Being Jim Davis

Not only that. On the foundation of the Greek point of departure for the interpretation of being a dogma has taken shape which not only declares that the question of the meaning of being is superfluous but sanctions its neglect. It is said that "being" is the most universal and the emptiest concept. As such it resists every attempt at definition. Nor does this most universal and thus indefinable concept need any definition. Everybody uses it constantly and also already understands what is meant by it. Thus what troubled ancient philosophizing and kept it so by virtue of its obscurity has become obvious, clear as day, such that whoever persists in asking about it is accused of an error of method.Martin Heidegger, "The Necessity, Structure, and Priority of the Question of Being," from Being and Time, 1927. Trans. Joan Stambaugh.Today's strip

This question has today been forgotten--although out time considers itself progressive in again affirming "metaphysics." All the same we believe that we are spared the exertion of rekindling a gigantomachia peri tes ousias [Plato, Sophist 245e6-246e1]. But the question touched upon here is hardly an arbitrary one. It sustained the avid research of Plato and Aristotle but from then on ceased to be heard as a thematic question of actual investigation. What these two thinkers achieved has been preserved in various distorted and "camouflaged" forms down to Hegel's Logic. And what then was wrested from phenomena by the highest exertion of thought, albeit in fragments and first beginnings, has long since been trivialized.Martin Heidegger, "The Necessity, Structure, and Priority of the Question of Being," from Being and Time, 1927. Trans. Joan Stambaugh.Today's strip

Today we bid a fond adieu to delightful guest host and terribly pretentious person Nathaniel Bozarth. It's a sad day for us here at Being Jim Davis, but of course it's also a sad day for America. Anyone who hasn't already subscribed to Wide Rule ought to head on over to the internet and do so.At one point in this episode Nathaniel references a bit by Jimmy Fallon and then calls someone 'a fucking ass.' before asking if we 'bleep that out.' I just want everyone to know that I strongly considered bleeping out 'Jimmy Fallon' instead as a joke, but I ultimately decided I just didn't care enough. That's Sunday for you.OMG Wide Ruled is also on Soundcloud!Today' strip

    Look, Garfield is a high-quality person, ok? Somebody leaves some vegetables lying around, he can't help that someone did that. He's obviously going to go and commit unspeakable acts with them, I mean that's a given. I think many people would have taken those vegetables.Today's strip

I want to make one thing absolutely clear: No one from the Garfield campaign had ANY contact with the roast turkey at any point. Ok, sure he did have numerous meetings with it, but at no time did the subject of Garfield eating the turkey come up. I mean, it was the main focus of the meeting, and of course Garfield did in fact end up eating the turkey, but obviously that doesn't mean he did anything wrong, and definitely nothing illegal, even though it was totally sketchy. Whatever, everyone eats turkey. You're eating turkey right now; go fuck yourself.Today's episode of Being Jim Davis is sponsored by this guy.Hey, don't forget you can check out Nathaniel Bozarth's excellent podcast Wide Ruled by going here, or I guess also by just looking it up. Come on, you know how to do this.Today's strip

Here are some videos I found when I looked up "beat poetry" on YouTube.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVwjhanydNE   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sbXP5My7TwToday's strip

What horrible pun did I cut out at the very beginning of today's episode? Obviously you'll have to support us on Patreon to ever know for sure, though I will tell you:1. It was based on the the word 'copita', and2. it was NOT 'copacetic.'Today's strip

Hey! Did you know special guest host Nathaniel Bozarth (@BoNathaniel) also has a podcast?? "Get RIGHT OUTTA TOWN!!!!", you say? No, I will not. Anyway, maybe check it out cause it might be really good. It is entirely possible, in fact, that it's the best podcast ever. At least from a logical standpoint. In fact, it's 100% consistent with how logical meaning is constructed that it could even be the best of ALL POSSIBLE PODCASTS. You judge though; I've not listened to it yet. But oh yeah, here it is.Today's stripSoundtrack to today's strip

    Everyone give a warm welcome to shiny brand new co-host Nathaniel Bozarth! You can follow him on Twitter @bo_nathaniel, so why not do that? I mean, he's got a mustache...In other news, I started editing this hour-plus long episode an hour before it was supposed to post, and that was BEFORE I remembered I still have to go in and bleep out all the times where we said the name of the place Chris works at. Because for some reason he doesn't think people there would appreciate our program and his involvement with it. I know right? I think he's being totally uptight about the whole thing and he doesn't really have anything to worry about. I mean, if they can't appreciate this wholesome extra-curricular hobby of his, maybe they're not REALLY his friends? Bunch of assholes if that's the case, that's what I say. Anyway, my point being here that I don't really have time for an extended write up today. Sorry!Today's stripThe Duckfeed podcast networkForeign's Policy's The E.R.A fried boiled

