Okay. Okay. This post isn't about Aristotle either, but it is about classes. They are extraordinary long here. Two two hour classes, back to back. And lectures. Straight up. I am recording them, because, well, sometimes the points are so intricate that my written notes don't elucidate much, so I have to return to what the professor said, and then (maybe) there's hope of understanding. But they are good lectures -- engaging, provocative, stimulating. Just long. Long, and I grow tired. I'm tired already. I need snacks. Good snacks. Energizing snacks.
It is an interesting phenomenon that because of the length of the lectures, each professor's personality comes through even in one session. Their quirks/oddities, mannerisms, and other such notions are on their sleeves, as it were. Three examples of three professors that I have. One of them, at the end of his sentences, will say, "Ça va?" That's French -- he's French. And it means, something along the lines (in this context), are you tracking? I think it means, most often, how is it going? But whatever. Another professor, uses 'yes, yes' as a verbal filler. Sometimes just a single 'yes,' but more often than not, it is double. Lastly, and most professorially, I have a professor that will sometimes stop -- maybe he's caught someone's eye contact, or feels a breeze, or whatever -- and pause. Wait for it. "Where was I?" Or similar expressions to that effect. Anyways, it's quite fun.
But I am seriously considering bringing snacks.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Opening a Question
I believe it was Gadamer (or maybe it was Socrates, performatively) who said that the question is more fundamental to knowledge than the answer. The question is what opens up the horizon, enables an answer or answers, as the case may be.
So, I am trying to open up my question, establish one. And I am finding that in order to open up a question, I already have to know a lot. Well, sort of. The specificity of the thesis requires that the question be a specific question or project. This enables developed argumentation and a sustained reading of all sources; a dialogue, if you will.
As such, I have begun reading all sorts of things. Not only Aristotle, but articles on Aristotle, books on Aristotle, very specific articles that use terminology that I have no idea what it means in the course of the literature and tradition. It is similar to what I believe is the process of uncovering a new world. So, what are my questions?
How is touch described, both by Aristotle, Plato, and the Presocratics? What is touch's relation to the soul? How does touch function as a sense? What is the sense-organ of touch? Does touch have a medium analogous to the other senses? How has touch been treated in philosophers since Aristotle? What is the difference between touching something and grasping something? Does touch condition the other senses? Is touch in some sense more original or primary?
These are some of the questions I am exploring and the ones that I am learning what it means to ask.
So, I am trying to open up my question, establish one. And I am finding that in order to open up a question, I already have to know a lot. Well, sort of. The specificity of the thesis requires that the question be a specific question or project. This enables developed argumentation and a sustained reading of all sources; a dialogue, if you will.
As such, I have begun reading all sorts of things. Not only Aristotle, but articles on Aristotle, books on Aristotle, very specific articles that use terminology that I have no idea what it means in the course of the literature and tradition. It is similar to what I believe is the process of uncovering a new world. So, what are my questions?
How is touch described, both by Aristotle, Plato, and the Presocratics? What is touch's relation to the soul? How does touch function as a sense? What is the sense-organ of touch? Does touch have a medium analogous to the other senses? How has touch been treated in philosophers since Aristotle? What is the difference between touching something and grasping something? Does touch condition the other senses? Is touch in some sense more original or primary?
These are some of the questions I am exploring and the ones that I am learning what it means to ask.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Re-Opening a Blog
Well, I am back to blogging. And this time I will be updating more often, because I will be using this blog to express my thoughts and my confusion about things going in my philosophical education. So I apologize from the outset: this will be a little rawer than most blog entries one may read on the internet, but hopefully as the year goes on, the obscurities will lessen and there will be understanding -- both you and me, and between me and the text that I am reading.
HOUSEKEEPING:
I will be including bibliographic information, just in case there is anyone out there curious to read what I am reading and with whom a dialogue would develop. Citations will be in Chicago style, or if not, at least consistent. I will mainly be interacting with Aristotle, so I will be using the Bekker numbers liberally. Okay. That's housekeeping.
WHY?
A good question. I am currently a graduate student, and this year I will be working on my thesis, which is still in an infantile stage. And I need a place where I can process my thoughts, and since I am a verbal processor, I feel the need that I have to be talking to someone. Even if no one ever reads this blog, it will feel like I am talking to someone. Cool? And if someone is reading this, thank you so much! Seriously. Lots of validation going on. Also, if you think you have a thought or idea, please share. I'm going to need all the help I can get. I should learn how to cite from a blog post...
THE PROJECT:
The project that I am undertaking for my thesis is an investigation of the sense of touch in Aristotle, particularly in the de Anima. I will be focusing on how the sense of touch is paramount to the human soul, arguing how this is one of Aristotle's responses to Platonic dualism. Hopefully, I will be able to return to what started me on this project in the first place: contemporary phenomenology. In the last sixty years or so, there has been a growing, renewed interest in describing the phenomenon/phenomena of touch, and so Aristotle thoughts on it have been revisited. If I have the room, I will be defending Aristotle's notions of touch with Merleau-Ponty, and perhaps Jean-Louis Chrétien, Jacques Derrida, and Jean-Luc Nancy. But in the end, that may have to be a different project.
Well, if you are still reading this, thank you again. It will be an adventure, that's not in doubt. Will it be exciting? For some, I hope it will be. So, as Edmund Husserl admonished: to the things themselves!
HOUSEKEEPING:
I will be including bibliographic information, just in case there is anyone out there curious to read what I am reading and with whom a dialogue would develop. Citations will be in Chicago style, or if not, at least consistent. I will mainly be interacting with Aristotle, so I will be using the Bekker numbers liberally. Okay. That's housekeeping.
WHY?
