An Unanswerable Objection to John Locke

It is a fact that every philosopher of eminence for the last two centuries has either been murdered, or, at the least, been very near to it; insomuch, that if a man calls himself a philosopher, and never had his life attempted, rest assured there is nothing in him; and against Locke's philosophy in particular, I think it an unanswerable objection, (if we needed any) that, although he carried his throat about with him in this world for seventy-two years, no man ever condescended to cut it.

- Thomas De Quincy, "On Murder", 19 (Quoted by Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Footnote 68)

If I Get Murdered in the City

I discovered The Avett Brothers a couple days ago. I like the simplicity of their music...kind of folk-hillbilly-rock. This is an especially nice lyric:

If I get murdered in the city
Don't go revenging in my name
One person dead from such is plenty
No need to go get locked away



The video is nothing fancy - just a couple of guys playing the guitar and singing. But I've watched it four or five times anyway. I love all the close-ups, and the smiles on "I sure did get in lots of trouble" are great.

Murder in the First Degree

Look, you can’t do things like that! Now, I don't know how I can explain this to you. But, it's not only against the law, its wrong! It's not a nice thing to do. People wouldn't understand. He wouldn't understand. What I mean is...Well...This is developing into a very bad habit!

-Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace