Slow-pitch virtue

In order to work towards virtue, I've been examining my life to determine which habits I need to moderate, remove, or add. 

It occurred to me that I should become involved in a team sport.  This could potentially increase my physical readiness, decrease on-line and TV time, and create a new habit of team-bonding. 

Now, I haven't hardly played any sports as an adult. Obviously, I haven't been committed to any leagues. So, this is new territory. I didn't even know which sport I would play.

Traditionally, football and soccer have been my favorite sports. Most the local soccer leagues are fairly competitive, and I would trip on the ball. Most football leagues are flag football. Neither of those options were appealing to me.

Rugby is big in the area, and I've always found it interesting. So, I decided that I would be a rugby player. Plus, the idea of learning a full contact sport at age forty is so utterly ridiculous that I had to give it a go.

Sadly, after researching and emailing, I discovered that the local old boy teams had all moved to greener pastures (whiter suburbs).  And, driving an hour and a half ever weekend seemed a bother. Plus, I'd be connecting with a team far away, and I wanted to build with a local group. So, no rugby.

A co-worker offered me a lifeline in the form a a rec softball league. At first, this didn't interest me. However, after the death of rugby, I decided to give it a go.

Last weekend, I stepped into a batting cage, and managed not to get hit in the face by a ball. My first small victory. 

Last night, I joined the team for my first game. It was great! I got 3 hits, and scored twice. There was also a throw from the outfield that didn't quite make the infield, but let's not dwell on that.

There was also beer drinking. The golden mean has already been achieved for that habit, but practice makes perfect.

I'd rank this new habit as a success, but I'll have to learn to balance it with my other habits.

P.S. I haven't ran with purpose in quite a while. The first time I ran to home base, my frame of vision was shaking like a Guy Ritchie film.

Kierkegaard

I've decided that I want to read everything written by Soren Kierkegaard.

"Everything?"

Yes, everything.  This project will take a long time, and it will probably frustrate me from time to time.  Having said that, the rewards will outweigh any possible moments of irritation.  I've always enjoyed my time with Kierkegaard.  His struggles and insights move me.

The Princeton University Press has published the series on Kierkegaard that nearly encompasses that entirety of his work. I'll start with the early polemics, and move linearly from there.

As I've haven't studied Kierkegaard in a few years. I've also started a course about him on Coursera. I'm hoping that will prime my mind for this multi-year journey.

I'll keep you posted.

Zen, part 2

As I started to say before...

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to visit the Potomac Zen Sangha. 

They have a Beginner's Class on Wednesdays which I thought would be just perfect for me. I didn't really want any philosophy. I get enough of that.  Pure meditation was the ticket. I hoped that they could help me develop proper technique. Then, I could continue on with them, or meditate on my own.

As the class day approached, I became both excited and nervous. Excited because I wanted to get back on this path. Nervous because I've been off the path for two decades, and also there was the potential of being reluctantly drawn into an Eastern Philosophy vs. Western Philosophy debate. I find such debates less than stimulating.

On the Wednesday, I showed up about fifteen minutes early.  No one else arrived until it was time for the class to start. Quick introductions were made, and then they told me that I was in for a surprise. The Sangha's Master was visiting from Korea, and he was going to give a lecture. I said something along the lines of that being great, but internally I chucked because this was the exact opposite of what I wanted.

I realized that I was going to get all philosophy. Plus, they were going to record his lecture. Which meant that they would be too busy to give me instructions.

However, remembering some old quote along the lines of "desire being the cause of all suffering", I decided to take it all in stride.

The lecture was good. The master even mentioned Socrates.

My meditation was horrendous. Both in walking and sitting meditations, my head was a tornado. But, it's exercise.  I'm determined to get back on the path.

My schedule hasn't allowed me to get back to the Sangha since, but I plan on going this Sunday.

Bring the drama 2?

My idea of doing a philosophy - drama combo platter at Nova has hit a snag.  The drama professor that I was working with left the school, and I'm not sure why.

Now, I'll either have to find another drama prof. to work with me on this or do it myself.

I don't have any theater experience at all. So, that would be a pain.

Finding a new drama prof. seems the wiser move. So, I'll need to find out who will be the new power player. Then, try to get him or her on-board.

As that person may not be hired until later this summer, I'm not holding much hope that my project will start this fall. Which means that it'll most likely have to wait until next fall.

Oh, well. The struggle is the glory.

Besos

Zen, part 1

Howdy!

My personal introduction to philosophy came when I was 19. Not surprisingly, it happened at a Denny's.

After many nights wasted there drinking coffee, I met Arent. He was an old* hippie turned misanthropic military contractor. You know, that ol' tale.

Arent had grown up a military brat, and was well traveled. Whilest his father was stationed in Japan, young Arent became acquainted with Zen. He had stuck with it for many years, and it had become a major ingredient in his personality.

It should be mentioned that at this particular point in my history I was a waste of carbon. I believed in nothing, and thought that life was a bad joke. And, of course, there was no point in doing anything with my life.

Arent set about convincing me that life was, in fact, a very good joke. Not wanting to trigger my religion allergies, Arent started to slowly introduce me to Zen. Like a good fisherman, he would let me make fun of the little bits of Zen he would offer up. Eventually, I grew bold and took the bait. He set the hook by giving me my own copy of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. We spent many Denny's evenings discussing its parables and koans.

