MatTehCat's Blogs
MatTehCat's Blogs

MatTehCat's Blogs

Blogs on psychology, philosophy, poetry, religion, literature, and culture.


Passions in Motion: A Philosophical Exploration of 'Saturday Night Fever'

22 Jun 2023 8 minute read 1 comment MatTehCat

"Our passions are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe   The 1977 classic dance drama "Saturday Night Fever" is probably not regarded as a profoundly or philosophically compl...

Freedom's Paradox: An Analysis of Easy Rider

30 May 2023 10 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

In the intricate tapestry of existence, Man either reconciles the paradox of boundless freedom to unfurl the essence of his being or he faces his mortality We mold our lives as we live them. However, some individuals fail to grasp the significance...

The Enlightened Man: Self-Governance, Society, and the Soul

5 May 2023 16 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Reaching out through the void, we come to know ourselves.  How has society shaped the character of Man? Foucault’s work on power relations centered on this question, and it affected his work significantly. Over the past several weeks, I have explore...

Power's Need for Chaos

7 Apr 2023 14 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Do the Progressives worship the gods of chaos? Maybe.  The Managerial Revolution was primarily driven by ideology put into praxis. While I think James Burnham does a much better job explaining how ideologies work in Machiavellians, I also think he do...

Holding Pandora: Cooperation, Law, and God

8 Feb 2023 64 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

  Introduction “Logic may indeed be unshakeable, but it cannot withstand a man who is determined to live.” ― Franz Kafka, The Trial Paul sat on the edge of a cliff, looking over the precipice. The sun was setting behind him as the night sky and stars...

Eris's Gift: Natural Law, the Reasonable Man, and Power

1 Feb 2023 65 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Introduction “I felt for the tormented whirlwindsDamned for their carnal sinsCommitted when they let their passions rule their reason.”― Dante Alighieri“As a poet and as a mathematician, he would reason well; as a mere mathematician, he could not ha...

A Shard of Madness: Anchoring, Psychology, Law, and Deception

25 Jan 2023 65 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Introduction “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” – Jeremiah 17:9 KJV   “Good afternoon, ma’am. Would you like to buy three boxes of chocolates? I’m raising money for my school’s baseball team,” cheerful...

The Shape of the Void: Framing Effects and Politics

18 Jan 2023 48 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Introduction “I wanted only to live in accord with the promptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult?” ― Hermann Hesse, Demian: Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend   Over the past week, I’ve taken the time to review a t...

Health and Suffering: Why Diets Should Challenge the Body

11 Jan 2023 47 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Introduction “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” – Matthew 4:4   This past week, I’ve been helping my father recover from a total knee replacement. I...

A Touch of Madness: Law and Women's Rights

4 Jan 2023 67 minute read 0 comments MatTehCat

Introduction: “Women and fiction remain, so far as I am concerned, unsolved problems.” – Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own Over the past week, even with New Year’s Eve and Day celebrations, I managed to find the time to read a considerable number...