Praise of Folly

Owen Turns 4; Kierra, 2

2007-08-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

And, my favorite pic of Kierra:

Distracted by Computer-Simulated War

2007-06-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

If I haven't posted in awhile, it's because I've become addicted to Age of Empires, which is sucking up all my free time, and even that time in-between free and non-free time that you really should probably be doing something constructive, especially since I need to be getting a paper written and prepare a syllabus, and research, for a course I'm assisting in the fall--yes, this time is being sucked dry as well. There's worse things in life I suppose...and besides, its the summer, right?

The Inverted World of Boondock Saints

2007-05-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it was a mistake to think that any movie is relaxing after an exhausting day at work. Boondock Saints would definitely be on my "movies not to watch for relaxation" list (if there was one). In fact, I can say without qualms that it was one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time. It wasn't so much from the sheer grittiness and the extreme profanity (although one can take only so much before it just begins to become annoying and even seem unrealistic), nor can I say the movie wasn't well made. Actually, it was the references to religion particularly, within the context of the story, that, although some would perhaps find this an added bonus, was what made me nauseous (figuratively speaking). Indeed, other than that opinion that would take killing "evil men" in the name of Christ as praisworthy, or other than another (perhaps more common) who find something definitely wrong with that picture, but cannot find the reason why doing such would be bad, I find the "religious" life of Connor and Murphy McManus to be nearly the exact inversion of the life of Christ.

Take the scene in the courtroom near the end, after they joined forces with whom they earlier tried to kill in the big house brawl, the "firefight." Right before they kill one of the foremost mobsters in Boston and the one who killed Rocco, everyone in the courtroom are told:

"You people have been chosen to reveal our existence to the world, you will witness what happens here today and you will tell of it later."

Here, the inversion is most apparent: whereas the "saints" went around Boston killing the lowlifes and the most evil among them, for, as they say "it is your corrupt we claim, it is your evil that will be struck by us," Christ's mission was the exact opposite. His work was the work of healing, of the restoration and redemption of the corrupt, of forgiveness and mercy of evil! And whereas the "saints" proclaimed loudly their work to the world and commanded that people "tell of it later," Christ, by contrast, commanded those whom he had healed not to tell anyone of what happened nor who did it. The latter point, I think, is the most profound, for it speaks not only of the mercy of Christ, but also his humility. The "saints" by contrast boasted about their deeds and had them proclaimed. They pray (if it can be called that), but never point to Christ for recognition. This is none other than the proud Pharisee. In short, the "saint's" religiosity is a joke. It holds little weight as religious at all, for it is entirely egoistic and essentially demonic.

Since the "saints" claim to be "shepherds" and "stewards" of God, in spite of the favorable opinions expressed at the end of the film, Connor and Murphy's killings are far more severe and grave than the common criminal who might kill out of emotional anguish, need, or revenge. It is therefore not disordered to a lesser extent precisely because they claim to be enacting the justice of God, rather, precisely because they claim to be enacting the justice of God, the act is far more disordered. Justice is God's and God's alone, that is what makes it the justice of God. It is impossible that this justice can be enacted by anyone other than God. Simply because we are not God, makes the deed all that more evil.

I am thus reminded of another courtroom scene, but this time an ancient one called the Sanhedrin where Christ was tried before his crucifixion. One accusation was that he cast out devils (healed) by the power of the devil. The saints, on the other hand, kill by the power God. The first claims God's work (healing) is by demonic power, the other claims demonic work (killing) is holy. In either case, as Christ responded earlier to the accusation, "a house divided against itself cannot stand." The strict inversions of lives and worlds that constitutes the difference between the "saints" and Christ, shows that the accusation against Christ is extremely fallacious, while it it true for the "saints."

I watched the movie to conclusion only with the hope of seeing these damned punk kids from South Boston finally get what was coming to them. No satisfaction. But of course it must not and cannot be another with the same like-minded "religious" intent that would commit such a crime. For it would denude the deed of all religiosity. The other problems of the film not mentioned here are its extreme binary perspective that divides the world into the "good" and the "evil." Also, it is essentially Calvinistic and Moralistic. But I do not deny that unfortunately the same ideas are not really held.

