<p>This is a book designed not to please. It is meant to raise questions, disturb norms, and encourage thinking in new directions. The present volume exhibits a relaxed and random selection of topics, brief in treatment and considering such subjects as observations on the subjective character of politics and political economy, the influence of institutional practices on spiritual life, the spiritual origin and character of mind, the relationship of science and mathematics to the limits of mind, and a philosophy of art. Most of the entries in this book were extracted from notes which were recorded when the author was teaching philosophy. Others were inspired by the same notes.</p>