Who Knew?
Since prior to my changing my major my only overt brush with philosophy, outside of knowing that my father had majored in it in College was the Monty Python sketch of the football match between the modern philosophers and the ancient philosophers. Well, that and the Philosopher's Song from Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. I really didn't know what to expect before I ventured into the study of Philosophy this month for my Gradual School Class.
After my first weekend, which consisted of 20 hours of straight lecture over 2 days on Modern Philosophy. Well, that isn't actually true, while that is what it was supposed to be, but it was actually a mish-mash of topics from the ancients to the moderns. The funniest coincidence of the entire weekend happened when we discovered that in our reading of Descartes he actually disappears on page 269 of the text (in a proof of something he is quoted as saying "I think not") If you get that joke you are know enough philosophy to deserve the laugh.
In our lecture we never got past Descartes, even though we were supposed to have progressed through Spinoza and on to Leibnitz this weekend. All of the Rationalists. I came away with a notebook full of notes and a headache that still hasn't gone away.
I know that I will be able to assimilate this stuff, I may just have to read more than the assigned text to get a handle on it.
What really amazes me is, I am taking these philosophy classes because they are required for graduation. My father on the other hand chose to study this stuff what kind of demented mind chooses to study philosophy? Oh I guess the kind of demented mind that produced me.
Dad, its all your fault, if you have any pull up there in heaven, send me some help with this homework, PLEASE!
Pax
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1 comment:
Spinoza, you know, was a lens maker. One day, while at work, he fell into a vat of molten glass, and made a spectacle of himself!
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