I skipped class today.
My back pain through the night was so extreme I hardly slept; the soaking baths, yoga, Tiger-Balm and naproxen sodium regimen prescribed by my physician was simply not enough to bring relief, and by 6:45 a.m. I realized that I was too exhausted to make the drive in to Lancaster and direct a class.
So I called the Registrar and the Academic Dean and proposed a class session discussion topic: "Who is the third monster in Farmer Giles of Ham by Tolkien?" The first is the deaf and stupid giant, the second is the dragon Chrysophylax: who is the third?
This I "thought a dreadfully easy chestnut", to quote another Tolkien story (The Hobbit, ch. V). I guess to me the use "who" was a give-away, rather than "what".
The consistent answer, however, was not a "who" (a person) but a "what" (in this case an idea, feeling, or attitude):
"The third monster is greed," one student boldly asserted in beginning the narrative of the discussion. At the end of the narrative though, this writer also notes, "the discussion thing didn't work too well because no one really had a clue what the third monster was."
However, this writer hit on the crux of the matter: "Maybe it's the old king's greed." But the "maybe" is important here. "Surety you crave", to quote yet another Tolkien story (LotR, Bk V, ch. 10).
Another writer offers the possibility: "the treasure is the third monster. The treasure or gold or whatever it happens to be can make Giles or the king monsters in their lust for this treasure."
Right. This is definitely moving in the right direction.
"...another consideration we had was about the "monster" being Giles' greed."
Giles' greed?
Here we come to the learning portion of this exercise. On the one hand, I could just declare: "this is the third monster," and you might learn something about structural analysis, and you might learn nothing, and you might learn that I am simply an amazing bore. But none of that would have the joy of discovery that will come when you solve this riddle -- and I believe it has a single, definitive answer.
"The third monster is Greed and Pride," writes another student. Wait -- wouldn't that be two monsters? "This is because Farmer Giles is so caught up with himself and thinking how awesome he is, that he neglects his kingdom and his people." But when he is Farmer Giles, what is "his" kingdom and "his" people?
"The third monster is pride and greed, and he overcame them by siding with the dragon instead of the asshole king," opines a fourth writer. Now, we're getting somewhere. Let's consider deeply the degree of assholishness of Augustus Bonifacius Ambrosius Aurelianus Antoninus Pius et Magnificus, dux, rex, tyrannus, et basileus Mediterranearum Partium.
"The Story of Farmer Giles of ham [sic] has two obvious monsters, the Giant, and the Great Dragon Chrysphlax [sic] Dives. The third monster can be interpreted as Giles['] own Greed and pride. He even went so far as to tell the king to trade his crown for the sword Tailbiter," suggests a fifth. I'd like to see the specific evidence of Giles' pride and greed, and I'm particularly interested to be directed to the details of this supposed trade.
A sixth writer reports: "The story of Giles Ham clearly states two of the three monsters in the book. The two monsters are the Giant and the dragon hrysophylax [sic] Dives. The Third Monster in the story is vague. It is Farmer Giles['] pride and greed. He wents so far as to tell the king to trade his crown for the sword Tailbiter."
These two writers' reports are far too similar for comfort. Back in the day, we would call this cheating. Come to think of it, we still do. Consider, particularly, the last fifteen words of each writer's piece. Awfully close, don't you think? As in, identical.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
After Mid-term: Foundations of Ethics
One of my basic questions remains: how can we approach this course more systematically, given the course texts? Another is, how can you, the students, be more engaged in analysis -- how an that analysis be more fully modelled to you? Furthermore, how can we experience, in the time remaining in the course, a more in-depth presentation of a greater range of ethical systems?
On the one hand, the answer seems to me to lie in more talks by me. These have been fine, even entertaining for some of you, I guess, but I'm not convinced of your engagement as a class. Perhaps quizzes would give a kind of motivation to concentrate on the material. I'm not sure, though, that I want to take on the extra work, and I'm loathe to change the syllabus. But perhaps in the future I could incorporate quizzes.
