Philosopher Fridays
One of my blog resolutions for 2014 was to lay the foundation for all the philosophical name-dropping I tend to do. It’s a habit born in an academic context. When you first start to learn about new philosophic concepts, sometimes it’s easier to get your point across by using a figure as a short hand for a certain set of assumptions and a particular outlook. You can gather up a whole world view and all its implications by simply calling it “Arendtian” or “Heideggerian” and people in the know will know what you mean.
This is great when you’re talking to other academics, but sometimes it makes people who aren’t in the know feel excluded, like they’ll never be able to understand what you’re saying. That’s almost never true. When I drop names in this way, it’s often because I don’t think I can explain what I mean clearly and concisely enough, so I wrap the concept up into the citation, feeding two birds with one seed. To be frank, it’s a slightly lazy way of communicating, because it puts the onus on others to look up figures to decipher what I mean. To be even more frank, knowing this probably won’t stop me from doing it.
To address this, I’m going to start a series called “Philosopher Fridays”, where I pick a figure to which I consistently return (and which I’ll likely name-drop or have already name-dropped at some point) and explore what he or she has to offer to my understanding of story-telling and narrative. My posts won’t be comprehensive representations of the figures, but rather focus on what I’ve found most intriguing about them. And although all of the writing is strictly my own and previously unpublished, I will indicate when I have been, or even may have been, influenced by my experiences in undergraduate and graduate courses, especially when my posts draw from papers I submitted for credit.
I will be listing my posts here as I write them. Also, I take requests, so don’t be shy.
- Averroes (1126-1198 AD)
- Arendt (1906-1975)
- Arendt, Part Two
- Rousseau (1712-1778)
- Rousseau, Part Two
- Locke (1632-1704)
- Russell (1872-1970)
- Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
- Boethius (480-524/5)
- Heraclitus (fl. 500 B.C.)
- Husserl, Part One
- Husserl, Part Two
- Hegel (1770–1831)
- Aquinas, (1225-1274)
- Pascal (1623-1662)
- Anselm (1033-1109)
- Augustine (354-430)
- Arendt, Part Three
- Benjamin (1892-1940)
- Benjmain, Part Two
- Benjamin, Part Three
- Berkeley (1685-1753)
12 thoughts on “Philosopher Fridays”
brett milner
Awaiting your take on Schoepenhauer 🙂
Michelle Joelle
Noted. He’s a little outside my normal wheelhouse, but I’ll see what I can do!
Abby Boid
Any time for a bit of Popper?
Michelle Joelle
Ooh, that’s an excellent suggestion. It’s one I’ll have to research, but it’s going on my to-do list!
Robb
I’d like to see a Popper one too!
rung2diotimasladder
I totally agree with you about the use of academic shorthand. I feel, while efficacious for those in the know, it actually makes me lazy, because then I don’t have to explain the matter to myself. I challenge myself to avoid those ‘-ology’ words as well, because a lot of times people don’t really know what they mean or they’ve been used in so many different contexts that you end up having to back track and explain anyways.
Michelle Joelle
Indeed. I actually have it in mind to tackle philosophical vocabulary in a similar series when I run dry on inspiration for Philosopher Fridays (or simply wish to take a break).
rung2diotimasladder
That would be awesome! I might have to print it out and staple it to my wall. Please do it.
Joshua Scott Hotchkin
A postmodern world requires some postmodern philosophy. Check out some Robert Anton Wilson if you ever wish to explore that route. 🙂
Michelle Joelle
Oh, I’m afraid I’d be quite out of my depths. I’ll give it a shot when I’ve got some time. It may be a while, but it won’t be forgotten.
whitefrozen
Duns Scotus. And I’ll give you five bucks if you can make his ‘formal distinction’ easily understandable.
Michelle Joelle
This is not a bet I think I can win! That’s up there with Descartes’ clear and distinct ideas in the “you just have to get it” category for me.