The anti-Semite has no illusions about what he is. He considers himself an average man, modestly average, basically mediocre. There is no example of an anti-Semite's claiming individual superiority over the Jews. But you must not think that he is ashamed of his mediocrity; he takes pleasure in it; I will even assert that he has chosen it. This man fears every kind of solitariness, that of the genius as much as that of the murderer; he is the man of the crowd. However small his stature, he takes every precaution to make it smaller, lest he stand out from the herd and find himself face to face with himself. He has made himself an anti-Semite because that is something one cannot be alone...Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew, 1944Today's strip

He has chosen to find his being entirely outside himself, never to look within, to be nothing save the fear he inspires in others. What he flees even more than Reason is his intimate awareness of himself. But some will object: What if he is like that only with regard to the Jews? What if he otherwise conducts himself with good sense? I reply that that is impossible... A man who finds it entirely natural to denounce other men cannot have our conception of humanity; he does not see even those whom he aids in the same light as we do. His generosity, his kindness are not like our kindness, our generosity. You cannot confine passion to one sphere.Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew, 1944Today's strip

If then, as we have been able to observe, the anti-Semite is impervious to reason and to experience, it is not because his conviction is strong. Rather his conviction is strong because he has chosen first of all to be impervious.Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew, 1944Today's strip

The anti-Semite has chosen hate because hate is a faith; at the outset he has chosen to devaluate words and reasons. How entirely at ease he feels as a result. How futile and frivolous discussions about the rights of the Jew appear to him. He has pleased himself on other ground from the beginning. If out of courtesy he consents for a moment to defend his point of view, he lends himself but does not give himself. He tries simply to project his intuitive certainty onto the plane of discourse. I mentioned awhile back some remarks by anti-Semites, all of them absurd: "I hate Jews because they make servants insubordinate, because a Jewish furrier robbed me, etc." Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with di

How can one choose to reason falsely? It is because of a longing for impenetrability. The rational man groans as he gropes for the truth; he knows that his reasoning is no more than tentative, that other considerations may supervene to cast doubt on it. He never sees clearly where he is going; he is "open"; he may even appear to be hesitant. But there are some people who are attracted to the durability of a stone. They wish to be massive and impenetrable; they wish not to change. Where, indeed, would change take them? We have here a basic fear of oneself and of truth. What frightens them is not the content of truth, of which they have no conception, but the form itself of truth, that thing of indefinite approximation. It is as if their own existence were in continual suspension. But they wish to exist all at once and right away. They do not want any acquired opinions; they want them to be innate. Since they are afraid of reasoning, they wish to lead the kind of life wherein reasoning and research play only a

I noted earlier that anti-Semitism is a passion. Everybody understands the emotions of hate or anger are involved. But ordinarily hate and anger have a provocation: I hate someone who has made me suffer, someone who contemns or insults me. We have just seen that anti-Semitic passion could not have such a character. It precedes the facts that are supposed to call it forth; it seeks them out to nourish itself upon them; it must even interpret them in a special way so that they may become truly offensive. Indeed, if you so much as mention a Jew to an anti-Semite, he will show all the signs of a lively irritation. If we recall that we must always consent to anger before it can manifest itself and that, as is indicated so accurately by the French idiom, we "put ourselves" into anger, we shall have to agree that the anti-Semite has chosen to live on the plane of passion. It is not unusual for people to elect to live a life of passion rather than one of reason. But ordinarily they love the objects of

Look, I have a lot of editing to do today, so all I'm going to say about today's episode is that Jon cleared his nose directly into his microphone a ridiculous number of times while we were recording. I tried to mute most of them, but I don't have unlimited time here.If the frequent nose-clearings bother you, send your complaints to: jon@beingjimdavis.com.Today's strip

Today's episode of Being Jim Davis is also about Garfield. Go figure.Today's strip

In today's episode, we discuss Garfield.Today's strip

Hey, good news everybody. I finally got that chipmunk out of my basement!What's that? you may ask. You had a chipmunk in your basement?Don't play dumb. You know very well that I had a chipmunk in my basement. And you know how it got there. Let's not make a thing about it.Anyhoo, I had to bait my Havahart Brand Live Animal Cage Trap with both crunchy peanut butter and cheddar cheese, but ultimately my small rodent friend could not resist. Here's a photo, sorry about the poor lighting: Yeah, so whatever. I set him/her free in the woods. Call me a hero if you must.Today's strip

Hmmm, maybe should have saved my chipmunk story for today's episode. In today's episode, we introduce our new smash hit hashtag (and concept): #shapeshiftinodie.Today's strip