Sam Chandler – Page 2 – Blogs Don't Burn

March 6, 2022March 9, 2022

Dissecting a frog – is comedy dying in the West?

There’s a famous line by E.B. White which has been rattling around my head the last few weeks. It goes like this: “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better, but the frog dies in the process”. This is a brilliant line, of course, but lately I can’t help thinking that the inimitable White was slightly off-the-mark on this one. After all, can a joke really be understood better by analysing it to death? Or does the process of picking it apart not only kill its impact, but also compromise our ability to understand it?

You couldn’t truly ‘understand’ a painting by dividing it into separate heaps of coloured paint. In the same way, trying to reach some objective or rational understanding of a joke –usually attempted by shearing it from context and distilling its contents under a mental microscope – can only hope to give us the most simplistic and rudimentary of knowledge.

May 13, 2021May 13, 2021

The Inner Court: From Self-Esteem to Self-Justice

In response to a recent post on a Stoicism-related Facebook group – which I will not reproduce here for the sake of the author`s anonymity – I put forward an analogy intended to help the user cope with an intense habit of self-criticism that was causing him much distress. As someone who is in the 97^th percentile for trait neuroticism (according to Jordan Peterson`s Understand Yourself personality test, in any case) this is a problem I often struggle with myself. If you are also prone to a degree of neuroticism it is likely that you will be all-too-familiar with this tendency.

That voice which whispers nasty things about you into your inner ear can be truly insidious. Many people only experience this when they are feeling particularly low, though for some poor souls it is the Rule, rather than the exception, of their entire lives. A common response to such continuous self-recrimination is to drown it out with noise and distraction. Drugs and alcohol are a favourite method here, as is excessive mental stimulation through the overuse of porn and video games. These methods all produce a dulling effect for the inner voice, thus offering much-needed relief. However, these methods are temporary at best, and only ever serve to stave off the inevitable. This is because, no matter how long the binge goes on, we always end up alone with only ‘Me-and-Myself’ for company.

March 9, 2021March 10, 2021

Universal Basic Income and Children’s Rights: A Compromise?

This essay will outline a proposal on how the case of children should be handled under a society which has fully established a ‘Universal Basic Income’. This is a topic which poses a unique problem for UBI, due to the fact that up until adulthood, children are often ill-equipped to make use of such fiscal endowments. Nevertheless, children are future adult citizens, and so to deny them UBI may be a failure to realize the ‘universality’ of the policy. The proposal presented here attempts to strike a balance between the duty of society to extend its welfare commitments to its infant population, and the necessity of withholding such endowments until they can be effectively exercised by rational adults. I therefore advocate combining UBI with another proposal: that of the ‘Stakeholder Society’, whereby all citizens reaching the age of adolescence receive a lump-sum cash endowment. It will be argued that a welfare system which combines these two proposals is superior to either one alone, combining their benefits whilst also mitigating some of their issues.

March 1, 2021March 2, 2021

Hannah Arendt and ‘The Politics of Identity’

This essay explores the role of identity in the political thought of Hannah Arendt, with specific focus on her views concerning the politics of identity. By ‘politics of identity’, I mean those movements which base their political goals and actions on the interests of a particular social group [1]. The intention of this is to explore the principal virtues and dangers of such projects through the prism of Arendt`s political thought. This will be done firstly by unpacking her own experiences as a Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis, and what this may have taught her about the relationship between identity and politics. Secondly, I will distinguish between different motivating forces that can drive identity movements, before outlining the strengths of Arendt`s own concept of ‘solidarity’. Finally, the relationship that exists between sameness and difference in the politics of identity will be discussed, whereby I will argue that Arendt`s notion of ‘plurality’ succeeds in striking an effective balance between these forces. The ultimate goal of the essay is to outline an ‘Arendtian approach’ to the politics of identity; a modus operandi for identity movements drawn from her thought which capitalizes on the virtues of such politics, whilst also avoiding its core dangers.

January 19, 2021March 10, 2021

Nietzsche and Norse Mythology: Illustrating the Death of God

Background: This article was originally written in 2020 as part of a master’s degree. I have decided to post it here as I think many of the themes addressed are applicable to my last post (concerning the so-called ‘extinction-drive’ within Man). I also want to clear up much of the confusion surrounding Nietzsche’s famous announcement that “God is dead”; which has become one of the most famous – and most misunderstood – lines in all of philosophy. As you will see, this was no triumphant declaration of an atheist happy that the God of the Bible had finally (if you’ll excuse the phrase) met his Maker. Indeed, Nietzsche’s cryptic statement is far more complex than most realize – being simultaneously a hopeful reflection and dire warning about the slow decline of religion in the West.

This is discussed below in what I hope are clear and accessible terms. The analogy I draw between Nietzsche’s theory and the Norse creation myth is also intended to clarify rather than complicate. (It was also an excuse to talk a little about Norse mythology – for that particular interest I have only Dr Jackson Crawford to thank).

January 11, 2021November 27, 2023

Stray Thoughts: The ‘Extinction-Drive’

There are minor spoilers for HBO`s True Detective (season 1) in this article

What is it about human beings that makes us occasionally yearn for the end? Not in the sense of the individual who considers suicide – that is a whole other kettle of fish that I don’t want to get into here. What I’m referring to is that part of human nature which actively wishes for the Final Moment of Man; a great finale where all the deeds of the past are collated, the sinful are separated from the righteous, and the peoples of the Earth are judged. This might resemble something like an ‘end of history’ moment: the culmination of an abstract historical process in the establishment of a Utopia. Equally, it could be more like the Christian Second Coming; whereby human rule is superseded by the direct governance of a divine power. Whether secular or religious, these ideas seem to flow from the same basic impulse: the see the life we are living now – and the world which plays host to it – ultimately replaced by a more perfect alternative.

