Ah, what a lovely time. No classes and no teaching. My girlfriend, Ahreum, arrived late last night, and we've slept in a little. Probably should have woken up earlier, but a little laziness every now and again never hurt anywone.
This morning I made nice fancy oatmeal with a little mixed spice, vanilla, and honey added in by yours personally. Plain oatmeal isn't normally that nice, but with a little tweaking it sure is a satisfying breakfast. This is a bit different than the kind of breakfast Ahreum is used to from home. It's quite interesting, but when I traveled to Korea I found that they have a very hearty breakfast. Spicy soup, rice, meat, and side dishes can all be served for a breakfast there. Luckily, Ahreum isn't a breakfast dogmatist, so she likes oatmeal too.
What makes me most grateful about this morning is that Ahreum is here. Sometimes I get a bit lonely over the weeks. PhD work leaves less time for socializing than in the past, and it makes a student somewhat isolated. It is just a bit harder to meet new people. When Ahreum is here any loneliness is instantly vanquished and I feel completely at ease. Its this kind of companionship that is so important to a relationship, and I'm glad I've found that in my life. Whatever else happens Ahreum is always there to listen. Sometimes I go on and on about crazy philosophy (or worse any kind of technological subject), but she never dismisses my geeky soliliquies. Three cheers for that.
Anyway, I don't get to take life too easy this weekend. I'm teaching on the social covenant and political obligation in Hobbes next week. But that's not all. At my department we now have a political theory seminar occurring bi-weekly, and next Wednesday is the next meeting.. The group has pulled out the stoppers across the university, and we have people coming in from several places apart from the usual suspects like politics and philosophy. Hopefully, we can net some classics and theology people interested in ethics and ancient political philosophy.
Now this Wednesday is particular important because I am giving a short presentation and inviting the other members to read an interesting piece by the Archbishop Francois Fenelon de Salignac de la Mothe. Now this name is not likely to ring any bells out there, but he is a hugely important figure in the history of ideas. Despite being the tutor of Louis XIV's heir, the Duke of Burgundy, leading to the enlightened and progressive mean of the Duke's circle, Fenelon was a firm opponent of the absolutist pretensions of the King and his ecclesiastical supporters. More importantly for the history of ideas, his novel The Adventures of Telemachus Son of Ulysses was probably the single most popular book in 18th century France. Not to mention that Fenelon almost certainly exercised a profound influence on Rousseau. The short piece I am looking at is his "Dissertation on Pure Love."
Now before any of you think I've become a total softy, this is not the kind of "true love" one might expect from a romantic relationship. Oh no. In fact it is a self-deprecating love that expects man to transcend the bounds of himself and develop general love or cherite (close to the original meaning of charity as higher Christian love, which has now been lost). This general love prefers the whole of rational creation or, in the case of the ancients, whose love Fenelon always accounts superior to the moderns, at least the whole body of the state over the interestedness of the individual. The individual should be lost in this stepping out of the self. For Fenelon this love can have no interested motivation, i.e. desire of reward or fear of punishment, but must occur for its own sake. This, even by neo-Augustinian standards, is a radical view, and quite unlike much of anything currently in circulation.
Hence, I hope that it will give our group a different way of conceiving of social love and the bounds that can unite an ethical (as opposed to purely practical) society. It will also offer an historically interesting exercise whereby we can muse over how these ideas swelled in popularity and then declined.
So now I'm off to work on Hobbes and Fenelon. Oh, and I've still got a piece on Locke that needs more revision. No rest for the wicked, as they say.
Once more into the breach,
Ben
Musings on philosophy, politics, photography, and gastronomy.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
Dance with a shadow virus
Well today I had the unfortunate experience of having a seriously wacked out computer. It looked like one heck of a viral infection. Internet explorer, windows explorer, add/remove progam, and even my virus scan were on the fritz. The scanner wouldn't let me update, create a recover disc, or scan the computer. None of that sounds very good, does it?
I restarted, and guess what. All of the same problems were still there. So I was in despair, was preparing to back up what I could, and drop the hammer and fdisc my system into oblivion. Of course I have all my system cds, so its not the end of the world, but my reinstallation cd for windows is a bit crippled and it can't properly reformat the operating system after the hard drive is de-partitioned and repartitioned. It will work, but it needs a little help along the way. Problem is, I can't quite remember what the assistance is (I think booting from cd first did the trick but I am not that certain). So I powered down and powered up again to make my backups. I figured I'd with it one more time, just in case....
