Anonymous Philosopher
Recovery from a philosophical perspective, and
philosophical perspective on recovery
I am a philosopher in recovery–from addiction and from Complex-PTSD. I’ve started this page to tell my story, and to send thoughts about recovery out into the ether for anyone who might like to read them.
The Blog
I’ll try to keep this short…
Belief and the infallible big book
“Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, p 164. Meetings in my local traditional AA groups end with “A Vision For You,” usually followed by the Lord’s Prayer. It doesn’t take a lot of critical thinking to notice that the two statements that beginContinue reading “Belief and the infallible big book”
“Rigorous Honesty”
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; theyContinue reading ““Rigorous Honesty””
Social Contract, Classical Liberalism, and the Ideology of Individualism in AA
Sorta part 2 I previously wrote that Alcoholics Anonymous can be understood on the model of classic liberal social contract theory, as a society composed by the free act of individual persons. An obvious problem with a social contract is that if it is a democratic society, the majority has a tendency to rule asContinue reading “Social Contract, Classical Liberalism, and the Ideology of Individualism in AA”
Critique of AA Ideology
Sometimes the language and beliefs of “traditional AA” bug me. So I critically analyze them and come up with alternatives. I post the results here.
