Curriculum Vitae
Stuart A. Burns
(Philosopher at Large)
My wife and myself in Kotor, Montenegro.
We visited there a few years ago on the cruise ship shown.
I have been reading and thinking and writing about Philosophy for over 40 years now. I got the bug in High School, thanks to a marvelous History teacher – Mr. Ross. I am now 73 years young, and have been retired from a life of toil since 2003. My current interests include philosophy, and RV travelling.
I am an amateur philosopher, never having earned a living at the trade, and never (until very recently) seeking any of the “official licenses” of a professional philosopher. I graduated from McGill University in 1973 as a Bachelor of Commerce. And I spent my 30 years of indentured toil as a “computer geek” for a number of companies. Only
recently, now that I have retired, have I had the opportunity to pursue any formal courses in Philosophy. I have recently completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours Philosophy) from the University of London (England) – achieving an Upper Second Class standing.
I was for several years a member of the Pathways School of Philosophy. And for several years was a member of the Ask a Philosopher panel since being invited by Geoffrey Klempner in 2003. Not being a professional philosopher, and thus not (until recently) having studied the obligatory ancient history of philosophy, the questions I chose to answer were not those “school-type” questions about particular long-dead and mostly-wrong ancient philosophers. The questions that interest me are those involving the modern day manner of living well and fully.
“The Thinker” – Auguste Rodin
(My Inspiration)
The essays attached to my Home Page are the results of my contemplations. They are offered on the Web for your entertainment. And in the hope that I might generate some interesting, educational, and entertaining discussions. Please feel free to send me your comments, questions, or suggestions at – [email protected]
I make no claim to any monopoly on good ideas. I don’t even claim that the ideas contained in these essays are uniquely my own. At best, what creativity I have contributed has been the concatenation of good ideas borrowed from others. Notable among the inspirations for my ideas have been the writings of Ayn Rand, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Matt Ridley, amongst a host of others. In this modern age of Internet access, vast amounts of material written by other authors is readily available for cut-and-paste use. Throughout this work, I have borrowed heavily from materials I have found on the Web. I have tried to give credit to the authors, where I have been able to determine the author. But I have not always been successful. So, I will apologize in advance to anyone who might find in theses essays,
material of his or her own creation without suitable credit. I will be more than happy to correct such oversights, when so advised. The Bibliography
contains many of the reference works from which I have borrowed some of these ideas. And the Notes & References scattered throughout will point the interested to
specific sources I have employed for specific essays. Please Enjoy!!