The Era of Absurdity

These essays were published in The Oklahoma Observer from September 2020 to July 2024. They are organized chronologically rather than topically. The first essay argues that a philosophical concept of the absurd better captures the weirdness of the Trump presidency than referring to it as the "Era of Stupid," as one writer does. This essay gives the collection its name but doesn't exhaust its content. The essays are often occasioned by some current event or topic, but topical concerns often give rise to more general, philosophical questions. There are essays on ethical issues that are central to current political disputes (abortion, affirmative action, homosexual conduct, and medical assistance in dying); other pieces involve ethical reflection in the broader sense of thinking about how best to live. There are also essays on sports, religion, epistemology, and logic. The final essay returns us to the concept of the absurd and its relation to the comic.