Phil Intakes: April Review

Rules.

April Review

I read some. I rediscovered that I have portable devices and ear buds.

Classic Texts:

Kierkegaard: Rotation of Crops: A Venture in a Theory of Social Prudence-

Crop Rotation is one of the shorter pieces within Part I of Either/Or. It's the aesthete character A's attempt to deal with boredom. A believes that boredom is the root of all evil. Though, we as the reader could start to see that boredom is in fact not a cause, but an effect.

In one of Life's great coincidences, I got a Facebook message from a friend about two hours after I finished rereading The Rotation of Crops. He said that Buddhism wasn't working for him like it once had. So, he was thinking of trying Stoicism. I responded that we should grab a beer, and that I might have some recommended reading for him.

I own the Hong translation of Either/Or. So, I read Crop Rotation from there. However, you can find some pdf versions online.

Podcast:

In Our Time: Averroes

This work is both of a history lesson and a short a philosophical analysis. I enjoyed it a great deal. Averroes' life took place in Muslim Spain right before the Reconquista. The podcast does a good job of describing Averroes' contributions to Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Western philosophy.

Audio:

LibriVox: Either/Or

The is not a reading of Kierkegaard's Either/Or, but a reading of David F. Swenson's analysis of that work. I never get tired of trying to figure Kierkegaard out. You might. 

Pop Readings:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2015/jan/18/beginners-guide-voltaire-philosopher-free-speech-tolerance?CMP=share_btn_tw

https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/4/23/15343212/9-questions-for-martha-nussbaum

Nussbaum is a talented philosopher. This is a good read.

https://www.1843magazine.com/story/a-practitioners-guide-to-hedonism


Live Event:

I went to a lecture on Simone de Beauvior which I already wrote about here.


Hopefully, this was a little better than March's.

Phil Intakes: March Review

Rules.

March Review

March was a slow month. I had buried myself in school work and politics.

As I'm writing this in May, I can assure you that April will have more than two entries.

Classic Texts:

Aristotle: Generation and Corruption - 

This is Aristotle at his scientific worst. I'm not saying that there isn't any philosophical importance here, but it's a very boring to read. The Selected Works that I have includes Book I chapters 4 and 5 and Book II chapters 2 through 5.

Most of my knowledge of Aristotle is either metaphysical or ethical. G & C is clearly related to his physics, which I don't have a strong background in. So, I didn't feel that I connected a lot with this work. Perhaps, I should continue reading some more of A's physics work to see if it starts to click.

What G & C does offer is razor sharp distinction between the types of elements how they change, and the relationship of those changes.  "Elements", by the way, here is referring to the classical idea of earth, wind, air, and fire. 

I felt that the subject of G & C might be outdated, but I might reread it. 

Pop Reading:

My girlfriend sent me this great article about a student at Boston University who leads a philosophy group at a women's shelter.*

I always hope that my students find avenues to engage. So, this article illistrates how perople can create meaningful opportunities for themselves..

* https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/03/24/this-college-student-teaches-philosophy-to-homeless-women-to-help-them-ponder-lifes-great-questions/?utm_term=.ab00a0d2610a&wpisrc=nl_optimist&wpmm=1

New rules for "readings"

I've claimed a few times on this blog that I would read a philosophical work, and provide my analysis of that work. Here's an example.

I've decided that I'm not going to do that anymore. Why? Here are the stages of what happened every time. I got excited. I wrote a blog post telling you how excited I was. I would read the first part of the text. I would sit down to write a detailed analysis. I would remember that I don't like writing that much. I don't want to publish a crappy analysis. So, I tortured myself over ever detail of what I was writing. I wanted to keep reading the text, but didn't because I hadn't written the analysis regarding the first part. I would put book down, and walk away.

So, I'll produce no detailed analysis. I can't figure out why I'd assigned myself book reports in the first place.

What I will produce is a short monthly write up of philosophical texts, podcast, journals, and articles that I've imbibed.  That way, my students and friends can get a brief rundown of my philosophical intake.

• New Rules
• Write monthly review of that month's philosophical intake
• include:
• type(s) of source(s)
• name(s) of piece(s)
• a couple of my thoughts on the piece(s)
• that's it
• Return to state of enjoying philosophy
• Rinse
• Repeat

Lee Dems: April Review

April

17th: 8th CD Monthly Meeting

This was to be my first attendance of an 8th Congressional District Monthly Meeting. I really wanted to go to it and the monthly meeting in May before going to my first 8th CD Convention on May 20th. Sadly, I suffered my first defeat of the year to tree pollen, and couldn't make it. Hopefully, I'll be able to make the May 15th meeting before the Convention.

25th: VMFC

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make this meeting either. I had recovered from my allergies for the most part. However, this was the last full week of classes before finals at Nova. So, I was not able to get out of class at a good enough time for me to make it to the committee.

Next month's meeting will be a teleconference.

27th: Resolution Committee

As I mentioned last month,  Alex had ask me if I was interested in joining the Resolution Committee, and I, of course, was. Alex said that she'd pass my name on, and that I'd be contacted to see if I was a good fit. I almost immediately received an email from 8th Congressional District Chair Margo Horner telling me that she was looking forward to working with me. Apparently, they were desparate, or I'm an amazing fit!

The 27th was our getting to know you/schedule of future meetings meeting. I thought that this would be my third missed meeting of the month, because I had my last full class before the finals with my Intro class. But, the students killed it, and I made it to the meeting.

We all made each others' acquaintances, and went over protocol. Most of the meetings will be in the first half of May.

Atima Omara is chairing the Resolution Committee this year.

29th: Round-table Lunch

One of the cooler things to happen to me all month was a luncheon invite to get to know Delegate Mark Sickles. Alex emailed my saying that Sickles would like some of the Lee Dems newer members to come to a round-table, because he hadn't been able to come to any recent meetings.

Mark Sickles has been the 43rd Districts' Delegate since 2004.

We all met at Fiona's in Kingstowne.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to lowdown on the legislature in Richmond. Plus, I must admit that I like my Delegate.

I had a Reuben.

30th: Opening Day

The biggest fundraiser of the year for the Lee Dems is always Opening Day. There's a big cookout with various long skinny meats and much beer.

It cost $30 to attend. Again, it's a fundraiser.

A lot of office-seekers for the next round of elections stop by, and perform.

The jig last about 3 hours. I, however, had ran (jogged slowly) a 5k in the morning and did some gardening. So, after sitting around for a bit, I didn't feel like moving again. I only made it for the last hour. I missed all the political speeches. I DID get 2 Italian sausages and 3 beers.

Oh, and when I walked around back to the cookout, Dan greeted me with a hearty, "OUTLAW!!!". So, the Lee Dems and I have reached that point in our relationship.