While trying to catch up on the news after my nap, I stumbled upon a new opinion column in the New York Times called "The Stone," which purportedly "is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless. " The introductory article is by a professor of philosophy at the New School in New York and considers the question "What is a Philosopher?" by examining the anecdote about Thales in Plato's Theaetetus. I found that, in my opinion, Simon Critchley handled the question with the care and detail that it deserves, observing Plato's tendency of layered meanings and irony and placing Plato's thought in its historical context. Bravo for an interesting new column!
Addendum: "The Stone" seems to have taken off, discussing everything from Plato, to burqas, to Aristotelian views on friendship, to Lady Gaga. I put an RSS feed on the edge of this blog (left side near the bottom) which will show the five newest articles. Happy Reading!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Appetitive, Spirited, and Reasoning
I just graduated with a BA in classics. In the year (or so) before I head out to grad school I needed something to do with my spare time (other than tutoring high school students) so I decided to start a classics blog. My general thought is to review books on classical subjects and discuss matters of Ancient Greek and Latin.
I will divide the entry types into this blog into three categories: appetitive, spirited, and reasoning to correspond with the three parts of the Platonic conception of the soul. The appetitive portion will be a weekly translation of a joke or funny phrase into Latin or Greek. The spirited portion (literally timophillic i.e. honor loving) will be my own ideas about Greek and Roman ideas. This section attempts to put me on the map as a classicist with a point of view. The reasoning part will be commentary and reviews on classical texts. I will also try to post a passage for Latin or Greek prose composition at least once a week for practice. I will offer my take on the passage, and if anyone would like to offer their own attempt at the passage, or corrections or criticisms of mine, they will be welcome.
I will divide the entry types into this blog into three categories: appetitive, spirited, and reasoning to correspond with the three parts of the Platonic conception of the soul. The appetitive portion will be a weekly translation of a joke or funny phrase into Latin or Greek. The spirited portion (literally timophillic i.e. honor loving) will be my own ideas about Greek and Roman ideas. This section attempts to put me on the map as a classicist with a point of view. The reasoning part will be commentary and reviews on classical texts. I will also try to post a passage for Latin or Greek prose composition at least once a week for practice. I will offer my take on the passage, and if anyone would like to offer their own attempt at the passage, or corrections or criticisms of mine, they will be welcome.
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