The Conference: a Success

2007-05-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Did I prove myself to be numbered among the greats in philosophy? By no means! But was my presentation a solid one this past weekend? Apparently not only I thought so. There were a number who really took to the theme of my comparison of Hegelian idealism and Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutic phenomenology. Really it was an epistemological battle between theories of consciousness, but a battle which, at the outcome, rendered Hegel obsolete; so much so that Ricoeur would say that after renouncing Hegelianism, "if we are not to give into the weaknesses of nostalgia, we much wish the courage of mourning." Such was the last line of my paper. A line I was expecting to be met with fury, but which actually, as I was told, was quite "beautiful."(?)

But the best part was just hanging out with the philosophy Grad students of Essex. They know a good time, and we had wonderful Thai dinner Friday night and a rousing (mini) pool match at the Goat, Saturday night. Here are a couple pictures from the Thai restaurant with most of the conference organizers along with the conference keynote, Karin de Boer, from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Alleluia!

2007-04-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

God our Father, creator of all,
today is the day of Easter joy.
This is the morning on which the Lord appeared to men
who had begun to lose hope
and opened their eyes to what the scriptures foretold:
that first he must die, and then he would rise
and ascend into his Father's glorious presence.
May the risen Lord
breathe on our minds and open our eyes
that we may know him in the breaking of the bread,
and follow him in his risen life.
Grant this Christ our Lord.

--Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.

Paper Presentation for the International Graduate Conference, Essex

2007-03-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to learn that a paper I wrote on the question of human finitude in Hegel and Paul Ricoeur was accepted for presentation at University of Essex's 10th International Graduate Conference. The title of the conference is "G. W. F. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit: After 200 Years." The keynotes are Dr. Karin de Boer from Groningen, presenting "Hegel's Antigone and Tragedy of Cultural Difference." As well as the University's own, Dr. Wayne Martin, who will be presenting on "Hegel's Failed Confessional Enterprise." I will therefore be traveling to England (actually returning!) at the end of April to participate in this one day conference.

Official conference literature has just been posted recently. A colleague of mine at Duquesne, Jim Bahoh, was also accepted, which certainly puts the Duquesne philosophy program in good light for those attending.

I put online the original copy of my paper. The one being presented will be a revised version of this one. I will put that revised copy up when it is completed.

Hilary Clinton: "All Things to All People"?

2007-03-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

Although these ambivalent words of St. Paul have always been the source of much theological controversy and difference of interpretation, it is at least safe to say he did not mean by them what seems to be the campaign policies of most politicians nowadays: radical indifference.

It occurred to me, after hearing Hilary Clinton's response when the question of the immorality of homosexuality was directly posed to her, "I'm going to leave that to others to conclude," that our democratic governmental system has rendered our politicians utterly incapable of holding any definite position on these kinds of issues. Those running for office, especially presidency, are so inclined toward winning votes that it stifles any evaluation of issues the public need to know precisely to make their vote. This is especially the case given the cultural diversity in America. Indeed, though Hilary is probably more inclined toward expressing that homosexuality is not immoral, she couldn't even take this position, no doubt knowing of whom even this would offend.

But it's more than a question about the immorality of homosexuality, its about having a president who will actually stand for something. Our ostentatiously indifferent politicians do not help the situation, for it only concretizes all the more this countries partisan split; they end then not even being "all things to all people."

The Zombie Theory of Awakeness

2007-02-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

Dominic and I are a sad lot this week! Neither of us have an operable vehicle: his battery died (most likely from the negative degree temperatures) and some of my lines exploded and so my car is now in the shop (most likely as well from the cold), and we both haven't had a shower in two days due to freezing water lines in both our bathroom sink and tub.

And the worst of it...we are running out of coffee creamer and beer!!

"It's a good thing we have a grocery store within walking distance (mind you, a Pittsburgher cannot buy alcohol in Pennsylvania grocery stores by law) because in a sense coffee is more important than beer," I said. "Beer just helps you to go to sleep which will happen eventually, but coffee helps you wake up, which may not happen eventually. Its one thing to be out of bed and walking around, and another to be awake!"

"Ahh, the zombie theory of awakeness," Dominic replied. "One's not fully awake without a cup of coffee."

Well, I would say without coffee and a shower--so unfortunately I can only hope to be half awake today!

Children of Men

2007-01-18T06:25:00.000-08:00

It is sad how the life of a child suddenly is of the utmost importance only when we no longer take this life for granted!

Watch it.

view trailer

The Morning After...

