Imagine you could go back in time tens of thousands of years, to a time that represents the vast majority of human existence as a species. You find yourself alone in the wilderness, self-sufficient, when a band of hunter-gatherers spots you. What happens next? Assuming they don’t kill you, they are likely to offer you […]
kinship
The Dog Is Your Father
In Plato’s Euthydemus, a young man named Ctesippus is trapped by a sophist (paraphrased from Plat. Euthyd. 298e): You have a dog? — Yes, a mischievous one. And the dog is a father? — Of puppies, yes. So the dog is a father. And you have a father? — Yes. So you have a father, […]
The State and its Blood Ties
Moving to Finland and acquiring Finnish nationality were, for me, decisions I made freely, choosing my own path as an individual. However, when I notified my country of origin, it didn’t take it very well. Spain gave me an ultimatum: sign a declaration of loyalty to the fatherland or lose my nationality. That’s right — […]
The ‘real’ father
Daughter: “What if you’re not my real dad? Like, what if someone else is my actual dad?” Dad: “Why do you say that? What made you think of this?” Daughter: “I don’t know… I just think I’d feel sad if you weren’t my real dad. I’d begin to like the other guy, even if I […]