This was my beginnings in philosophy. As life danced on, I became more interested in mostly Western philosophy.  Zen remained in my heart, but not in my practice.

As I've been attempting to develop a Virtue ethic, I thought that Zen meditation might be an excellent habit. So, I decided to visit a Zen group in Alexandria...

Crap! I have to get to my class. I'll have to come back and finish later.

I hope that you have a good day.

* This is relative to my age. I believe that he was in his late thirties. Holy hell! I'm older now than he was then. How'd that happen?

Cyber Camp

I spent Thursday and Friday of this past week in Manassas training for an upcoming summer Cyber Security Camp for TC Williams students. The training's purpose was to teach the teachers how to teach the students.

In the Summer Camp, the students will spend a lot of time working with Boe-Bots. The "Boe" in Boe-bots is for board of education. The bots were designed as scalable teaching robots. The students get to both build these robots and program them in multiple configurations.

So, we teachers got to spend the better part of two days building, programing, and playing with them. It was loads of fun. I had never built a robot before.  The programing was in pbasic. So, this won't be training in a language that will have legs for the students, but it's a nice intro.

Our profession development was provided by Nicerc.  Their entire operational model entails promoting Cyber literacy and security to the K-12 world. So, their material is focused and on point. The three trainers we had were excellent. They were patient in their teaching of us. (Teaching teachers can be a thankless and irritating task.)

The Titan staff is a collect of STEM and liberal arts teachers. They're a energetic, engaged, and skilled crew.  I look forward to partnering with them.

As the tech assigned to this camp, I won't have any direct teaching responsibilities. Having said that, there will be many possible ethics related teachable moments. So, I don't plan on being the IT guy hiding in the shadows. Also, there is one section under liberal arts that is centered on Cyber Ethics. I'm going to see is I can get myself assigned as a co-teacher.

I'll let you know how it goes this summer!

Already sick of virtue.

Thus far, the only results of my foray into virtue are flu-like symptoms. Either I'm sick, or Aristotle is killing me.

As for Monday, I worked during the day and taught my Practical Reasoning course. I started to feel sick at the end of my class. So, I didn't have a lot of time to work on my habits. All that I managed to do was to stay on my diet and to practice on the bass.

For today, I'll work on my music, maintain the diet, and work on my Italian. Since I'm sick, I doubt that I'll engage in any physical habits.

Oh, the Italian! There's a good deal of research that shows that learning a language helps a person develop a certain level of mental limberness. So, does reading novels. Both activities will be part of my process.

 

An attempt at Virtue

Ethically speaking, I've always been a consequentialist.  Given that almost every human that I've met is a consequentialist, I'm not surprised. Many people think that they're deontologist, but when I ask them why they perform a utility calculation. So, they may be missing the point.

When I started teaching philosophy a few years back, I had to develop a working relationship with Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.  My only aim was to be able to teach it with the passion that I feel my students deserve.  I never thought that it would have any effect on me.  This "thinking" was almost certainly brought on by my prejudice against ancient sources in favor of more contemporary philosophy. 

But, Aristotle got his hooks into me.  Slowly at first, but I soon found myself seeing how his virtue ethics could produce a better me.  I also began to see how a country that had a population with proper virtue could truly be a great country.  Dreams of developing an American Virtue Ethics started to fill my mind, but that's another story. For now, I'll work on me.

I don't really have any grand ides(s) of what virtue(s) I should develop. I am, after all, new to this game. So, I've decided to stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before me. I will begin with a rough reflection of the ancient Greek approach, and make changes where and when necessary.

For my body, γυμνός (gymnos) will consist of rowing, hiking, and the occasional weights.

Weight Watchers will help me develop sophrosyne (self-restraint). I'd wager that Aristotle never saw that coming.

I broke my dusty bass guitar out of the closet, and have started practicing for μουσική (mousike).

This is just a few examples of the habits I have in store for myself. Other habits will include yoga, Tai Chi, and writing.

For a start, I plan on engaging in at least two of these habits a day.  Yesterday (Sunday), I rowed, practiced my bass, did yoga, and wrote a brief blog update. Sadly, I also over ate at an Easter supper.

That's the start. I'm sure that ἀρετή is right around the corner.

Chris

Course(s) update(s).

Howdy!

As per usual, I've let things get between me and my writing. This is not historically uncommon, because the act of writing makes me want to stop writing and go do other things.

However, all excuses are not created equal, and this time I've got something better than my traditional laziness. I've been slammed with my teaching schedule. I knew going into this semester that I'd have three classes to teach. Three classes plus my day job is more than enough to allow my ego to justify not working on my blog. Adding to that, an adjunct had to give up a class at the last minute. My boss ask me to take it, and I accepted (because, I'm an idiot). It's a practical reasoning course.  I've never taught this class before.  So, it's great experience. That not withstanding, I'm teaching four classes, and working my day job.

Sadly, my Eastern Thought class has been put on the back-burner. The assistant dean thought that given the current budget fights, we should wait for a better time to ask.  I see his point. 

The same budget fears also have the drama department not rushing to work on my philosophy play production idea. I'll just stay on their good side by giving my students extra-credit to go to their productions. Hopefully, I can get them back on-board this summer.

That's it for now.  I know that it's not much, but I forced myself to write it, because...

I'll tell you tomorrow.

Besos,

Chris