{"id":3653,"date":"2019-08-14T12:42:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T12:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2019\/08\/14\/my-approach-to-study-and-writing\/"},"modified":"2019-08-14T12:42:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T12:42:33","slug":"my-approach-to-study-and-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2019\/08\/14\/my-approach-to-study-and-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"My Approach to Study and Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader inquires,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A question. It seems I hit a wall every year or so in my intellectual life which involves uncertainty about what books\/essays to read next, what subject matter to systematically pursue, what to reread and review (review is all too important). Now I know everyone is different, but could you share your approach to study during the week\/month? Do you have a review day once a week? Do you have both a long-term project and a short term one going at the same time? Sorry if you\u2019ve answered this in a post before, you may refer me to it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I do have a long-term project, namely, a book I am trying to finish. The subject matter is extremely difficult and technical and so the going is slow.  I am perhaps perversely attracted to the nastiest and toughest problems there are, problems that tax my poor pate to its paltry limits.  I work on the book a little each day.  And then I have a number of short-term projects going at the same time. One is a review article I have been invited to write, and another is an invited contribution to a collection of essays that must be submitted by January 1st.  And then there is my pursuit of all sorts of other questions via blogging.  On top of that 'culture war' activities: Blasting away day by day against the insanity of the destructive Left. The Kavanaugh proceedings galvanized me and 'inspired' me to bring the fight into the belly of the beast, Zuck's Facebook<\/em>.  I can't sit back and only think about God and the soul, time and existence, while my beloved country is destroyed by liberal-left filth.<\/span><\/p>\n

You ask about review. Blogging helps with this. You shouldn't read serious material if you are not willing to study it, and there is little point in studying it if you don't take notes, assemble them into a coherent commentary, and evaluate what the author is maintaining, taking on board what is useful to you.  For example, I have written series of posts on books by Benatar, Nagel, Plantinga, and others.  These posts are available for review and cannibalization.  The book I am writing will have a chapter on death.  Some of the material from the Benatar posts will find its way into it.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Above all you need a direction and a definite focus. What is it that most concerns you that you want to understand? What is the cynosure of your interest? The nature of disagreement? The rationality\/irrationality of religious belief? The foundation of morality? The nature of the political? Mind's place in nature?  In Aristotelian terms, you need a 'final cause' of your inquiries, a unifying telos lest you spread yourself too thin and scatter your energies — as I am wont to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Peter Suber, Taking Notes on Philosophical Texts<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

A Method of Study<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Studiousness as Prophylaxis Against the Debilities of Old Age<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reader inquires, A question. It seems I hit a wall every year or so in my intellectual life which involves uncertainty about what books\/essays to read next, what subject matter to systematically pursue, what to reread and review (review is all too important). Now I know everyone is different, but could you share your … Continue reading “My Approach to Study and Writing”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,299],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sage-advice","category-studiousness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}