Category: Life of the Mind
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The Ability to Write and to Comprehend a Good, Long Sentence . . .
. . . is one mark of an educated mind. You won't learn this in the English Department of Rutgers, however. Example: If you value the life of the mind, the pursuit of truth, the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge, high culture and its transmission, in short, the classical values of the university as set…
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Machiavelli on the Pleasure of Study
Although he was decidedly of the world and not merely in it, Machiavelli knew how to retreat from its brutality into the serene precincts of the life of the mind and lose himself there, for a time, in conversations with the ancients. I return home and enter my study; on the threshold I take off…
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Should Humanities Departments be Shut Down?
The following is from a reader who takes issue with Chad McIntosh's Euthanizing Liberty. Secondarily, he takes issue with me since I basically endorse McIntosh's contentions. McIntosh maintains that . . . the closure of philosophy departments, along with others in the humanities, [is] a good thing, for three reasons. First, institutions of higher education…
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Euthanizing Liberty
Chad McIntosh sees an upside in the recent closures of philosophy programs. I agree with him. In conclusion, I now see the closure of philosophy departments, along with others in the humanities, as a good thing, for three reasons. First, institutions of higher education have already devolved to the point that the humanities are a…
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A Philosopher’ Life
For some reason I just now thought of Irving Thalberg Jr.'s ENIGMAS OF AGENCY. I knew he had died in the '80s, so I looked him up and found this fascinating account of the man and his (once famous) father. Long, but good.
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‘Educate’ and ‘Inform’
To use 'educate' in place of 'inform' shows a lack of education. Related: Whitehead on Education and Information
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Roger Kimball on Roger Scruton (1944-2020) on Tradition, Authority and Prejudice
Here: Sir Roger wrote several times about his political maturation, most fully, perhaps, in “Why I became a conservative,” in The New Criterion in 2003. There were two answers, one negative, one positive. The negative answer was the visceral repudiation of civilization he witnessed in Paris in 1968: slogans defacing walls, shattered shop windows, and…
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Words and Distinctions
A wise man does not quibble over words, but he insists on distinctions.
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We Lesser Lights
The great thinkers think for humanity, and the great writers write for humanity. The great teachers are teachers of humanity. Buddha was such a one and so were Jesus and Socrates. We lesser lights think and write to clear our heads, and to appropriate what we have inherited. Was du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast,erwirb…
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Perfectionism
Some, of modest ability, publish too much; others, of greater ability, are stymied by perfectionism. Perfectionism is a curse! Leave perfection to the gods. The most that can be asked of a mortal is that he strive for excellence within the limits of time, talent, and circumstance. Striving is not achieving, and excellence is not…
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On ‘Illegal Alien’ and ‘Illegal Immigrant’
Liberals, whose love of political correctness gets the better of their intellects, typically object to the phrase 'illegal alien.' But why? Are these people not in our country illegally, as the result of breaking laws? And are they not aliens, people from another country? "But you are labeling them!" Yes, of course. Label we must if…
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Word of the Day: Demesne
Merriam-Webster: 1: legal possession of land as one's own 2: manorial land actually possessed by the lord and not held by tenants 3a: the land attached to a mansion b: landed property : ESTATE c: REGION sense 2, TERRITORY 4: REALM sense 2, DOMAIN How does one acquire a large vocabulary? The first rule is to read, read widely, and read worthwhile materials, especially old books and…
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Evening and Morning
The quality of the first will affect the quality of the second. An evening of drinking and dancing is no preparation for a morning of thinking and trancing. Related: Suggestions on How to Study