Phil Intakes: July - September

Hello!

Wow, the end of summer got crazy busy. Some of it was good. Some of it was bad. All of it was life.

Sadly, I didn't find myself reading a lot of philosophy.

Readings:

I didn't read much new philosophy. Mostly, I reviewed works for my classes.

October's review is already looking more substantial.  I promise. 

Audio:

I listened to a ton of audio lectures. The Great Courses series is inexpensive on Audible.com.

In the last couple months, I've listened to lectures on:

Hegel
Mill
The Vedas and Upanishads
Mahavira and Jainism
The Buddha
The Bhagavad Gita
Confucius
Laozi
The Hundred Schools
Mencius and Xunzi
The Pre-Socratics
The Sophists
Plato
Socrates
Aristotle
Stoicism
Epicureanism
Roman Eclecticism
Roman Skepticism
Machiavelli
More
Eramus

That's more than enough for a headache.

Previous Months:
May
June

Lee Dems: Review Status

Howdy.

My busy summer put a beat down on my political activities. I haven't made it to a meeting in months.

Realizing that I couldn't keep up with all the necessary responsibilities, I stepped down as the Precinct Captain for Kingstowne.

I hope that be able to resume meetings for the Lee Dems and the VMFC this fall.

The practice of writing a monthly review, not that I was doing a good job of it, will not be continued.  As most of the activities are repetitive, writing that same thing every month seems pointless. So, I'll only posted unique or new political nonsense.

Stay strong!

Phil Intakes: June Review

Slow month...


Journal:

Science is a Stern God by Harold Punke

I had been wanting to return to the practice of reading scholarly journal writings in philosophy. While surfing around JSTOR, I came across Punke's classic article. Science is a Stern God was published by The Journal of Philosophy in 1945.

Punke describes how a society uses 'faith', and what 'a faith' demands of its adherents. The comparisons between adherents of religion and science are well defined both in scope and severity.

Fear not, Punke is no Sunday morning televangelist. He's not making a science is just a different religion sermon. He's simply suggesting what is required of those relying upon science should they want science to be successful.

Audio:

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius:

After reading Book 1 in May, June had me listening to Books 2 through 4.

I was able to purchase an audio-book version of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius through Audible. It was rather inexpensive. The narrator had a soft voice which I enjoyed as a walked around my neighborhood.

FYI: Jogging to the The Meditations isn't very productive.


Pop Video:

Diogenes:

Amazon has a video series on it called Famous People of the World, and a section of Famous Philosophers within it. All of this series is currently included in Prime. I just watched the Diogenes clip. The production quality isn't bad. However, the details are predictably paltry with a 6 minute run-time.


March
April
May

Phil Intakes: May Review

Books:

Kierkegaard: A Graphic Guide:

There's a whole series of these "A Graphic Guide" books. I grabbed a handful of them on various philosophers a few years back while in Singapore. I figured that they would come in handy if a younger reader or student wanted to learn a little about philosophy. Plus, I know a lot of people who like graphic novels.

I've been getting back into my Kierkegaard. So, I thought I'd give the one on him a go. It was decent. Mostly, it's something akin to an illustrated Cliff Notes. It does provide some good basic historical and philosophical knowledge. Though, I feel that authors' view of Kierkegaard is a bit jaded.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius:

I've owned the Shambhala Pocket Classics version of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius for years. I take it with me on hikes from time to time. Mostly, it sits on the top of one of my bookcases in my Shambhala Pocket Classics "library."

A recent conversation with a friend made me pick it up. Normally, I just pick a random spot to read, or I just thumb around in it. This time, I decided to read Book I. Said book is all Marc-daddy discussing what values, and in some cases virtues, he learned from important people in his life.

I suspect that its a personal flaw, but I'm not sure that I could list what I've learned from everyone in my life.

Audio:


Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling:

Fear and Trembling was the audio-book that I choose to get with my trial membership to Audible.com. It will not be my last audio-book, and my membership to Audible.com is no longer a trial one.

Fear and Trembling is Kierkegaard's most popular book. I feel that Either/Or is better, but Fear and Trembling seems to bring in both philosophical and Christian readers. Where as, Either/Or doesn't seem to do as well with the Christians.

It was nice to listen to Fear and Trembling as I would partake of my evening stroll around the neighborhood. I only wish that I would have owned this audio-book when I was in Copenhagen last year. Listening to it while walking the same streets that Kierkegaard did would have been a moment of great beauty.

Kierkegaard's work is complex. It can slow your reading down when you pause to contemplate something he wrote. So, having a narrator reading his work to you provides an advantage. You are forced to keep go. This leads you to Kierkegaard's next point which can help you understand what had first perplexed you.

Damn it! I have to plan a trip to Copenhagen.


Pop Reading:

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21718460-consciousness-explained-how-humans-became-intelligent?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/intothelighthowhumansbecameintelligent

This is a book review in the Economist regarding Daniel Dennett's From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. The article is informative, and I might have to purchase the book.

Previous Intakes:

March
April

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