Anne's Philosophy Blog

  As always, HOPS did not disappoint. Two days of great philosophical fun focused around the theme of  "the future."  I started things off with a talk on the frames of Parmenides and  Phaedo which will be parts of two chapters of my book.   HOPS has such a great format.  5000 words.  No commentator. There's really pretty much enough time for everyone who wants to ask a question to ask one, so you get a lot of great feedback.  Generally also, the group is small enough that there is not a lot of social splintering off and you feel like you can talk to anyone, which is refreshing from some of the bigger conferences  where you can often feel left out socially if you haven't made specific plans with your various clans.  I missed it last year and it was great to be back.  Seattle is also in full bloom. Gorgeous flowering trees everywhere.  Since I was within 90 miles of the family in Bellingham,  I arranged my schedule to ...

    Gracie with Eclipse glasses.  First on the eclipse,  we had a lot of cloud cover at home, but still got some really nice peeks at the main action Also, all the associated bird song and darkening and quietude happened. I am very glad we had the  stellar experience in 2017 to place what was happening in context.  It was nice not to travel, but on the other hand,  I think there was something immersive in the experience because we were away from home out in the middle of nowhere and had put so much effort into it.  This one, no effort.   So  we are sort of thinking about Iceland for the one in  2026.   We did indulge in Blanton's  which we found in a liquor store  on the way up in 2017. Liquor stores are open on Sunday in Wyoming.   Life has been good lately, despite pretty high pain levels associated with recovery from the stem cell treatment and an intense return of gluteal tendonopathy. Ouch....

  “There are moments when you stand on the brink of a new experience and understand that you have no choice about it. Either you walk into the experience or you turn away from it, but you know that no matter what you choose, you will have altered your life in a permanent way. Either way, there will be consequences.” ―  Dennis Covington,  Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia I think some  books  are like this.  You will never been exactly the same after having read them.  Kundera is like that  for me.  Eumenides'  The Marriage Game   and  also Middlesex . Demon Copperhead .  Gone with the Wind .  Hawaii.  There are many, many more I could mention but  sometimes  you just don't leave the book.  Or your live is just forever marked by the read.  Also,  Bird by Bird .  Books are just a forever part of the landscape of your mind.  The most r...

  “Everything in New Orleans is a good idea.” — Bob Dylan "New Orleans has a real spirit. It’s the most authentic of all American cities.” – Brad Pitt “You don’t need a guidebook to see New Orleans. Just a good pair of shoes.” – Jonah Hill Jeff and I went to New Orleans  weekend before last.  I was moderating a session that Charity organized at the  APA and we had not been there together in a while, so we used some frequent flyer miles and had a great trip.  Lots of food and drinks.  Some highlights were the Sazerac Bar, Felix Oyster Bar, the mule driven tour, and going out with Becky Lloyd. We also went to the aquarium, though it was a little crowded which detracted a lot from the experience.  Becky is a friend from Iyengar yoga land. It turned out that one of her favorite local bands,    https://www.alexmcmurray.com/     was  playing at Saturn Bar, so we left the touristy track and headed there.  The music was awesome an...

  “An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” - Henry David Thoreau Here's me on my early morning walk this morning. It is definitely nice to be able to walk again and the weather has been pretty glorious.  It was also nice to start the day with some outdoor light because it was a long morning of meetings  and then  teaching Plato seminar.    I taught the Lysis which is about love/friendship love. It takes place in a wrestling school and the lover/beloved relationship is very much in the foreground of the dialogue.  The class is about  2/3 guys and it is sort of funny to watch them grappling with the pervasiveness of  the relationships.   I have an excellent student from  China and a couple of weeks ago he used the  term "loveship" to describe   Parmenides and Zeno's  relationship and  I've decided to  adopt the term.    Along with Mo's  "Platocrates"  and my own re...

  “No, Ernie, says Agata, there’s no plot, we’re only women talking.” ―  Miriam Toews,  Women Talking " Where's my syllabus to guide me through life?                                         Megan Mc Cafferty "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!" - Dom Pérignon I was having a hard time sleeping a few nights back.  So, I stayed up reading Women Talking .  It has been on my Kindle a long time and I started reading it a while back. I put it down partly because of difficult content, but also I was having a bit of difficulty following all the characters. I've picked it up here and there but I got hooked into it this time read it to the end and was completely blown away.  What an amazing book!   It is so well-written and well-crafted.  Anyway, with the excellence of the end in mind,  I was still not sleepy so I started readi...

  "This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change."  Taylor Swift Taylor  Swift is everywhere these days.  So why not a Taylor Swift quote for the new year. I sort of missed the Taylor Swift craze. I mean obviously I know who she is  in that I don't live under a rock, but I never really listened to her music.  But I had a student last semester, named Taylor, as it turns out  and she did her classical presentation on issues of intellectual property and creativity surrounding her buying and rerecording her songs.  And so we sort of had a Taylor Swift class commentary going all semester. Definite male/ female divide on this one. But the presentation was excellent and it is clear she means A LOT to  A LOT of young females, so I started to become intrigued.  Then, I read a fascinating article about her in the NYTimes a couple days ago about herm at the very least,  strong allyship with the queer community and I again found ...