The Susanne K. Langer Circle

Tony Flood writes, 

I'm proud of this, Bill.

And you're the only one I know who would appreciate it.
 
 
The work they did to "internalize" all the links on my clunky old site is impressive. Langer scholars (I'm told) love my prefatory notes, so they asked if they could host my Langer "portal." I told them my old site's lifespan is a function of mine and therefore they should grab whatever they wish promiscuously.  
 
I've moved beyond Langer, of course, but enjoyed curating those items. Now they will be available to scholars on a more permanent basis (at least for the rest of this dispensation. 
One of the things that attracted me to Tony's original site, many years ago, was that he was no narrow specialist, but had wide interests including interests in those I call 'obscure, neglected, and underrated  philosophers.' See here for a post that lists some of them, and here for a sparsely populated category.  One of the obscure is John N. Deck. I had stumbled upon this character on my own, via a journal article of his I found in 1989 in the old New Scholasticism, but Tony supplied me with backstory and further references. I trust Tony would agree with me that "Specialization is for insects." (Robert Heinlein) Or at least the early Tony would. 

Paul Roubiczek

RoubiczekA while back I supplied a reader's demand for a list of Obscure, Neglected, and Underrated Philosophers.  But I forgot to mention Paul Roubiczek.  I have read a couple of his works, and this morning I started  in on Thinking Towards Religion which Mr. Amazon was kind enough to deposit upon my doorstep yesterday afternoon.  The service this company provides is unbelievably good.  This particular volume arrived two days ahead of shedule.  Is this the sort of operation that gets off the ground in NoKo or Kooba?  Whaddya think, Bernie?

Hard Childhood, Strong Man

Emmanuel Lasker, Die Philosophie des Unvollendbar, 1919, p. x:

Aber eine harte Kindheit macht einen starken Mann.

But a hard childhood makes a strong man.


Emmanuel LaskerIn the '80s I read a chunk of Lasker's Philosophy of the Incompletable and concluded that the grandmaster of chess was not one of philosophy. But I didn't read much of it and it was a long time ago.  Now available in a paperback reprint via Amazon.com.  I am tempted to take another look.

Too many in philosophy and other fields confine themselves to the horizon of the contemporary. Explore, get lost, discover.

A marvellous sublunary trinity: chess, philosophy, and a cigar.