A good question. I am currently a graduate student, and this year I will be working on my thesis, which is still in an infantile stage. And I need a place where I can process my thoughts, and since I am a verbal processor, I feel the need that I have to be talking to someone. Even if no one ever reads this blog, it will feel like I am talking to someone. Cool? And if someone is reading this, thank you so much! Seriously. Lots of validation going on. Also, if you think you have a thought or idea, please share. I'm going to need all the help I can get. I should learn how to cite from a blog post...
THE PROJECT:
The project that I am undertaking for my thesis is an investigation of the sense of touch in Aristotle, particularly in the de Anima. I will be focusing on how the sense of touch is paramount to the human soul, arguing how this is one of Aristotle's responses to Platonic dualism. Hopefully, I will be able to return to what started me on this project in the first place: contemporary phenomenology. In the last sixty years or so, there has been a growing, renewed interest in describing the phenomenon/phenomena of touch, and so Aristotle thoughts on it have been revisited. If I have the room, I will be defending Aristotle's notions of touch with Merleau-Ponty, and perhaps Jean-Louis Chrétien, Jacques Derrida, and Jean-Luc Nancy. But in the end, that may have to be a different project.
Well, if you are still reading this, thank you again. It will be an adventure, that's not in doubt. Will it be exciting? For some, I hope it will be. So, as Edmund Husserl admonished: to the things themselves!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
On My Infinite Regress
Finals approaching at school brings out the irresponsible child in me. All I want to do is play Prefect Dark, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Command & Conquer. I guess finals also brings out the nostalgia.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Coming From 30000
Oh, wow. Planes have Wi-Fi. I am flying over Jacksonville, FL...moving from 30000 to 33000. This is crazy, although it would be crazier to blog from space. Perhaps, one day. Perhaps. Anyways, I just wanted to write this, because this is the highest I've ever written. Isn't it great? Well, I guess that is all I really wanted to say. Peace!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The End is in the Beginning
((This is a short-short I am writing in series of short-shorts. I hope you enjoy!))
This is the end. He said goodbye. And don’t be afraid, we’ll both be okay. Trust me.
I still don’t understand.
Do you understand that I have to do this? This place is killing me.
Why do you want to leave; aren’t you happy here?
I have to go, and you can’t come. You’re too much of this place.
Their eyes had met, and they both spoke silently all the words both needed to say. He sighed, and that was all she wanted. She had walked up to him, breathed deeply and waited.
She knew when she saw him. The way he was standing revealed too much: the shrug in his shoulder, the defeated look, and the green, ratty hat. All the way to the park her hands had trembled on the steering wheel. She had promised to met him that afternoon, and for five hours time felt like it was moving backwards. But he had called, and he never called on Tuesday mornings. She knew then. When James and Karen first met, she never thought it would end like this.
This is the end. He said goodbye. And don’t be afraid, we’ll both be okay. Trust me.
I still don’t understand.
Do you understand that I have to do this? This place is killing me.
Why do you want to leave; aren’t you happy here?
I have to go, and you can’t come. You’re too much of this place.
Their eyes had met, and they both spoke silently all the words both needed to say. He sighed, and that was all she wanted. She had walked up to him, breathed deeply and waited.
She knew when she saw him. The way he was standing revealed too much: the shrug in his shoulder, the defeated look, and the green, ratty hat. All the way to the park her hands had trembled on the steering wheel. She had promised to met him that afternoon, and for five hours time felt like it was moving backwards. But he had called, and he never called on Tuesday mornings. She knew then. When James and Karen first met, she never thought it would end like this.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Feeling Manic
I guess that's not a good thing, but right now, although I am tired, I am feeling a little manic. Anything could happen. Anything. Seriously, I am beginning to see the almost endless possibilities of life. My life. This crazy thing that keeps flying by, dragging me along with it. I don't even know who I am writing to right now, and that's a little weird. But that's okay. You see? I am a little scattered. Anyone write to write me letters? Be my pen-pal? It's okay if no one does. I'll keep writing to myself, but I like dialogue. Seriously. And I didn't have caffeine today. Sugar, yes, but even that was not recently.
How many words can I write? What will happen when they have left my fingers into cyberspace, where you can read them divorced from the person I am. In reading them, I hope you are charitable and can become the type of person you want to become. That doesn't mean you should critique this or that, but having a critical disposition may be superfluous. Who are you, anyway? I am curious. Perhaps that has to deal with the manic.
Do these words tell a story? Do they hint at something? Joy? Pain? Beauty? Sorrow? All of it mixed together in a stew that makes the taster sick? Sorry -- this is my life; I'll try to work out all the chunks.
I am driving home for Christmas. And there will be stops along the way. Anyone traveling from Atlantis? Or Atlanta to Central Florida around the 22nd? 21st? Oh well. I expect there are some creepers out there, but seriously, if you're reading this, really consider who you are.
My laundry is probably dry. I got to go.
How many words can I write? What will happen when they have left my fingers into cyberspace, where you can read them divorced from the person I am. In reading them, I hope you are charitable and can become the type of person you want to become. That doesn't mean you should critique this or that, but having a critical disposition may be superfluous. Who are you, anyway? I am curious. Perhaps that has to deal with the manic.
Do these words tell a story? Do they hint at something? Joy? Pain? Beauty? Sorrow? All of it mixed together in a stew that makes the taster sick? Sorry -- this is my life; I'll try to work out all the chunks.
I am driving home for Christmas. And there will be stops along the way. Anyone traveling from Atlantis? Or Atlanta to Central Florida around the 22nd? 21st? Oh well. I expect there are some creepers out there, but seriously, if you're reading this, really consider who you are.
My laundry is probably dry. I got to go.
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