Thus Spake the Philosopher

Here's something rather pithy I found in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.

It is to be noted that nothing that is past is an object of choice, e.g. no one chooses to have sacked Troy; for no one deliberates about the past, but about what is future and capable of being otherwise, while what is past is not capable of not having taken place; hence Agathon is right in saying
For this alone is lacking even to God,
To make undone things thathave once been done.

I think Aristotle makes an incorrect claim about God here, in as much as I will affirm the traditional Christian notion that God is the creator of, and hence above, time. In that context, it is really irrelevant to speak in terms of what has already occurred when referring to God. Thoughts?

TQ: Miscellaneous

From Mark, as always:

1. What Firefox extensions do you use?
I don't normally use Firefox, but when I do, the Google toolbar is the main one. I used one to put little close buttons on each tab too until Firefox 2.0 “fixed” that for me.

2. What family/Friends tradition do you most look forward to regarding Christmas/ etc all holidays?

I'm not sure I have one favorite tradition. I always enjoy going to the Christmas Eve (candle light) service with my family and then sitting around the Christmas tree in the quiet of expectation.

3. What is your favorite tea to drink and how do you take it?

A plain, somewhat strongish tea with ice. Lipton is just fine.

4. What is your opinion on Mod_rewrite?

A site without mod_rewrite is, well, a site without mod_rewrite. I love mod_rewrite. I think it is an indispensable part of the web developer's toolkit.

5. Do you think this site has the right idea? Sorta like what these guys are doing in my state.

For the most part yes. I say, Merry Christmas, if that is what you mean.

Humor

Well, like Christopher, I am trying to blog the entire month of December, so although I do not have enough energy to post much, I can at least provide some humor:

What do they call Santa's helpers?
Subordinate Clauses

What do you call Santa Clause after he's fallen into a fireplace?
Krisp Kringle

Which of Santa's reindeers needs to mind his manners the most?
“Rude”olph

Where do Santa's reindeers like to stop for lunch?
Deery Queen

What do you call the fear of getting stuck while sliding down a
chimney?
Santa Claus-trophbia

What do you call a bunch of grandmasters of chess bragging about
their games in a hotel lobby?
Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.

How do sheep in Mexico say Merry Christmas?
Fleece Navidad

What do you get when you cross an archer with a gift-wrapper?
Ribbonhood

Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
Because he had low elf esteem.

How do canines in Mexico say Merry Christmas?
Fleas Navidog.

Merry Second Week of Advent!

Tired.

I've just spent the evening considering Duns Scotus and William Ockham. Phew. I am tired.

Shadows of the Past

Tonight, I walked out of a classroom after an actual class at Lindenwood for the last time. Next week is finals — I only have two normal finals, along with one take home final I am working on and one final project I already turned in — and then I will be completely done. After four and a half years, I will no longer spend nine months of the year walking around LU's lovely little campus.

I can't say I'm anxious. I am ready to finish up in many senses, but in some ways, the core environment of LU has been a tranquil setting among the loss of grandparents, several major illnesses concerning my dad, and other matters. Not everything out of LU has been happy, but there have been lots of good memories.

Memories. Shadows of the past that seem to come to mind. Certain memories, particularly from Fall 2004, continue to come back to mind as they did earlier this fall when I did a little multipart narrative. In away it will be nice to move on to something new and fresh, but sometimes it is nice to be able to dwell in the past a little. But, this point I'm at now is good to move beyond. Two years ago would probably have been the high point of my time at Lindenwood, whereas now, things are just winding down.

Life moves on and soon I will be done.

Late Night Haiku XIX

LII. Silence walks softly
And lurks behind my mind's eye,
Careful! No more — no.

LIII. Tick the clock tocks soft,
And time tick rolls onward tock,
And I tick watch tock.

LIV. The snow melts slowly,
Old remnants of lighter times,
Flows down the hill now.

Possible Worlds and God

OK, so it is beyond the level of logic I know how to work with, but supposedly Alvin Plantinga has a reworking of the ontological argument for the existence of God that uses what is known as “S5” modal logic. While I don't know how to do S5, I think I understand the basic principle, which is that given an infinite number of possible worlds with all possible combinations of states existing, God must be necessary in at least one of them. And if a necessary being exists in one world, He must exist in all worlds.

The interesting thing that strikes me (though I don't know if it would work) is that it seems like the opposite must also be true: there must be at least one possible world where God does not exist (according to Plantinga's initial premise). Thus, we would end up with one possible world in which God must necessarily exist and not exist simultaneously.

There's a mind boggling thought. I tend to think using possible worlds to theorize is only questionable useful, but it is interesting.

No End to Studying God

Here's a little appetizer from Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics that I found poignant tonight:

“We now emphasise two further biblical attributes [“the Patience and Wisdom of God”] of God, both individually and in their interconnexion. We must try to understand them as expressions of the perfection of His love. As we do so we are again reminded of the fact that all further consideration of the divine attributes can but move in a circle around the one but infinitely rich being of God whose simplicity is abundance itself an whose abundance is simplicity itself. We are not speaking of a new objection but allowing the one object, God to speak further of Himself. We are continuing to contemplate the love of God and therefore God Himself as the One who loves in freedom. What end can there be to this development? We are drawing upon the ocean. We are therefore faced by a task to which there is no end.” (2.1 406)

Opening the Open Door

So, as I predicted, I broke down and purchased Evanescence's new CD, the Open Door. I was doing some Christmas shopping on Amazon.com, and they had new releases for $7.99 — how could I resist?

So far I like it. In an odd way, it seems more upbeat than their previous works (relatively speaking, as you will understand if you know Evanescence). I decided not to listen to the whole CD in one sitting, so listened to the first four songs. I had already heard “Call Me When You're Sober” on XM Flight 26, right after the single for it came out in August or September, so there weren't any surprises there, but the songs around it were very well developed. Like Fallen, the CD has a very connected, polished sound that avoids the feeling that certain key songs were meant for single status and everything else was left in rough form.

White Christmas

In recognition of us now being in the month of December and the fact that there is plenty of white stuff out on the lawn, I figured a little rendition of “White Christmas” would be fitting. And, with that in mind, what could be better than one that comes straight from Santa and his reindeer?