Five hundred posts, 508 days of blogging.
Okay, some days (eight, so far), I get lazy and don't write anything. I hope I can be forgiven.
I want to thank all of you for visiting me. There are more of you than I thought there would be. My posts are long, and take some commitment in terms of time and effort to read. The spelling and editing errors do not help. I can't help it. I am a chronic rewriter and 'editing' always turns into a complete rewrite of a post from top to bottom, introducing as many new mistakes as I correct.
Anyway, I am seriously flattered at those who find this place worthy of your time and attention.
Now that I have done all of this writing, I am thinking of taking some of my favorite posts, and those that readers tell me they like best, and putting them together into a book.
This will not be a book on moral theory. I have already put a set of essays explaining the theory that sits as the foundation of this blog into a book, "A Better Place: Selected Essays in Desire Utilitarianism"
Of course, my habit of chronic rewriting will compel me to rewrite those posts into a form that will be more appropriate in a book format - giving them context and, of course, getting somebody to edit them.
Of the things that I have written, I have my own favorites. However, I invite you to tell me which of these you think I should not include, and which of those I have not included that I should include.
My Favorite
My personal favorite posting talked about my dad. Atheists in Foxholes
The Story Posts
Another group of personal favorites are my story posts. Every once in a while, I think of getting my mind into a different way of thinking and making this more of a standard way of expressing my ideas. But, they're actually very hard to write.
Though these following two stories do not appear as blog entries, I still like them.
Dialogue: Conversation at the Gate
Of course, anybody who is so interested can read a much longer story post - my online philosophical/fantasy novel, The Cult of Justice and Will
The Popular Posts
It is inevitable that some posts will be more popular than others. Here are the ten posts that still collect the greatest number of readers even though they have sunk into the dark depths of the archives.
Dennis Miller, Global Warming, and Epistemic Negligence
The Standard Topics
I have, of course, taken the opportunity of this blog to write some essays on issues of long-term importance (though some of these, I hope, will become as uncontroversial as the issue of slavery - once heavily debated - has become today)
Abortion (and Infanticide): Part I
Abortion (and Infanticide): Part II
Abortion: Parental Consent and Parental Notification
Capital Punishment: The Cost of Celebrating Killing
Animal Rights: The Predator Problem
Law and Morality
In the 500 days that I have been writing we have seen an absolutely shocking degradation in this country's concern for liberty and individual rights.
Gerrymandering (aka Partisan Apartheid)
Money and Values
I also hold that there is a strong relationship between economics and morality. Not only are there right and wrong ways of making money, but economic institutions themselves may be either moral or immoral.
The Tragedy of the Global Climate Commons
Energy Prices and the Folly of Price Controls
Survival vs. Property Part Deux
The Future
Finally, I have an overall concern with leaving the world better than it would have been if I had not existed. This requires looking ahead to the future and at the those institutions that show the greater ability to improve the quality of life. We live in a universe that is indifferent to our survival - as a species, and as individuals. So, our survival depends on our ability to understand the world – the real world, not the world of fantasy and superstition – so that we can anticipate the ways in which that universe might destroy us and protect ourselves from it.
This first one is personal: The Atheist Materialist Scientist
Fact-Based vs. Fiction-Based Policies
A National Day (or More) of Science
Religion, Science, and Bigotry
Conclusion
I cannot see myself giving this up. My reason for living has been to leave the world better than it would have otherwise been, and this has been the best method I have found for fulfilling that desire. I am considering some changes in focus, but the project remains the same.
I'll be here again tomorrow. I would be pleased if you would join me.
Alonzo Fyfe
2 comments:
I think that turning your favorite posts into a book is a great idea that you should pursue. You have a great analytical mind, write well, and have a passion for spreading the rational word. I say go for it.
For the past ten months since I found your blog I have read your posts almost daily. Sometimes what you write is so complex it makes my brain hurt ;). Anyway, thank you!!! Continue the great work and I'll raise a beer to your next 500 when I get out of work this evening.
Didi
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