The defining characteristic of this drive rests in man’s yearning to witness his own end. To see the vagaries and sufferings of mortal life finally wiped clean – and with it all the burdensome responsibility that accompanies human freedom – to be replaced by something more permanent, fixed, and complete. Through the jettisoning of a painful present, it is hoped that a more perfect future will emerge. This has been the dearest wish of many throughout human history, and it has taken on many different guises. Indeed, the history of the 20th century showed the destructive power of such ideologies in full force, illustrated by the unholy triad of Soviet Communism, Nazism and Maoism. However, the subject of this article is not Utopianism or Millenarianism, but rather an often overlooked and misunderstood variant of this impulse.

December 20, 2020November 25, 2022

Short Story: ‘Human Stilts’

After waking up from a deep, all-consuming sleep, I leaned forward in a groggy daze to kiss my wife and found only blank space. Believing that I had missed the target of my morning affection, I aimed blindly downward and tried again – only to be met with the same absence. How odd, my wife must have been sleeping at a most peculiar angle. For by my estimation, what with my arms currently being wrapped around her gently heaving body, to miss my kiss her head must have been positioned at an almost complete right angle to her torso.

The macabre unnaturalness of this image disturbed my sleep-addled brain, forcing my eyes open only to be instantly blinded by the bright sunlight streaming into our room from the far window. Blinking, I searched with increasing bewilderment for any sign of my wife`s head. In that space where a human head should have been, where it always was at 7 am on a Wednesday morning, there was nothing but plump and unpressed pillow.

My wife breathed steadily under my arm.

August 25, 2020September 20, 2022

Learning the Lessons of the Holocaust: Towards a More Sophisticated Conception of Evil

Background: This academic essay was written in late 2020 as the final project of a masters degree. In it, I delve into the nature of human evil by engaging in a detailed study of a historical atrocity: Nazism and the Holocaust. Through this horrifying case study, I aimed to shed light not only on that event, but also on the nature of human evil on a more universal level. The theory I put forward in the final chapter – ‘Towards a New Conception of Evil’ is intended to have contemporary relevance to our understanding of evil in the modern world, and so will hopefully also be of value to readers of this blog.

Indeed, deepening our understanding of evil (and in particular mass evil practiced by the State) has only become more relevant in recent months, given the the woefully under-reported events currently developing in China`s Xinjiang Province. As these words are being written, millions of Uighur Muslims have been incarcerated by the Chinese State and have been forced to endure intense labor, ideological ‘re-education’, and, if some reports are to be believed, sterilization. What we may well be witnessing are the stirrings of yet another genocide, and so now more than ever it is necessary to look back and reflect on the horrors of the 20th century. After all, if we fail to fully imbibe the lessons of history, we may well be left mute and uncomprehending when the next Holocaust comes knocking.

February 9, 2020March 2, 2021

Short Story: ‘A Dance of Two’

An adaption of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett’s first meeting in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Mr Bingley: Once again I am blown away by the wonderous joys that life can bestow when one revels in good company! Every young lady and noble man I have met this evening has surpassed my wildest expectations in beauty, good humour and learning! I must control the urge to let excitement overtake my refined demeanour, yet dancing remains a superb outlet to express such passionate good mood! If only Darcy could experience the same highs as I do in company such as this, or indeed in any company. He seems content to live his life as

Mrs Bennet: the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world! Lurking like a phantom on the fringes of the hall, eyeing everyone with poorly masked disdain. A gentleman indeed! He certainly has nothing in the way of looks. Not like that charming Mr Bingley. Rich, well-bred and as handsome as can be ever imagined! He is the stark opposite of Mr Darcy, whom I despised the moment I set eyes on him! As for Mr Darcy’s rumoured wealth, well, let’s just say I have heard mutterings from numerous reputable sources that denounce such claims as outrageous and unfounded drivel! Still, even if the man were as moneyed as the King, I would not have him consorting with my beautiful Jane, or Elizabeth, or even Mary! Wealth and aristocratic airs don’t impress me! Lord knows even lumpy Mr Lucas would be better suited for my girls than that miserable man! Look how Lizzy sits there with no offer of dance from Mr Darcy. The poor girl is abandoned in cruel isolation, putting on a brave smile to mask her

January 20, 2020March 10, 2021

Islamism and the ‘Clash of Civilisations’

Background: This academic essay was written in early 2019. In it, I aimed to explore the rise of ‘Islamism’ in the Middle East, an ideology emerging from Islam that claims to represent the political wing of the faith . In light of recent tensions between the United States and Iran after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, I thought now would be an appropriate time to post this essay. Today, Iran is the only internationally recognized state to have adopted ‘Islamic rule’ and ‘shariah law’ as its official mode of government.

Despite this, the ideological convictions driving Iran have not been articulated effectively in the international press, and as a result are not well understood by the public. Hopefully this essay will go some way in bridging this gap of understanding. Whilst the focus here is not on Iran per se, the proliferation of Islamism in that country and across the Muslim World is a development that continues to have a huge impact on efforts at diplomacy in the region. It therefore needs to be understood before an effective solution can be offered.