Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Evaluations

On my PHI 110 (Beginning Philosophy) course:
"I'm not very interested in this subject. Too many philosophical reading [sic] and not enough talk about philosophy."
Enjoy.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Query (Emerson)

Toward the end of "Education," Emerson says:
Every mind should be allowed to make its own statement in action, and its balance will appear. In these judgments one needs that foresight which was attributed to an eminent reformer, of whom it was said "his patience could see in the bud of the aloe the blossom at the end of a hundred years."
Does anyone have any ideas about the source of that quotation, or who the "eminent reformer" might be?

Friday, June 07, 2013

Patience and Practical Wisdom

Here's a new draft that stitches together some material from two previous (conference) papers, and that I'm calling "Patience and Practical Wisdom." It will look rather familiar to regular visitors. Nonetheless, feedback would be appreciated. I begin with a quote from Weil--“We do not have to understand new things, but by dint of patience, effort and method to come to understand with our whole self the truths which are evident” (Gravity and Grace, p. 116)--and suggest a focus on the role of patience in promoting the development and exercise of practical wisdom. I have a feeling that I may not have said as much as some would prefer (or insist upon) about what practical wisdom itself is, and that perhaps there's more gesturing than arguing (again, at least that some might think there's an imbalance here). You tell me.

I hope my readers are having a good summer; I know Duncan Richter is.