I recently saw Inherent Vice - PT Anderson's screen adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel of the same name. For the first time in a long time, I found myself sitting in a theater fundamentally confused about both what was going on (who was connected to whom, how and why) and also what, if any, the broader meaning … Continue reading Inherent Vice? Thomas Pynchon?
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Plato Project #5: First Alcibiades
[Up next: Greater Hippias] "Alcibiades" is a byword for a certain kind of decadent and ostentatious public figure, one who is attractive, ambitious, courts scandal, and is self-involved. It was with this archetype that I was most acquainted. I think in our high school Great Books class we read something called "Alcibiades" but I don't think … Continue reading Plato Project #5: First Alcibiades
We Are All Anti-Vaccinators
(at least if we use Uber, Amazon, Turbotax, cars, or discount supermarkets) As usual, the Onion nails it: the anti-vaccination crowd misuses the language of individual rights and thereby jeopardizes the social well-being of others. But also as usual, the Onion’s joke cuts more deeply - to everyone who uses Uber, Amazon, claims substantial tax … Continue reading We Are All Anti-Vaccinators
Plato Project #4: Euthyphro
[Up next: "First Alcibiades"] "Euthyphro" is the third and final full Socratic text I've spent some time teaching (I've also excerpted the analogy of the cave, and the Meno sequence where Socrates teaches a slave-boy geometry, which we'll come to in good time). A quick perusal of the internet shows that the substance of the argument in … Continue reading Plato Project #4: Euthyphro
Lost and Found
Lost and Found Here's an interesting story on the use of new technology to recover new text from the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. The Villa appears to have been the home of a philosopher in the Southern Italian city on the Bay of Naples. On August 24, 79 AD, the dormant Mt. Vesuvius … Continue reading Lost and Found
Plato Project #3: Crito
[Up Next - Euthyphro] As a senior in high school, in our "Great Books" class, and then again as a freshman in college, in a course called "The Moral Basis of Politics," we read "Crito." Every year with my junior AP Language and Composition students, I also read this text. I believe it's one of … Continue reading Plato Project #3: Crito
Plato Project #2: Charmides
[Next Week - Crito] I'd never read "Charmides" before, so I'll just share my first impressions. The first and most striking feature of this dialogue, for me anyway, is that it's narrated in the first person, by Socrates himself. I really haven't read very many of the off-the-beaten-path dialogues, so maybe this is a common … Continue reading Plato Project #2: Charmides
Plato Project #1: The Apology of Socrates
"How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that they almost made me forget who I was-so persuasively did they speak; and yet they have hardly uttered a word of truth." So begins Socrates' final defense to the Athenian jury (Jowett's translation). These are words I read … Continue reading Plato Project #1: The Apology of Socrates
The Plato Project – Introduction
Short version - I'm going to read and blog about Plato's dialogues, beginning with The Apology of Socrates by next Sunday - I invite you to join in. Longer explanation - Last fall, I took a class about Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. In addition to being interesting in its own right, reading Thucydides made me think more historically about … Continue reading The Plato Project – Introduction
Why It’s Worth Arguing on Facebook (and at Thanksgiving, and at work…)
I'd like to speak to some common sentiments I often hear expressed among people I largely agree with about politics, race, Obamacare, global warming, etc. Here's a paraphrase of some things I've heard a lot of my fellow travelers say: "When I see something [insert crazy conservative relative here] posts on Facebook, I just scroll … Continue reading Why It’s Worth Arguing on Facebook (and at Thanksgiving, and at work…)
Original Positions 