2007-01-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

...my first week of the semester. Although it's fantastic to only have classes two days out the week, and begin my weekend on Wednesday night(!), I've nevertheless realized that weekends for me, throughout this semester, will be my busiest time. Compared to last semester, this new one will perhaps be twice as difficult; the demand I feel from the courses just simply wasn't felt as intensely as this semester. That is partly to do with new professors, who seem more rigorous in there courses than last; and also because my courses this semester deal more with broad movements in philosophy rather than individual texts. For example, "Augustine and the Ancients," is, for the first time since the retirement of Dr. Ramirez, taught be an Ancient scholar. So he is dealing mostly with the connection between Ancient philosophy and Augustine's Christian (but nevertheless strongly Platonic) philosophy: its rejection, adoption, and adaptation. We will be covering from the Presocratics to Plato to the Neoplatonists and then Augustine. The course will be excellent, I think, but again very difficult with very much reading.

"Contemporary Neo-Pragmatism" will be the least intense of the three, but despite that, it is entirely new terrain for me. I don't know much about Pragmatism, let alone its contemporary form, but I have been very encouraged in the two meetings so far. I think the course will give me some knowledge of new movements in theories of action to deal more lucidly with the paper I'm now revising (more like rewriting for the third time) on Scheler and Wojtyla. The problem centers essentially around action theories, so this will provide me with some very useful ammunition!

Finally--the Husserl course: "Husserl's Internal Time Consciousness". This will, by far, be the most intense of my three courses. It is an advanced seminar on Husserl's phenomenology of time-consciousness, which despite some basic knowledge in Husserl, I have not even dealt with before--not even a little bit. The course, no doubt, will prove to be very fruitful for my Husserlian development, but sitting in a course, with only ten people, in a strict seminar (no lecture) format, as the only first year Grad student, can be a BIT intimidating. Perhaps if I pretend to know what I'm talking about...?

Anyway, there is the contents of my next 16 weeks in a nutshell.

Finally, A Day Off

2007-01-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

The previous semester has come and gone, with, thankfully, few permanent tragic surprises. I say permanent because I did mistakenly receive an incomplete for one, but it is currently being worked out. I made SURE to Dr. Polansky that those countless hours sitting in front of my computer, flipping hopelessly through the pages of Aristotle's Parva Naturalia, praying that something interesting would come to mind on which I could fill four pages, would not, in the end, go to waste. The papers on the De anima were not as grooling.

And then there was my Magum Opus on Hegel and Ricoeur, for Dr. Rockmore's course, that I will be revising, indeed perhaps hundreds of times, before I submit it for the North American Society for Philosophical Hermeneutics annual conference by June, for the set September date at Villanova University in Philadelphia. I really think I struck something with this paper: implicitly, how the concept of Intentionality is the groundwork for any philosophy of Love. But I have yet to attempt to penetrate Rockmore's impenetrable jargon in the margins of my paper to have a clue as to whether I treated Hegel all that well.

But its finished. And after putting in a massive amount hours keeping PNC Bank's assets secure...hmmm...; some great times with my family--especially my niece and nephew--over Christmas and New Years, even despite the illness, which is now going on a week and a half, I'm about to start another semester. Today is finally a day off with which I hope to take a breather and get some much needed beginning-of-the-year work done on campus. Not too much of a breather in fact, since I will be teaching for part of the Intro to Philosophy course (Basic Philosophical Questions) tomorrow morning.

But times a wastin... Cheers.

A Weekend Get-Away, Just Me and Georg

2006-12-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

Come morning (Friday), I will be off on a weekend with just me and the dead German idealist, Georg Freidrich; that's Hegel (thoughts of Weekend at Bernies come to mind). Yep, that's right, a weekend away, right here in my own room...sitting at my desk...typing on my computer...endlessly...endlessly, all weekend. Will it EVER STOP?! Oh, Hegel, RELENT!...just go away. Leave me to my Scheler or Ricoeur, Levinas or Ponty. Give me something with meaning; without masses of ambiguity, hidden under the wrinkled blanket of obscurity entitled Phenomenology of Spirit. The impenetrable jargon just clouds the mind, leaving it throbbing like a bad hangover from a real get-away weekend! Well...perhaps that's little over-exaggeration.

The title: "Criticizing Concsiousness: The Subject as Finite in Hegel and Ricoeur." Check my philosophy blog later for a summary if you're interested.