Dramatic pause
Anyway, much to my surprise, everything started working properly. So I updated my virus software and tested - nothing. Updated the anti-adware software and also nothing. Nothing seemed to be wrong. It was like a phantom. Of course there is no such thing as phantom's when it comes to computers. So I am very dubious about the seeming recovery. I suspect I will encounter a relapse, but I hope against it.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to a lovely and extended weekend with my girlfriend. She is coming her tonight and will be staying until Wednesday morning. Once she's here I get less lazy and do a little more cooking, so I'll bloc up some commentary on the recipes.
Once more into the breach,
Ben
I restarted, and guess what. All of the same problems were still there. So I was in despair, was preparing to back up what I could, and drop the hammer and fdisc my system into oblivion. Of course I have all my system cds, so its not the end of the world, but my reinstallation cd for windows is a bit crippled and it can't properly reformat the operating system after the hard drive is de-partitioned and repartitioned. It will work, but it needs a little help along the way. Problem is, I can't quite remember what the assistance is (I think booting from cd first did the trick but I am not that certain). So I powered down and powered up again to make my backups. I figured I'd with it one more time, just in case....
Dramatic pause
Anyway, much to my surprise, everything started working properly. So I updated my virus software and tested - nothing. Updated the anti-adware software and also nothing. Nothing seemed to be wrong. It was like a phantom. Of course there is no such thing as phantom's when it comes to computers. So I am very dubious about the seeming recovery. I suspect I will encounter a relapse, but I hope against it.
Other than that, I'm looking forward to a lovely and extended weekend with my girlfriend. She is coming her tonight and will be staying until Wednesday morning. Once she's here I get less lazy and do a little more cooking, so I'll bloc up some commentary on the recipes.
Once more into the breach,
Ben
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Jason
Jason Godin just gave a big shout out to me at his web site the Arrows' Quiver. We've been friends since I was a freshman (fresher for those of the English persuasion) back at the University of Wisconsin Madison. It's always been a pleasure and an honor to be his friend.
Now we are starting web logs almost concurrently. This gives us a chance to boost each other's egos by mentioning each other's blog. Seriously though, his site promises to be very intriguing, reflecting on history as a subject and a discipline. Its well worth a visit. If you missed the link on my sidebar the address is http://arrowsquiver.blogspot.com/.
Once more into the breach,
Ben
Now we are starting web logs almost concurrently. This gives us a chance to boost each other's egos by mentioning each other's blog. Seriously though, his site promises to be very intriguing, reflecting on history as a subject and a discipline. Its well worth a visit. If you missed the link on my sidebar the address is http://arrowsquiver.blogspot.com/.
Once more into the breach,
Ben
This is the craziest real news story I have probably ever seen. Just unbelievable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3611666.stm
How can zoo handlers let a chimp do that? Well you'll just have to read and find out to find out what's so funny/disturbing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3611666.stm
How can zoo handlers let a chimp do that? Well you'll just have to read and find out to find out what's so funny/disturbing.
Fairtrade Day
Today I am hosting a small "house group" from the Church I go to in Exeter. It's an interesting club which consists of young adults in their twenties and some in their thirties. A lot of us are postgraduate students. We have a good time talking about a wide variety of issues from theology of grace and salvation to crime and destitution. This week we are discussing Fairtrade and what it means for us as Christians. We'll also be having lots of fair trade food for everyone to sample. The food products from Tradecraft, for example, are very good, so the extra price has significant justification.
So, the upshot is that I get to do some baking. I've picked up some fairtrade chocolate and some fairtrade sugar. But what shall I make with them? I'm thinking basic chocolate chip cookies. Nothing to fancy because I'm busy. Otherwise I could also make some kind of chocolate cake, but my oven is a bit dubious in the even heating department. Cookies allow a little more hands on approach if necessary, so I think that will be my course of action.
What has me thinking is whether I could justify buying these products on a regular basis. I don't have a high roller job, and I'm a student. This means, at least temporarily that I'm poor. But I'm poor for a middle class white western guy, which means I've still have next to nothing to worry about. Still, if I am to be responsible in my own situation then what do I choose to eat. Well I try to save money where I can, and much of what I buy is from Europe, so my conscience is significantly eased by that. But what about goods imported from third world countries. I know that there are significant problems with the current trade regime from their point of view. If they were planting the right crops for their needs and for their situation much of the hunger of the third world might be alleviated. So there is a conflict of interests. But the question is, does Fairtrade really make a difference or is it simply a small gesture in the midst of a giant problem. Well I don't know, but that's what I'm pondering.
