Who am I?
I am an ex-philosophy major and recovering nihilist searching for Meaning and Truth in a world seemingly devoid of it. I am an admirer of beautiful rhetoric, a collector of interesting ideas, and an ardent believer in the possibility of persuasion through good faith discussion. I like smart people who disagree with me.
For the curious, my pen name, Corsaren, is taken from an old Danish satirical magazine infamous for its feud with O.G. sadboi Søren Kierkegaard.
What is this blog?
The blog’s title, Protrepticus, is taken from a lost work of Aristotle, the thesis of which was allegedly to convince its readers to engage in philosophy. The word “protreptic” itself is an archaic word for a form of rhetoric intended to change the audience’s mind or convince them to follow a new life path.
You might then deduce that a large part of this blog will be devoted to persuasive essays on philosophy, and you’d be correct. Specifically, much of what I write will focus on normative ethics and metaethics, including my own attempt to investigate, develop, and argue in favor of a secular conception of moral realism. This is as much an attempt to persuade myself as it is to persuade you.
As for the rest, you can expect a healthy dose of culture, science, technology, law, politics, healthcare, AI, and really anything that manages to hold my attention long enough to generate prose.
Why subscribe?
If you like anything that I’ve written, consider subscribing to stay up-to-date on the latest posts. The more of you that subscribe, the more I’ll feel compelled to write consistently.
All posts will be free for now, though I may add a paid tier eventually so that I can hide some of my spiciest takes behind a paywall. Even then, most content on here will remain free for the foreseeable future.