Needless to say, I won't be able to write until I get back! Wish me a safe journey, please!

Celebrity Face Recognition

2006-12-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

My brother put up on his blog a pretty cool website where you can download a picture of yourself and will receive a number of celebrity faces that resemble you. However, I noticed some kinks: the pictures that come up not only resemble your face, but resembles also your posture: the way you hold your mouth (in a smile or closed, for example), the direction you are looking in, etc. Notice this in these two pictures that I used of myself. Oh, and by the way, by niece has a 80% chance of growing up to look like Brittany Spears!

Notice with this group how they are all looking slightly the same direction and have their mouths closed

Notice here though how they are all smiling. But do I really look like these people?

Napoleon Skywalker

2006-11-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

I know you probably thought it would be way too good to have the two best movies in one, but just when you were about to head into despair because you could never see Napoleon Dynamite and Star Wars at the same time, here is what you have been searching for this whole time. Yep, you guessed it. The one and only NAPOLEON SKYWALKER. (He must be either Anakin's father or Luke's son. It is not clear.)

Pray for the Holy Father

2006-11-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

The following prayer was composed by Bishop William E. Lori, supreme chaplain, for the Spiritual Pilgrimage with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his Nov. 28-Dec. 1 pastoral visit to Turkey.

Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, we humbly ask that you sustain, inspire, and protect your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, as he goes on pilgrimage to Turkey – a land to which St. Paul brought the Gospel of your Son; a land where once the Mother of your Son, the Seat of Wisdom, dwelt; a land where faith in your Son’s true divinity was definitively professed. Bless our Holy Father, who comes as a messenger of truth and love to all people of faith and good will dwelling in this land so rich in history. In the power of the Holy Spirit, may this visit of the Holy Father bring about deeper ties of understanding, cooperation, and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and those who profess Islam. May the prayers and events of these historic days greatly contribute both to greater accord among those who worship you, the living and true God, and also to peace in our world so often torn apart by war and sectarian violence.

We also ask, O Heavenly Father, that you watch over and protect Pope Benedict and entrust him to the loving care of Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, a title cherished both by Catholics and Muslims. Through her prayers and maternal love, may Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Nativity Story

2006-11-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

Why have I not heard of this coming film until now? Am I behind? Does everyone else know about this film on the story of the Nativity, releasing on December 1st, except for me. I wouldn't be surprised! That's what happens I guess when you live your life with your face stuck in the books of Hegel, Ricoeur, or Aristotle.

I am very impressed, however, that this movie will be coming out. It seems it will be very good and has been very well done (in terms of historical and cultural accuracy), judging from the trailers and other clips on The Nativity Story website. Although, I can't help but think that people's experience of this film will be tainted by too much bickering over details, viz., the details surrounding the degree of Mary's knowledge of who this Child is, or how (for Catholics perhaps most likely) Mary will inevitably be "inaccurately" portrayed as being perhaps too "human," in the finite sense of humanity, and not living up to her status as immaculate. I have already seen a review of someone complaining that Joseph was portrayed too young. Indeed, in the past, I myself would have assuredly caused a debate over such details. Although they are not necessarily unimportant, I can see now how the most important thing is how people experience God in the film and may come to a closer relationship; I am sick of all the bickering between Christians on these points and think Christians as a whole should good-heartedly promote this film. This movie will be excellent for that; I was moved simply from seeing the trailers.

"The Nativity Story chronicles the arduous journey of two people, Mary and Joseph, a miraculous pregnancy, and the history-defining birth of Jesus." Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (as Queen of Naboo)) as Mary and Oscar Issac (Guerrilla) as Joseph.

In any case, I think it's amazing that these high quality films on the life of Christ are continually being released. The Passion of the Christ has set a precedent in contemporary film, at least to the extent that it gives hope to Christian film-makers, insofar as it shows that such movies can actually be released and do well in the public square. I'm greatly looking forward to this one.

Excellence in German Film

2006-11-18T15:52:00.000-08:00

Who ever said Germans couldn't make movies? Granted, German films are not all that common, the film, Run Lola Run (1998), directed by Tom Tykwer, is an excellent film that gives Germans a name for themselves in film. Tykwer has directed a number of films since this one, his most recent being the movie currently in theaters, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, as well as Ich Dich Auch, also in 2006.

