Author Archives: Dr. Bear

About Dr. Bear

Lived many places, love food, unable to not have a conversation, earned PhD in Philosophy.

If you have a question, leave a question; if you need a question, take a question.

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Pilosophy BistroSo, as I get started, are there any questions anybody would like to throw out?
Giedra: Here are my questions, as someone who never studied philosophy:  What misconceptions do decently educated people have about philosophy/particular lines of philosophical thought/particular philosophers?  What aspects of philosophy, if any, do you wish were more widely known/understood, and why?  What are the differences/similarities between philosophy and theology?  
Sarah: How can I get my mom to remember that her great-grandson’s name is that–Soren–and not Borst?
Jerri: I would like to hear your thoughts about why American culture vilifies intelligence and critical thinking.
Grace: What about Germany? How did it shape you, what reminds you of it, what was it like growing up there? Also: Existentialism vs Nihilism? Why does wandering make you feel less lost?
Melissa: How do you make bread from scratch?
Ben: Is there a correlation between Western society’s increased individualism, And their decreased threshold for discomfort, pain and suffering?
Abby: What’s for dinner when your fridge currently holds eggs, bacon, zucchini, and three kinds of cheese (and the zucchini needs to be used or tossed)?
Emilee: Why should humans be good?

shoes and books

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I was listening to Richard Blanco’s Inaugural Poem today, and was struck by the following line:

“hands as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.”

ShoesSo much of your childhood I spent working
and missing you;
in classes I taught, phones I answered, files I sorted, keys labelled and given, customers I greeted and smiled to again and again and again.
Wondering, all the while, what story you might be telling if I was there.

But I had to work.
I had to work to buy you the things you would need,
Things like books and shoes.

Books to take you to whole new worlds,Books
and shoes to take you across this one;
books to feed you on dreams,
and shoes to walk towards them.

I have been a father,
and I have given you books and shoes and love.
Books and shoes to take you far from me,
and love to keep you always near.