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

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.

Lee Dems: March Review

March:

2nd: I received an email from Kim Pollard informing me that I've been adding to the Veterans and Military Families Committee (VMFC). This is my first assignment since joining the Lee Dems, and it's an ideal one. Not only am I a veteran, but many members of my family have served in the armed forces. I'll get a better idea of what the committee does when I attend the VMFC meeting later this month.

19th: Precinct Operations Meeting

Ed Joseph went over what the Operations Committee is responsible for and what roles needed to be filled. Operations was short a few precinct captains, teams for early voter registration, and a team for back to school nights.

I volunteered to become Precinct Captain for Kingstowne. The group is already well established, but will still need strong leadership. I'm looking forward to it. What scares me is that I'll have to make cold calls to people who "may" want to become volunteers. The mere thought of it tickles my boundary issues. I'll just have to use it as an opportunity to conquer a flaw.

23rd: Lee Dems Monthly Meeting

Outside of normal business, Delegate Paul Krizek and Senator George Barker came to give us a rundown on what the state Democrats were attempting to do in the Virginia House and Senate.

28th: VMFC & FCDC

VMFC: The Veterans and Military Familes meeting was the highlight of the month for me. Due to my teaching schedule, I showed up a half an hour late. Everyone was very understanding.

The committee's vice-chair, Bruce, was giving keynote speech at Quantico National Cemetery the next day for Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

Kim will be speaking at the up coming 2017 Virginia Veterans Summit taking place in Chesapeake in June.

Mainly, we all shared our desire for making FCDC as friendly and open to veterans and their families as possible. The committee is new. So, we're still establishing what our outreach and programs will look like.

FCDC: This was a huge meeting with members for every district in the county sending representatives. Lee Dems were well represented.

Multiple candidates for state offices, or their spokespersons, introduced themselves. They ask for our support. None of us are allowed to support candidates in the primary phase. So we mostly just applauded everyone.

We passed our budget unanimously.

There was a bit of contention over a resolution requesting that Gov. McAuliffe to call a special session of the Legislature to vote to end gerrymandering. No one supports gerrymandering, of course. However, some of us thought that it was pointless to put pressure on the Governor when it wouldn't amount to anything since the Republicans in the legislature would just vote "Nay". The "Yeas" carried the day. So, the resolution will be sent, and we'll see what happens.

I was exhausted after working two jobs before coming to the meeting, and I left early.

After the meeting, I received an email from Alex mentioning that their was still an opening for the 8th District Resolution Committee. I responded that I was interested. So, we'll see what comes about from that.

Conclusion:

That's March. Hopefully, I've improved since last month.

I'll try to be quicker, and get April's review out earlier than the 21st of May.

Oddly, I'm enjoying all of this.