Lola Rennt, or Run Lola Run, is a film simply about a girl's (Lola) attempts to obtain $100,000 in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend (Manni) from death by a mobster boss if the money is not obtained in that time. The process of trying to obtain the money is repeated three times, each time showing how the different actions on Lola's part play out both in the future lives, and the immediate circumstances, of those she encounters.

Professor Stewart showed this film today in the Basic Philosophical Questions (BPQ) course for which I am currently teaching assisting. Needless to say it generated some good discussion, especially about the spiritual significance and symbolism of the "third attempt" and the comparison of the three attempts to discover the (many times very subtle) interconnections. Check it out!

Star Wars Episode III: A Lost Hope

2006-11-14T22:22:00.000-08:00

"Your journey to the Dark Side is almost complete" ... "and screwed we all will be."

Here are some scene's Lucas forgot to include in the new prequal editions.

I know, I confess, I'm on a stupidvideos kick right now. This is just too good to pass up!

Bush on Global Warming

2006-11-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

With President Bush's presidency nearing an end here in less than only two more years. It is of the utmost importance to be attentive, in his remaining time left, to all the enriching wisdom our "commander and chief of the world" has to offer our Nation, the great United States of America.

Below is a link to a very important special address on global warming that must be heeded by America's citizens, especially, in our time. We learn some very important information in this address, such as, that global warming is "increasing lava flows," that the president begins his day "thinking about the warming of the globe," that "Adam and Eve drove an Excursion," and that another important issue is "keeping steroids out of T-ball."

Anyway here is the link: Bush on Global Warming.

note: no disrespect to the president is intended by this post.

"Praise of Folly": Between Erasmus and St. Paul

2006-11-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

From my blog title, "Praise of Folly," it is immediately evident I'm implying a double reference. First, it is meant as a tribute to Desiderius Erasmus and his great satire of the corruption of the Church in Praise of Folly, which he wrote while staying at the home of Thomas More (now Saint) immediately after his visit to Rome, and who had meant the original Greek title to be a pun on More's name: Moriae Encomium. The author of the Introduction of the Penguin edition of this work states that "Erasmus, just back from Italy, was ill, disillusioned at the state of the Church under Julius II...." Erasmus, in satirical fashion, moves "from lighthearted banter to a serious indictment of theologians and churchmen," while implementing this theme that I have also emphasized (and is my second reference): St. Paul's outstanding description of "the folly of the Cross" in the first chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians. This Corinthian reference I have quoted in my blog description.

Whether this title will necessarily have any indication of what the contents of my blog will be, I have no idea. But I needed another blog, other than my first, The Charioteer, to discuss something other than philosophy, and so as not to express only the current philosophical happenings in my life. Therefore, I hope this blog will contain more about my life, per se (and not only my thoughts). But I run into the problem of being unable to separate the two. So if I get too "intellectual," so they say, or what is so-called, "abstract," like the the first part of this post may perhaps boarder on, I will try to keep in mind what an undergraduate professor of mine once said: philosophers have this annoying tendency to think that the average person actually puts in serious scrutiny their own conscious experience! In other words, philosophers tend to think everyone thinks in the philosophical manner they do! This, of course, is not as much a jab on the "average person" as it is on philosophers--They're the eccentric ones...not everyone else!

Yes, I admit it. But isn't everyone a philosopher? Indeed. Of course, not in the strict sense, but in a general one, insofar as we all ask question. Now, I am studying to be one of those "philosophers" in a strict sense, but I also think, even in studying philosophy, I haven't lost my childlike or even practical side. In fact, the professor of the Intro to Philosophy course which I'm currently a Teaching Assistant for, said to the class that, "don't you know an adult is only a child in a big body." And he further explains how this becomes most apparent to those who have ever experienced being a parent to one's own (elderly) parents. Professor Stewart, despite his extremely eccentric film scripts about, of example, a giant pimple taking over Los Angeles, etc., has a great academic attitude that is worth exemplifying and learning from; it is because he doesn't have an academic attitude! He is furthest from the "professorial" cliche.

In short, I want to a place to comment in a not strictly so-called, philosophical manner. If, however, the reader does want to read my occasional philosophical musings, please see my blog, The Charioteer at soaringauriga.blogspot.com. I am currently involved in an interesting comparison between Martin Heidegger and Max Scheler, among other things.

"And so I'll say goodbye. Clap your hands, live well, and drink, distinguished initiates of FOLLY."