discuss this. John: I know, and … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Discriminating Against Genetically Diverse People

Introducing the Topic of Suicide Maggie: I want to talk to you about something, but I don’t know how to do it? John: I am not sure I understand what you mean. Maggie: It’s a tough topic, but one I think we need to talk about more. John: Okay, what’s the topic? Maggie: First you … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Talking About Suicide

Maggie:  Do you think work is important to living a happy life? John:  Good question.  But before I answer it I think we need to clarify what you mean by the word “work.” Maggie:  I mean something like having a job.  The thing most of us have to do to make money, like being a … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On the Role of Work

John: If you recall, we are responding to your comment that you feel stupid lately. Maggie: Yes, I remember.  And this is the third and last blog post in this series, addressing my statement. John:  And here we will be addressing how you arrived at your conclusion by looking at your reasoning processes. Maggie: Okay.  Where do you … Continue reading Maggie and Me (A Philosophical Dialogue): Judging Ourselves and Feeling Stupid

Maggie:  We need to continue our discussion about intelligence and feeling stupid.  If you recall, we initially concluded that intelligence is a good-for-other-things.  That means that it is not a good-in-itself, but is used to obtain other good things. John:  I remember.  And nice summary! Maggie:  Next, we were going to address the idea that … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On the Different Types of Knowing

Maggie: I feel so stupid all the time lately. Sometimes I don’t understand what is going on in class, so I just pretend I do. Sometimes I don’t understand the books I read or listen to, so I just skim over those sections. Sometimes I don’t even understand things my friends say, so I just … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): I Feel So Stupid All the Time

Maggie: I need to talk about something that makes me feel guilty.  John: Sure.  Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you. Maggie:  Two of my friends said horrible things about another girl at our school.  This girl’s family doesn’t have a lot of money so she wears the same clothes almost every day.  I was … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Courage

Maggie: My friend’s mom asked her why she wasn’t a better aunt to her young niece.  My friend thought too much time had passed for her to now get involved in her niece’s life.  And she didn’t think her niece even wanted a friendship at this point, since she doesn’t really know her.  Do you … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): Is It Ever too Late to Be a Friend?

Maggie: We discussed different types of loneliness in the first blog post on this topic, and in the second post we discussed the fact that many young people do not have the right people in their lives or the right contexts in which to share their feelings and thoughts. In this post, I think we … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Loneliness, part 3

Maggie:  I have been thinking a lot about our previous discussion on the different categories of loneliness.  I can’t get that conversation out of my head. John:  What have you been thinking about the most? Maggie:  All of us are really two people.  Two different people. John:  I think I know where you are going … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Loneliness, part 2

Maggie:  I would like to spend some time talking about loneliness. John:  I think this is a good topic, and fits perfectly into our discussion of happiness.  But why do you want to discuss it? Maggie:  I heard a girl at school telling a teacher that she was so lonely she was thinking about dropping … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On Loneliness, part 1

Maggie: You said previously that you try to work on one virtue each year. What are you working on this year? John: The virtue of forgiveness. Maggie: How is it going? John: It could be going better. This is a challenging virtue. Maggie: I am actually glad to hear you say that. I find working … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): On the Virtue of Forgiveness

Maggie: Can we talk about something that has been on my mind for a while? John:   Sure. This is your blog too. So we can talk about anything that interests you, as long as it somehow relates to philosophy or religion. Maggie: This does. But I am not sure how to say it. John: We … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): “I hate church and I don’t want to go any more!”

Maggie: A friend of mine, whose name is also Maggie, asked me about modesty. She wanted to know whether modesty is a real virtue or whether it is just a tool parents use to control their kids. Can we discuss this question? John:   Sure. I think this is an important topic. Maggie: Do you think … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): the Virtue of Modesty

  Maggie: One of my friends asked me what she should do to become more patient. John: The first step in the process of developing a virtue is asking questions about yourself, especially your strengths and weaknesses in relation to that virtue. So we can’t really help your friend, since she is not here to … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): Developing Gratitude

Maggie: What do you think is the principal challenge to happiness? And I am especially interested in your answer as it applies to me and my friends, not to old people in their thirties. John: Wow, I am not sure what to do with that last part. But the question itself is thought provoking. Maggie: … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): The Principal Challenge to Happiness

  John: In the past three blog posts we have been discussing why we should be good people, rather than bad people. We concluded early on that we should be good because being good leads to happiness. We then defined happiness as (i) an activity, (ii) of the soul, (iii) in accordance with complete virtue, … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): The Happiness Question, part 4

Maggie: In the last blog post we talked about the need for external goods to be happy. Some of my friends asked me about this, especially because you said we only need a few material possessions to be happy. But this is exactly the opposite of the way most people live their lives. Most people … Continue reading Maggie and Me (a philosophical dialogue): The Happiness Question, part 3 continued