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Baseball
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a baseball fan. I’ve always wanted to be, but it just isn’t in my blood to follow all the stats and players. But with my son playing Little League, my interest has spiked considerably. It is such a beautiful game — all the waiting, with sudden intricate… Continue reading
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Contrasting evaluations
From my big survey course taught last spring: (con) “His beard was distracting.” (pro) “Huenemann’s beard was awesome! He looks like the terrier off of Lady and the Tramp!” Continue reading
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Initial thoughts on Young’s Nietzsche biography
I just finished Julian Young’s Friedrich Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography (Cambridge), and wanted to share some initial thoughts about it. Some readers of this blog may wish to straighten me out on a few things, or lend their own observations. I’ll eventually work these first impressions into a more formal review. First things first: this… Continue reading
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Allen Toussaint
I happened across a recording of Allen Toussaint, a great New Orleans musician, and promptly bought his CD, The Bright Mississippi. Lots of old tunes, with bluesy piano that alternates between the old church style and something more appropriate to a brothel. But it’s the performance of “St. James Infirmary” that really makes the album.… Continue reading
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A geeky confession
OK, here it is: I really dig computer puzzle games with fantasy themes. Several years ago I tried “Myst” and became became hooked on the whole series of games. I am proud to say I completed Myst 1-4 (yes, I consulted cheats a few times), but didn’t mess with Uru, and haven’t yet convinced myself… Continue reading
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An odd quote from my Spinoza manuscript
“All things are necessitated by God with stark raving geometrical necessity.” I like the ring of that. Continue reading
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If only it were true
The context: purely speculative musings. Wife: “But if you were to go away for two weeks, who could step in and take over your life?” Me: “Hmm, I’m not sure … maybe Buffalo Bill.” Continue reading
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The grades are in …
…and so ends another academic year. As I related in an earlier post, it has been a thrilling term in some ways, with an uninterrupted flow of ideas, questions and confusions. My only complaint has been not enough leisure to try to pursue a few of the items with greater care. I hope over the… Continue reading
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Ridiculous erudition
As I see it, there are two big events within professorhood (that is, after getting hired in the first place, and before giving it up). The first is getting tenure, when the threat of being fired is removed. The second is receiving a final promotion to full professor, where the threat of not getting promoted… Continue reading
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Attention Portuguese Spinozists
If the only thing holding you back from ordering a copy of Interpreting Spinoza is that it isn’t in Portuguese, then take heart: I’ve been informed that a translated edition is in the works. Now the book will be in a language Spinoza himself could have read! Continue reading
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Talking at BYU
I visited BYU on Thursday, spoke to their Philosophy Club on “Hume, Kant, and Ultimate Reality,” and spoke to their faculty about the reality of individuals in Spinoza. I had a great time, and was happy to build upon the friendships with faculty members there. The talk about “ultimate reality” grew from these musings about… Continue reading
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Truth in philosophy
Truth in philosophy, though not to be despaired of, is so complex and many-sided, so multi-faced, that any philosopher’s work, if it is to have any unity and coherence, must at best emphasize some aspects of the truth, to the neglect of others which may strike another philosopher with more force. – P. F. Strawson,… Continue reading
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Interpreting Spinoza now in paperback
… and a handsome volume it is. I updated the amazon link on the right. Continue reading
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Well, I made it
The University of Utah graciously invited me to try once again to lecture on Nietzsche without fainting. (See the story of my earlier failure here.) So yesterday I visited their campus, lectured to my friend’s existentialism class, and managed to remain ‘perpendicular to the earth’ for a faculty lecture. I had a great time. I… Continue reading
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Theoretical constraint
“[That the universe is spatiotemporal in its fundamental nature] is in doubt in present-day physics and cosmology…. Note that if temporality goes, i.e. not just spacetime but temporality in any form, then experience also goes, given that experience requires time. One of the fine consequences of this is that there never has been any suffering.… Continue reading
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An harried update
Don’t you just love people who precede an “h” word with an “an”? This is not complaining. But this term I’m teaching over 240 students in all, distributed subject-wise among Metaphysics, Kant & the 19th Century, and an Humanities Breadth Course (“Civilization”). Just the book-keeping end of things is running me ragged. But, as I… Continue reading
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Strawson, Real Materialism
What exactly are the boundaries around the things we are likely to call physical? Do all material things have mass? But some of the elements of theoretical physics might not have mass. Do they have to take up space, or have determinate spatial location? Again, some theoretical entities lack these as well. Galen Strawson doesn’t… Continue reading
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