John C. Wright's Blog, page 183

Final Cause, or, Hammers and Letters in a Lifeless Universe

Mechanical cause, which is sometimes called efficient cause or historical cause, is the description of an event, an object being moved, in terms of pressures and magnitudes of physical motions and forces acting on the event. Final cause is a description of an event, an actor acting, in terms of the end, purpose, intention, or that for the sake of which the event is done. A mechanical cause looks to the past, and asking what bumped into what to make the event; a final cause looks to the...

The High Untresspassed Sanctity of Space

Nonfiction from Lightspeed Magazine. This is well worth reading:

The High Untresspassed Sanctity of Space: Seven True Stories about Eugene Cernan by Genevieve Valentine

It is a brief reprise of the career of Astronaut Cernan, the Last Man on the Moon.

My comment continued here:
http://www.scifiwright.com/2010/06/th...

Exhibit B

In my essay on Sophomoronology, I offered that the ideals, or the view of life, or the sophistry collage (I cannot call it a philosophy) I there called ‘Intellectualism’ included an emotional allure or intellectual addiction to death and images of death.

Here, as an exhibit in my argument, let me present this article by animal-rights advocate and pro-infanticide Carthegenian anti-ethics Ethicist Peter Singer, entitled Should This Be the Last Generation? In which he asks the question that...

Wright's Writing Corner: the Most Important Tip Of All--The Payload Moment, part one

The lovely and talented Mrs. Wright reveals the paramount secret of writing. If you can get this one trick right, then you can be a professional writer, even if your mastery of the other aspects of writing is weak.

The last couple of weeks we talked about romantic zing—that moment of heightened awareness of the relationship that gives the reader a jolt, such as a first kiss. In many ways, Payload is plot-related zing—that moment when the storyline intensifies and is raised to a higher level...

Water can Wet You, and Fire can Burn

More on the same topic:

A learned reader asks that since technology reduces the risk of pregnancy, the influence of conception-morality on sex-morality is lessened, why do I conclude that  sex-morality  can nonetheless be completely deduced from conception-morality?

He asks for clarification, which I would be glad to provide, if I could. I fear my powers of description, in the limited space here, are unequal to the task. Let me at least offer a summation of the argument, which can be, as...

Sophomoronology

A NEW SCIENCE
I propose the study of a new science, to be called Sophomoronology. It will investigate the pathology of philosophy, that is, this new science will study the causes and reasons behind the death of philosophy.

I do not propose merely a psychological study of why some folks believe, or say they believe, so many ideas that are so manifestly lacking in reason, common sense, and logic. Psychology is not our province here. Our province here is to identify the incentives which make it ...

Desires Run Not Before Honor by Anthony Esolen

A kind reader brought this article to my attention. In a ruthless act of piracy, I decided to reprint the whole thing here, pretending I had written it. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the real author’s name off the work, and since there is not a single reference to a Space Princess, and not a single use of the word ‘neuroform’, no one would believe I wrote it.  I also don’t know my Shakespeare as well as I know my E.E. “Doc” Smith, so my piratical career has been scuttled before it sailed...

People Versus George Lucas

My ponderous person appeared in a documentary and offered my ponderous opinion on George Lucas, Science Fiction, and whether or not the Jedi religion merited inclusion in the Orange-Catholic Bible of the Zen-sunni. Alexandre O Phillip, the film-maker, read my musings and ponderings that appeared in STAR WARS ON TRIAL from Benbella Books, and was amused enough by my essay that he asked me to appear on the silver screen. The book and the film have nothing to do with each other aside from the to...

Wright's Writing Corner -- More Romantic Zing!

The beautiful and talented Mrs. Wright holds forth on the secret arts of glamor and enchantment by which we poets ensnare the applause of the unchary, otherwise known as story-telling.

In this week's episode, we hear more about how to put across romantic tension in a work.

The mystery of our guild, known as 'zing' is discussed, as well as that less known mystery called 'ack.'

http://arhyalon.livejournal.com/122492.html

Additional Questions on the Question of Chastity

Part of an ongoing conversation. Dr. Rolf Andreassen, with whom we have been discussing the morality (or otherwise) of monogamy, makes the following comment. My questions below refer to this and also to previous comments by the good doctor. I solicit answers not just from him, but from any reader who cares to comment.

As for sex, I haven’t said it’s relative at all; I have merely said that I wish to draw the line in a different place from Mr Wright’s lifelong monogamy. The actual rule may...