: About Me

Hello,

I’m Brian Taylor.

I’m a writer, philosopher and social critic. I also dabble in songwriting and filmmaking.

Mostly, I'm a writer.

It has taken me a fair spell to come to terms with the preceding sentence but I now understand that this is what I’m meant to be doing, at least for now. This is not a comment on any cosmic or spiritual causation, nor is it a dismissal of the same, I simply mean that as I am compelled to write these words and, dare I say it, because they turn out so well together, I think I have an obligation to this endeavour. Writing, for me, is as easy as walking down the street, writing well is not.

A philosopher is someone who does philosophy. Philosophy is the study of knowledge, reality and existence. A philosopher follows the rules of logic and has mastered the art of reason. To do philosophy, a philosopher uses his skills to theorise upon, or perhaps argue, something about either knowledge or experience. One has a philosophy when one has a theory or attitude that guides their behaviour or ideas. So it is that we can say, with a straight face, that a Philosopher’s philosophy is to philosophically philosophize. Surely, if this can be said, I can be called a philosopher, with a small P. I didn’t mean to become one, it was borne from necessity due to curiosity. I simply couldn’t do the writing I wanted to. Prior to logic, I couldn’t understand, for instance, the complexity of modernity, society, the amassed human, or the self, without knowing how to think. Ultimately, this is what philosophy provides, “the best possible thinking.” It’s taken me nearly four years to get to the point I am at now, I did so on my own. (The internet makes education free, at least in terms of subjects of the mind.) I have no degree, just a lot of lectures, books, notes and thoughts. So let it verily be said, I’m a Writer first and Philosopher second.

Let it also be known that I am only a social critic by necessity and convenience. I wouldn’t have anything to wax philosophical about if it wasn’t for the fact that we and our beautiful planet’s potential,  rests in our own horribly inept hands. It’s not that I wish to be the bearer of bad news, it just turns out that I am because the news is bad. William Burroughs said, “A writer lives the same sad truth as everybody else, the only difference is he files a report on it.” Despite what could easily be seen as a rather melancholy disposition, be assured that while my subject matter may be bordering on despondent chastisement at times, I remain steadfastly hopeful for our future. (Perhaps not our immediate future, but our ultimate future, both as a species and as apparent caretakers of the Earth and what it contains.) In fact, it could be said that I have some form of Ultimate hope.

 I know that, by looking into the past, I can find examples of great achievements, be they of an individual or group. I must assume that the potential for this greatness will continue into the future. If within each of us, there is at least the potential for greatness and through this we could be collectively great, then it would also be reasonable to expect this potential to be realised by its necessity at the most and its desire at the least. Or, if you prefer, “we only need be great when there is great need, in our moments of necessity.” In the end, this is what my writing attempts to address, “What will be yours, mine or our moment of necessity?”

Best Thoughts,

brian_taylor@live.com

My passion is ...

knowing.

I know too much about ...

thinking.

My parents always told me ...

I could do anything.

My childhood ambition ...

to write.

Society & Lifestyle > African & Middle Eastern Culture Did Forrest Whitaker's portrayal of Idi Amin paint him as a sadist or a tragic hero

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In 2006, actor Forrest Whitaker excellently portrayed Ugandan President Idi Amin in the film "The Last King of Scotland." The film follows the exploits of the Scottish Doctor Nicholas Garrigan who, somewhat accidentally, become Amin's personal Physician in the 1970's. Due to the film unfolding from Dr. Garrigan's point of view, we come to learn of Idi Amin along with the hapless Doctor, first through the opinions of Ugandans and ultimately by meeting Mr. Amin. Such is it that we learn that Amin is both a hero and quite mad. Whitaker's performance is such that, as Dr. Garrigan first meets A...

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