Philosophy – Philip Nel

“a nest of trying”: the pandemic at 500 days

If your plague began (as mine did) on March 14 2020, then today is day 500 of our plague era. (If it didn’t, then adjust your count accordingly.) As I noted at plague day 250, very early on I decided that day 500 would be the end of the plague. I know that the plague

The Meaning of Life; or, How to Avoid the Midlife Crisis

November 19, 2014Philip NelAdvice, Death, Failure, Friendship, Health, Kieran Setiya, Philosophy, Time, WorkAdvice, Death, Failure, Friendship, Health, Kieran Setiya, Philosophy, Time, Work4 Comments

Why do successes sometimes feel like failures? As philosopher Kieran Setiya points out in a wise new essay, “Our achievements, whatever they are worth, are always numbered” (10). Each time we accomplish something, it’s done, finished, and we must move on to the next thing: “the completion of your project may constitute something of value,