Category: Literary Matters
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Antonin Scalia as Writer
Andrew Ferguson quotes the great jurist in The Justice as Writer: . . . no construction should call attention to its own grammatical correctness. Finding no other formulation that could make the point in quite the way I wanted, I decided to be ungrammatical instead of pedantic. A good rule, within limits. The forward momentum…
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The Mystery of Language: Tool, Enabler, Dominatrix?
I have spoken before, romantically no doubt, of the mother tongue as our alma mater, our dear mother to whom we owe honor. Mater and matrix of our thoughts, she is yet deeper and higher than our thoughts, their sacred Enabler. So I was pleased to come across a similar, albeit more trenchant, observation in…
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What Problem Does Literary Fiction Pose?
More than one. Here is one. And as old Chisholm used to say, you are not philosophizing unless you have a puzzle. So try on this aporetic triad for size: 1. Purely fictional objects do not exist. 2. There are true sentences about purely fictional objects, e.g., 'Sherlock Holmes is a detective' and 'Sherlock Holmes…
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On Writing Well: The Example of William James
This from a graduate student in philosophy: I have always been an admirer of your philosophical writing style–both in your published works and on your blog. Have you ever blogged about which writers and books have most influenced your philosophical writing style? Yes, I have some posts on or near this topic. What follows is…
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On Hitchens and Death
Christopher Hitchens died on this date in 2011. Herewith, a meditation composed in August 2010, slightly revised. ………………………………………… I just caught the last third of an interview of Christopher Hitchens by Charlie Rose. Hitchens looks bad, the chemotherapy having done a nasty tonsorial number on him. But his trademark intellectual incandescence appears undiminished. 'Brilliant' is…
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Divine Light, Sex, Alcohol, and Kerouac
If there is divine light, sexual indulgence prevents it from streaming in. Herein lies the best argument for continence. The sex monkey may not be as destructive of the body as the booze monkey, but he may be even more destructive of the spirit. You may dismiss what I am saying here either by denying…
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What It Takes to Be Happy
Attributed to Gustave Flaubert: "To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness; though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless." Witty, but false. Comparable and less cynical is this saying which I found attributed to Albert Schweitzer on a greeting card: Happiness is nothing more than…
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BEATific October Again
And no better way to kick off Kerouac month than with 'sweet gone Jack' reading from "October in Railroad Earth" from Lonesome Traveler, 1960. Steve Allen provides the wonderful piano accompaniment. I have the Grove Press Black Cat 1970 paperback edition. Bought it on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, 12 April 1973. I was travelling…
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Are You a Natural Writer? Take the Gide Test
Here is an interesting passage from André Gide's last work, written shortly before his death in 1951, So Be It or The Chips Are Down, tr. Justin O'Brien, Alfred Knopf, 1959, pp. 145-146, bolding added, italics in original. Brief commentary follows. It is certain that the man who wonders as he takes up his pen:…
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Philip Larkin’s “Continuing to Live”
Whatever you think of his message, you have to admit that Philip Larkin is a very good poet. "Continuing to Live" was written in April, 1954, and was published in Collected Poems 2003. First the poem and then a bit of commentary. Continuing to live — that is, repeatA habit formed to get necessaries…
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Trigger Warning!
The grandpappy of them all is attributable to Hanns Johst: Wenn ich Kultur höre, entsichere ich meinen Browning! "When I hear the word culture, I release the safety on my Browning." Often misquoted and misattributed. I myself misquoted it once as Wenn ich das Wort 'Kulture' höre, entsichere ich meine Pistole. I apologize for that…
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Moby-Dick as Philosophy
A blogged book by Mark Anderson.
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Courage
One can always get through one day to the next — except for one day. And one will get through that one too. Thus an aphorism of mine. In the vicinity of the same sentiment, here are a couple of lines from a verse found in Goethe's literary remains: Mut verloren — alles verloren!Da wär…
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Precious Metals
In soul-trying times, 'lead' joins gold as a precious metal. …………………………………….. Addendum on the Art of the Aphorism. Elliot comments, Your aphorism sparked my thinking. After reading the aphorism, it occurred to me that there are at least two interpretations: one material and one spiritual. The material interpretation is that 'lead' refers to the metal,…
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Victor Hugo on “Not by Bread Alone”
Elliot sends this for our delectation: Intellectual and moral growth is not less indispensable than material amelioration. Knowledge is a viaticum; thought is of primary necessity; truth is nourishment as well as wheat. A reason, by fasting from knowledge and wisdom, becomes puny. Let us lament as over stomachs, over minds which do not eat.…