Of course my other thought is that I can't live every element of my life for other people. I have responsibility to look after my own welfare. Sometimes this will converge with buying things that are fairtrade, but if I can't afford it, I can't afford it. Maybe when I've got a job I'll be able to buy more. But of course then I'll be making money and being part of a system which, allegedly, causes all the problems. This just leads me back to thinking that the world doesn't work out in a fair way for everyone and it is so systematically unfair that for me to help those who are much worse off than me I have to have the cash. And this cash has only been gotten off of an inegalitarian distribution of goods. I don't see that there is much that can be done about this. I just hope that something can be done about starvation, so that at least if there is just going to be poverty it needn't be grinding. Well that's an empirical question, and I don't have the data to know whether an answer is to be had.
So, the upshot is that I get to do some baking. I've picked up some fairtrade chocolate and some fairtrade sugar. But what shall I make with them? I'm thinking basic chocolate chip cookies. Nothing to fancy because I'm busy. Otherwise I could also make some kind of chocolate cake, but my oven is a bit dubious in the even heating department. Cookies allow a little more hands on approach if necessary, so I think that will be my course of action.
What has me thinking is whether I could justify buying these products on a regular basis. I don't have a high roller job, and I'm a student. This means, at least temporarily that I'm poor. But I'm poor for a middle class white western guy, which means I've still have next to nothing to worry about. Still, if I am to be responsible in my own situation then what do I choose to eat. Well I try to save money where I can, and much of what I buy is from Europe, so my conscience is significantly eased by that. But what about goods imported from third world countries. I know that there are significant problems with the current trade regime from their point of view. If they were planting the right crops for their needs and for their situation much of the hunger of the third world might be alleviated. So there is a conflict of interests. But the question is, does Fairtrade really make a difference or is it simply a small gesture in the midst of a giant problem. Well I don't know, but that's what I'm pondering.
Of course my other thought is that I can't live every element of my life for other people. I have responsibility to look after my own welfare. Sometimes this will converge with buying things that are fairtrade, but if I can't afford it, I can't afford it. Maybe when I've got a job I'll be able to buy more. But of course then I'll be making money and being part of a system which, allegedly, causes all the problems. This just leads me back to thinking that the world doesn't work out in a fair way for everyone and it is so systematically unfair that for me to help those who are much worse off than me I have to have the cash. And this cash has only been gotten off of an inegalitarian distribution of goods. I don't see that there is much that can be done about this. I just hope that something can be done about starvation, so that at least if there is just going to be poverty it needn't be grinding. Well that's an empirical question, and I don't have the data to know whether an answer is to be had.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Thomas Hobbes and teaching
This week marks the beginning of tutorials, i.e. discussion sections, for the year in Exeter. They are a bright group of students and are a real pleasure to work with. Of course, English students are somewhat reticent, making tutorials a little quiet from time to time. However, on the whole they are productive.
A particular thrill is that I'm teaching the philosophers I've been researching for my PhD. Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. My research is sometimes too specialized to bring into the classroom, but I'm trying to make sure that my teaching isn't just stock in trade. I want my students to be able to see that what we are studying is vital. Part of that must be to bring my own research interests into the classroom. Its a balancing act to which I'm looking forward.
Apart from this, I just want to show plenty of enthusiasm when teaching. This isn't hard since it’s the subject I love and its Thomas Hobbes. He really is a fantastic figure to teach. For one thing his thought, while subtle and penetrating, is fairly straightforward. I think, and some of my students quickly noticed, that Hobbes wants his reader to understand him. As one of my students said, "he is a transparent thinker." So, Hobbes is the kind of thinker that the students can work through in class one step at a time. That kind of analytical process viva voce is a rewarding experience.
But the thrills of the philosopher from Malmesbury don't stop there. Hobbes happens to be an extremely powerful prose writer. His writing explores the dark side of humanity in a way that few before him did as masterfully. I'll get around to putting some quotations up to show what I mean, but these lines from memory should get the point across. Concerning the problems of the state of nature or war, "and worst of all continual feare and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.” (Leviathan, Chapter 13). And concerning justice, law and morality, "in the state of warre force and fraud are cardinall virtues.” (Leviathan, Chapter 13).
For Hobbes it is always fear that is the passion to be reckoned upon. Even though man left to his own devices through egoism, competing desires, worries over self-preservation, and love of glory will construct himself an inferno no less cruel than Dante's, fear gives man a chance for order and stability. And that is the subject for my students next week.
All in all a rewarding exercises, even if Hobbes is often disturbing. I have always agreed with my undergraduate political philosophy professor that even if Hobbes is not quite right, the dark power of his thought must be taken seriously. Even if not all people are appetitive and maniacal without political order, Leviathan has truth to it. The dark side of human nature is there, and a host of recent events testify to man's capacity for horror when order is removed by chaos. Hobbes is probably wrong to universalize this aspect of humanity, but it would be equally foolish to ignore it. Hobbes reminds us that humans have a capacity for radical self-preference, and for this he is pre-eminently valuable.