The frequent student answer to the kins of questions I pose is to have "discussion", but discussion should be informed dialogue, not sanctified b.s. So, how do we reach the point at which the information is sufficient to support a dialogue? My default is always to talk myself, and, hey, this is not in itself a Bad Thing. I, at any rate, generally know what I'm talking about and can make connections. Perhaps my modelling of that (by "modelling" I mean, doing it in front of you) is sufficient. I would like to have some discussion on this matter, particularly from those of you who may be feeling that you are receiving less from this course than you would like.
What do you think is missing from, or undeveloped in, the course? We have a little over a month to meet your expectations, and even though we may not be able to do everything you would like, as the Rolling Stones sang: "You can't always get what you want / but if you try sometimes / you just might find / you get what you need."
You should be thinking at this point of the careful and considerate appraisal you will give to the course in the course content surveys; you have a chance at this moment to increase the chances of a favorable review on your part, by suggesting any improvements you might wish now, rather than after the course is over.
Disclaimer:
Although I will carefully examine any and all suggestions, I must also weigh any suggestion against larger curricular and budgetary concerns. This is the double effect in asking for student input: the possibilities must be weighed against probabilities and limitations, and balanced with the judgment coming from experience. Please understand that not all suggestions can or should be actualized. But make suggestions, nonetheless.
On the one hand, the answer seems to me to lie in more talks by me. These have been fine, even entertaining for some of you, I guess, but I'm not convinced of your engagement as a class. Perhaps quizzes would give a kind of motivation to concentrate on the material. I'm not sure, though, that I want to take on the extra work, and I'm loathe to change the syllabus. But perhaps in the future I could incorporate quizzes.
The frequent student answer to the kins of questions I pose is to have "discussion", but discussion should be informed dialogue, not sanctified b.s. So, how do we reach the point at which the information is sufficient to support a dialogue? My default is always to talk myself, and, hey, this is not in itself a Bad Thing. I, at any rate, generally know what I'm talking about and can make connections. Perhaps my modelling of that (by "modelling" I mean, doing it in front of you) is sufficient. I would like to have some discussion on this matter, particularly from those of you who may be feeling that you are receiving less from this course than you would like.
What do you think is missing from, or undeveloped in, the course? We have a little over a month to meet your expectations, and even though we may not be able to do everything you would like, as the Rolling Stones sang: "You can't always get what you want / but if you try sometimes / you just might find / you get what you need."
You should be thinking at this point of the careful and considerate appraisal you will give to the course in the course content surveys; you have a chance at this moment to increase the chances of a favorable review on your part, by suggesting any improvements you might wish now, rather than after the course is over.
Disclaimer:
Although I will carefully examine any and all suggestions, I must also weigh any suggestion against larger curricular and budgetary concerns. This is the double effect in asking for student input: the possibilities must be weighed against probabilities and limitations, and balanced with the judgment coming from experience. Please understand that not all suggestions can or should be actualized. But make suggestions, nonetheless.
After Mid-term: Revolution & Constitution
I had an epiphany Wednesday after class, and I'm embarrassed to say that this had not occurred to me before, so I hope to amend matters quickly in the time remaining.
After my "Come-on-folks-do-more-detailed-research" speech last week, I could perhaps have seen the coming solution. But E.G. suggested that, since there are only seven people in the class, perhaps we could take a "field trip" to the library and walk through the stages of researching a topic. I really felt silly that I had not thought of this myself earlier.
Since one of the basic goals of the course is for you all to evidence some basic mastery of scholarly research method, the sink-or-swim approach I have been taking is probably not the best. Anticipate that we will be following through on E.G.'s suggestion in the remaining class sessions.
After my "Come-on-folks-do-more-detailed-research" speech last week, I could perhaps have seen the coming solution. But E.G. suggested that, since there are only seven people in the class, perhaps we could take a "field trip" to the library and walk through the stages of researching a topic. I really felt silly that I had not thought of this myself earlier.
Since one of the basic goals of the course is for you all to evidence some basic mastery of scholarly research method, the sink-or-swim approach I have been taking is probably not the best. Anticipate that we will be following through on E.G.'s suggestion in the remaining class sessions.
After Mid-term: Foundations of Verbal Communications
I am in the process of reading the informative essays for FVC-102.F3. The work is going steadily, but slowly.
