Repository of Arcane Knowledge
Index of Posts
May 2011
Mar 2011
Feb 2011
Feb 2010
Aug 2009
Dec 2008
Nov 2008
Sept 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
Apr 2008
Mar 2008
Feb 2008
Jan 2008
Dec 2007
Nov 2007
Oct 2007
Sept 2007
Aug 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
Apr 2007
Mar 2007
Feb 2007
Jan 2007
Dec 2006
Nov 2006
Oct 2006
Sept 2006
Aug 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
Apr 2006
Site News and Updates
See below for news about upcoming additions to the site.
May 18, 2011
As the Repository of Arcane Knowledge is now ranked among the worlds top million sites, several high traffic pages (listed on the Featured Articles subpage) have been revised and redesigned to allow reader feedback. The home page is also undergoing redesign for ease of navigation and to allow reader commenting. Expect more design improvements and additional materials uploaded in the months ahead.
March 13, 2011
Site traffic is now over 100 unique visitors per day. I will continue to look for ways to improve site navigation and other aspects of the user experience. Please submit suggestions to the Comments box.
February 10, 2011
The Repository of Arcane Knowledge has grown in the last few months, with an average of 75 unique visitors per day and a rapidly increasing Alexa ranking. To accomodate the larger visitor base, I will be making some small adjustments in the coming days and weeks that should make the site more user-friendly and invite visitor feedback.
Current essay projects include: Historiography of Our Lady of Guadalupe; Causality and Physical Laws; Limitations of Empricism; others mentioned previously.
The expanded and corrected commentary on Genesis will be completed and published in book form this year. I hope to make headway on other book projects as well.
February 5, 2010
Although not much has been posted on the site in recent months, my productivity has been high. My first book, From Medieval to Modern Man,
became available for sale last fall, and is now in its second printing. Current projects on which I am actively working at the moment include:
Books for Print Publication
- A history of U.S. intervention in Latin America, 10% complete.
- A modern commentary on the Book of Genesis, 50% complete.
- A massive treatise on formal logic, 20% of first draft complete.
Essays for Online Publication
- Historiography of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 50% complete.
- Causality and physical law, 30% complete.
- Entropic and stochastic considerations of evolution, 20% complete.
- Vitalism and psychology, 40% complete.
- The exorcism of Anneliese Michel, 50% complete.
I will also at some point resume work on the essay on Origenism. Additionally, I have prepared data on U.S. Supreme Court judicial philosophies, as well as baseball statistics excluding steroid-enhanced performance. Essays will accompany these charts when I write them. Although there have been few posts of late, when they come there will be plenty of material.
August 1, 2009
Followers of this update log will know that predictions about what will be uploaded next should be taken with a grain of salt, as my priorities change from month to month. Currently, I am working on the essay on Origenism, though I also intend to compile notes for works on political philosophy and jurisprudence mentioned previously. My major effort is currently devoted to a book-length treatise on formal logic, which will form the basis of subsequent work on philosophy, including natural philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, and natural theology. This is currently a handwritten manuscript; the format of publication is to be determined.
January 24, 2009
The bulk of the Iraq paper is now posted; the remainder will be completed shortly. As I am concentrating on major papers, weblog posting will be now more erratic, instead of the usual monthly post. I will also improve the archive links there. The Historiography of Guadalupe is mostly done, but I need to obtain some documents before completing it. I am also beginning a commentary on the sixth ecumenical council. The treatise on formal logic will begin in the coming weeks and months as well. I am also taking notes on Tocqueville and Aristotle's Politics to prepare a treatise on political theory.
November 29, 2008
The treatise on ontological categories is complete. The issues discussed will be further treated in a large work on logic. The paper on Iraq approaches completion, and I am more than two-thirds through an exegesis of Exodus.
September 29, 2008
Part VII of the Ontological Categories is being written. Research for a major project on symbolic logic is complete. Work on an account of the Iraq war is nearing completion.
July 31, 2008
I have revised the Intro to Ontological Categories (Parts I-IV complete so far), to clarify language and argument, and improve style. This should be finished soon, though there may be a detour into the philosophy of motion, space, and time, which could require its own essay.
June 30, 2008
I am editing some previous essays, in particular the early parts of the Intro to Ontological Categories. Expect more in Political History & Law soon.
May 17, 2008
Part V of the ontological categories essay is complete. I am working on Part VI, as well as the essays previously mentioned. Also in the works is an essay on so-called logical fallacies and their legitimate rhetorical use.
April 29, 2008
There were no postings this month, but much work has been done, as I am simultaneously working on Parts V and VI of the ontological categories essay. Also in progress are extensive documents on the Iraq war and the doctrinal history of original sin.
March 29, 2008
Although nothing was posted this month, a lot of work has been done, especially on philosophical works. The treatise on ontological categories will be completed soon, followed by discussion of logic and epistemology. I may also start work on philosophical psychology.
Other essays that are about half-written are essays on Origenism and on the doctrine of original sin. Both of these have turned out to be much more involved than anticipated, so they may be published in two or three parts each.
February 28, 2008
Projects more than half complete include the treatise on Ontological Categories, a discussion of Origenism, an essay on the Iraq wars, and a historiography of Guadalupe. There are many other works in various stages of completion, which should be posted soon in the coming months.
January 29, 2008
Current projects include philosophical logic, Origenism, and the Sixth Ecumenical Council. I will also soon work on a history of natural law jurisprudence in the United States, focusing on due process cases.
December 31, 2007
Work continues on various projects in Philosophy and Catholic Studies, as well as Political History.
November 21, 2007
The site now has search capability. Look for further design improvements, as well as new postings in the Philosophy and Catholic Studies pages.
October 13, 2007
Work continues on several logical treatises, as well as previously mentioned projects. More of the Ontological Categories essay should be posted soon.