A particular thrill is that I'm teaching the philosophers I've been researching for my PhD. Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. My research is sometimes too specialized to bring into the classroom, but I'm trying to make sure that my teaching isn't just stock in trade. I want my students to be able to see that what we are studying is vital. Part of that must be to bring my own research interests into the classroom. Its a balancing act to which I'm looking forward.
Apart from this, I just want to show plenty of enthusiasm when teaching. This isn't hard since it’s the subject I love and its Thomas Hobbes. He really is a fantastic figure to teach. For one thing his thought, while subtle and penetrating, is fairly straightforward. I think, and some of my students quickly noticed, that Hobbes wants his reader to understand him. As one of my students said, "he is a transparent thinker." So, Hobbes is the kind of thinker that the students can work through in class one step at a time. That kind of analytical process viva voce is a rewarding experience.
But the thrills of the philosopher from Malmesbury don't stop there. Hobbes happens to be an extremely powerful prose writer. His writing explores the dark side of humanity in a way that few before him did as masterfully. I'll get around to putting some quotations up to show what I mean, but these lines from memory should get the point across. Concerning the problems of the state of nature or war, "and worst of all continual feare and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short.” (Leviathan, Chapter 13). And concerning justice, law and morality, "in the state of warre force and fraud are cardinall virtues.” (Leviathan, Chapter 13).
For Hobbes it is always fear that is the passion to be reckoned upon. Even though man left to his own devices through egoism, competing desires, worries over self-preservation, and love of glory will construct himself an inferno no less cruel than Dante's, fear gives man a chance for order and stability. And that is the subject for my students next week.
All in all a rewarding exercises, even if Hobbes is often disturbing. I have always agreed with my undergraduate political philosophy professor that even if Hobbes is not quite right, the dark power of his thought must be taken seriously. Even if not all people are appetitive and maniacal without political order, Leviathan has truth to it. The dark side of human nature is there, and a host of recent events testify to man's capacity for horror when order is removed by chaos. Hobbes is probably wrong to universalize this aspect of humanity, but it would be equally foolish to ignore it. Hobbes reminds us that humans have a capacity for radical self-preference, and for this he is pre-eminently valuable.
Is there a beginning?
In the case of blogs the answer is a definitive yes, and in this case quite a late beginning. The blogging phenomenon has really taken off, and I am quite happy to be an also ran. The point is I get a chance to post my musings and let my friends and family know how my life is unfolding. Even if I'm a little late, I'm still convinced this is useful.
The difference between a blog and a normal journal for myself or an emailed update for my friends and family is obvious. If I'm going to submit my thoughts to a public forum (well if any one drops by), I ought to have something worth saying. If this is a place for me to display mental drivel, then there's no point in writing a blog.
So what is the rai·son d'être of the Song of the Spheres? Well, primarily elucidation. I hope that by formulating my thoughts on a regular basis and sharing them with those that know me or visit the blog, I will learn more about my own life. From my Platonic philosophical sympathies to my delight in cooking and photography, to my PhD studies, I always am keen to learn more. If Plato is right in his Symposium, we go through a variety of loves and interests in our lives leading from the basic to the sublime, but love of any kind whether romantic or philosophic is active. Mere passive cognition and contemplation were never wisdom for Plato nor are they for me.
So I intend to ruminate over whatever interests me and the experiences I have in life, hoping, behind it all, to learn something. Of course my intentions are not purely solipsistic, and what I'm posting will at least appertain to interest and utility. Hopefully, some friends and family and who knows who else will drop by from time to time and join the chorus of the spheres for a moment.
The difference between a blog and a normal journal for myself or an emailed update for my friends and family is obvious. If I'm going to submit my thoughts to a public forum (well if any one drops by), I ought to have something worth saying. If this is a place for me to display mental drivel, then there's no point in writing a blog.
So what is the rai·son d'être of the Song of the Spheres? Well, primarily elucidation. I hope that by formulating my thoughts on a regular basis and sharing them with those that know me or visit the blog, I will learn more about my own life. From my Platonic philosophical sympathies to my delight in cooking and photography, to my PhD studies, I always am keen to learn more. If Plato is right in his Symposium, we go through a variety of loves and interests in our lives leading from the basic to the sublime, but love of any kind whether romantic or philosophic is active. Mere passive cognition and contemplation were never wisdom for Plato nor are they for me.
So I intend to ruminate over whatever interests me and the experiences I have in life, hoping, behind it all, to learn something. Of course my intentions are not purely solipsistic, and what I'm posting will at least appertain to interest and utility. Hopefully, some friends and family and who knows who else will drop by from time to time and join the chorus of the spheres for a moment.
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