Hi, bird!
A new month, a new season: the days are cooler and shorter. Samuel gets into trouble if left alone. Yesterday, he was doing pushups on some steps; when his strength gave out, he fell on his chin. And today, a moment too late, I saw him swallow a hairball from the kitties.
Increasingly, he speaks. We were especially surprised a week ago when Karin greeted a passing bird – “Hi, bird!” – and Samuel mimicked her – “Hi, bird!” His little voice rang out strong and clear.
(I’m told that Bird is something his cousin, Ada, also likes to say.)
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Some recent reading:
(1) Coetzee’s Late Essays, which I’ve just finished. A theme in the chapters on Samuel Beckett and Patrick White is the inadequacy of language, and especially of writing, for conveying certain aspects of human experience. Painting is better for conveying pure thought; dance, for conveying physicality. Well, yes. This is why I watch TV and, when not obese, play soccer.
The book discusses much more than this. I plan to try out Irène Némirovsky’s novels thanks to Coetzee’s chapter about them.
(2) I’ve just started reading Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, Michael Sandel’s bestselling introduction to political philosophy. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll assign it as a textbook.
Two chapters in, my feelings are mixed. The book begins with a nice discussion of a real-life policy issue – whether price gouging should be outlawed – and what utilitarians, libertarians, and virtue ethicists might say about it. Then the method of reflective equilibrium is introduced, though not by that name and not with any mention of its most famous proponent (John Rawls, whose theory of justice is discussed later in the book). Unfortunately, reflective equilibrium is illustrated with a long and not very political discussion of trolley scenarios.
Next comes a chapter on utilitarianism. Some of Bentham’s wackier ideas get more coverage than in most books of political philosophy. It’s good to see a philosopher’s policy suggestions presented together with his theory. On the other hand, little is said to dispel the impression that Benthamite policy is generated by utilitarian theoretical commitments rather than by Bentham’s prejudices or those of his society. (Virtually all present-day utilitarians would reject, for instance, Bentham’s idea to quarantine poor people in labor camps.)
(3) I continue to read one of C.P. Snow’s novels each month. September’s novel, The Light and the Dark, is about a Cambridge scholar of the Manichees.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Here is a blurry photo of my son. He sleeps on fox sheets with his stuffed friend, Emilia Fox.
Increasingly, he speaks. We were especially surprised a week ago when Karin greeted a passing bird – “Hi, bird!” – and Samuel mimicked her – “Hi, bird!” His little voice rang out strong and clear.
(I’m told that Bird is something his cousin, Ada, also likes to say.)
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Some recent reading:
(1) Coetzee’s Late Essays, which I’ve just finished. A theme in the chapters on Samuel Beckett and Patrick White is the inadequacy of language, and especially of writing, for conveying certain aspects of human experience. Painting is better for conveying pure thought; dance, for conveying physicality. Well, yes. This is why I watch TV and, when not obese, play soccer.
The book discusses much more than this. I plan to try out Irène Némirovsky’s novels thanks to Coetzee’s chapter about them.
(2) I’ve just started reading Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, Michael Sandel’s bestselling introduction to political philosophy. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll assign it as a textbook.
Two chapters in, my feelings are mixed. The book begins with a nice discussion of a real-life policy issue – whether price gouging should be outlawed – and what utilitarians, libertarians, and virtue ethicists might say about it. Then the method of reflective equilibrium is introduced, though not by that name and not with any mention of its most famous proponent (John Rawls, whose theory of justice is discussed later in the book). Unfortunately, reflective equilibrium is illustrated with a long and not very political discussion of trolley scenarios.
Next comes a chapter on utilitarianism. Some of Bentham’s wackier ideas get more coverage than in most books of political philosophy. It’s good to see a philosopher’s policy suggestions presented together with his theory. On the other hand, little is said to dispel the impression that Benthamite policy is generated by utilitarian theoretical commitments rather than by Bentham’s prejudices or those of his society. (Virtually all present-day utilitarians would reject, for instance, Bentham’s idea to quarantine poor people in labor camps.)
(3) I continue to read one of C.P. Snow’s novels each month. September’s novel, The Light and the Dark, is about a Cambridge scholar of the Manichees.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Here is a blurry photo of my son. He sleeps on fox sheets with his stuffed friend, Emilia Fox.