September 7, 2007
Part II of the Intro to Ontological Categories is posted, and work continues on this and other logical treatises, as well as the history of U.S. intervention in Iraq.
August 25, 2007
Work continues on the same three projects as last month, and the first part of the ontological categories treatise has been posted, with the second part to follow very soon.
July 8, 2007
Three new essays have been posted in the last month, and I am working on Origenism, ontological categories, and a history of U.S. intervention in Iraq.
June 10, 2007
I've added an essay an error analysis, and will soon complete an originalist examination of Brown v. Board of Education. Other works previously mentioned are still in progress; additionally, I hope to complete an essay on Origenism.
May 29, 2007
The Arab-Israeli conflict essay is posted, and I am continuing work on philosophical logic, statistical analysis, the history of U.S. policy in Iraq, and Catholic social teaching.
April 14, 2007
A month has gone by without posting, but I have done a lot of writing in this time, and hope to have the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict posted soon. I have also been working on a couple of essays on philosophical logic.
March 14, 2007
In addition to continuing the work mentioned last month, I am also working on a study of ontological categories, so there are currently at least a half dozen essays in various stages of development. Currently, I am also improving the layout of the site with CSS in order to improve legibility and consistency in design.
February 25, 2007
I am still working on the history of Christianity in the United States, which may develop into several essays, as the questions of economic liberalism and separation of church and state may require expanded treatment. I am also working on a discussion of mathematical logic, as distinct from philosophical logic. These essays and several commentaries should be posted in the near future.
January 28, 2007
I am currently working on the Commentaries of the Ecumenical Councils, as well as a brief history of Christianity in the United States. The essay on the Arab-Israeli conflict and other political essays are also nearing completion. Philosophical, theological, and scientific essays require more time and circumspection, but I hope to have some of these completed in the months to come.
December 30, 2006
I have revamped the Ecumenical Councils pages, improving the format and adding commentaries. I have also improved the Canon Law page, adding more resources and expanding the description of its history. In the future I will add more commentaries to the Councils section.
November 28, 2006
This month, an essay has been posted in the Law section on Marbury v. Madison, and I've updated and expanded the boxing title lineages. Essays on Catholic studies and history are in development, and should be posted shortly.
October 2006 (posted Nov. 11)
Although there have been few uploads recently, I have been actively researching and working on numerous projects, especially in history, philosophy and religion. There should be some uploads in November.
September 23, 2006
There have only been a few updates this month, but many essays in all categories are currently under development, so there will be more activity in the weeks ahead. Much of the delay comes from obsessing over quality, so there is no need for major revisions of essays that are posted.
August 27, 2006
Three more essays have been posted this month, as indicated in Recent Updates. I have also updated the boxing title lineages and the Movies page. I am currently working on some more political history essays, and going over some thoughts on logic, error analysis, and thermodynamics, so there should be something in Science or Philosophy as the summer draws to a close. The other essays mentioned in previous weblog posts are still under development.
July 26, 2006
The Ontological Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics is now online in the Science section. I am currently working most actively on the Commentary on Genesis and the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, though there's no telling which essay will be completed next. I've outlined the structure of the Philosophy section, but nothing will be ready there for a while, though I still hope to have something up before summer's end.
June 7, 2006
Much of my work has been postponed because of my upcoming wedding, but I have been re-working my textual comparison of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and compiled notes for my essay on pietistic Christianity in the United States. There definitely will be essays posted sometime this month, though I can't say in which order.
May 9, 2006
The Chile paper is now posted in History and Politics, and I will continue working on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as possibly a discussion of the Iraq war and other post-9/11 foreign policy.
I will also start work on a brief history of religion in the United States, focusing on its pietistic and psychotherapeutic elements, as discussed in JJ Shulman and Keith Meador's book Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine and the Distortion of Christianity. I will also examine the effect of this particular spiritual culture on American Catholicism.
In philosophy, I'm bogged down in the examination of some basic Aristotelian physical concepts, so it may be a while before I post anything there. I am also gaining a deeper appreciation of the history of Christian intellectual thought, reading Lammana's work (cited in Catholic Literature), and Origen's Contra Celsum.
April 19, 2006
Welcome to the Repository of Arcane Knowledge. Here's some news about the essays I'm currently working on:
Philosophy
There hasn't been anything posted in this section yet because I've been agonizing over getting everything just right. There will be a historical overview of the pre-Socratic Greek philosphers, and a treatment of the most fundamental and difficult concepts of being, action, and other categories. I'll deal with the whole realism vs. nominalism issue. In philosophy, you have to start out with the most difficult things first, that's why this hasn't been done yet. Expect to see something up by the summer. By then I'll have incorporated my reading of Etienne Gilson's Being and Some Philosophers. Right now my thinking is a combination of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and Henri Bergson.
Natural Theology
I've been editing the commentary on the proofs of the existence of God. This originally was a discussion of St. Thomas' "five proofs", but I have added a historical introduction of pre-Christian natural theology, as well as a discussion of what it means to rationally "prove" the existence of God, or anything else for that matter. Estimate 1-2 months before completion. I also need to incorporate recent data on the efficacy of prayer into the essay on divine providence. On the immortality of the soul, I am hesitant to write anything without establishing basic concepts in the Philosophy section.
History and Politics
Almost done with the essay on CIA activities in Chile, but I wanted to expand on the Allende presidency itself, and try to discern to what extent the economic and political chaos was the result of Allende's policies or U.S. sabotage. I will also expand on the U.S. government's relationship with the Pinochet regime. This will require another month or so. On the Arab-Israeli conflict, I am still dealing with the British mandate period, so another 1-2 months is needed, assuming I make this a priority.
© 2006-2011 Daniel J. Castellano. All rights reserved.