Begin thinking, please, about two things: first, the development of your persuasive essay thesis, which should be developed using the dialectic (more on that soon). Second, looking ahead to the end of the semester, be considering carefully and systematically your assessment of the year in FVC.
Consider your own challenges as a listener, a speaker, a reader, and a writer. We have about six weeks left in the semester to address those challenges. I hope you will be bold enough to identify both strengths and weaknesses in your work, and use the talents around you -- including mine -- to support your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
Consider, too, the next generation of students. Were you to start again as a foundation student, knowing what you know now, what would you like to see change, and what should stay the same, in the FVC curriculum. This is not necessarily about what was fun, or what you liked, but what was useful to you as a listener, speaker, reader, and writer.
Consider the "logos" of the class: which of the readings were most valuable, and why? I basically dropped the reading component from the course, concentrating instead on writing and oral presentation: do you feel in any way cheated by that? Do you have any thoughts on developing the oral presentations and listening exercises, again, not so much so that they will be more fun (although I would welcome such suggestions, too), but more useful?
Finally, despite the fact that I do most of the talking in the class, I feel that I have not asserted myself very much, that I have not been imposing on you very much, as in, for example, asking you to read and then comment on some one work that we all encounter, and then holding you to be able to interpret that work closely. This may suit some of you very well, but my own sense is that this is a deficiency -- that I should be challenging you to closer and fuller analysis, whereas my perception is that the class is open and loose, lacking in structure. I am comfortable with the way individual class sessions happen, but I fear the looseness is not serving some people well.
Please let me know what you think about these matters. The sooner you share with me, the sooner improvements can be made based on the sharing.
Disclaimer:
Please understand that while I will give any and all suggestions a full listen, I must also weigh suggestions against larger curricular, and perhaps budgetary, concerns. So, yes, it might be a Lovely Thing to have a breakfast buffet waiting for us every morning, and I might even justify this as a meritted expense, the practical exigencies of such a notion are such that, well, it's not likely to happen this semester.
Begin thinking, please, about two things: first, the development of your persuasive essay thesis, which should be developed using the dialectic (more on that soon). Second, looking ahead to the end of the semester, be considering carefully and systematically your assessment of the year in FVC.
Consider your own challenges as a listener, a speaker, a reader, and a writer. We have about six weeks left in the semester to address those challenges. I hope you will be bold enough to identify both strengths and weaknesses in your work, and use the talents around you -- including mine -- to support your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
Consider, too, the next generation of students. Were you to start again as a foundation student, knowing what you know now, what would you like to see change, and what should stay the same, in the FVC curriculum. This is not necessarily about what was fun, or what you liked, but what was useful to you as a listener, speaker, reader, and writer.
Consider the "logos" of the class: which of the readings were most valuable, and why? I basically dropped the reading component from the course, concentrating instead on writing and oral presentation: do you feel in any way cheated by that? Do you have any thoughts on developing the oral presentations and listening exercises, again, not so much so that they will be more fun (although I would welcome such suggestions, too), but more useful?
Finally, despite the fact that I do most of the talking in the class, I feel that I have not asserted myself very much, that I have not been imposing on you very much, as in, for example, asking you to read and then comment on some one work that we all encounter, and then holding you to be able to interpret that work closely. This may suit some of you very well, but my own sense is that this is a deficiency -- that I should be challenging you to closer and fuller analysis, whereas my perception is that the class is open and loose, lacking in structure. I am comfortable with the way individual class sessions happen, but I fear the looseness is not serving some people well.
Please let me know what you think about these matters. The sooner you share with me, the sooner improvements can be made based on the sharing.
Disclaimer:
Please understand that while I will give any and all suggestions a full listen, I must also weigh suggestions against larger curricular, and perhaps budgetary, concerns. So, yes, it might be a Lovely Thing to have a breakfast buffet waiting for us every morning, and I might even justify this as a meritted expense, the practical exigencies of such a notion are such that, well, it's not likely to happen this semester.
Monday, March 3, 2008
3.iii.08 A link to further discussion of poetry
I found that my considerations of poetry started to overwhelm this blog, so I created a new blog dedicated to poetry. At the moment, I am mostly considering the basic problem, "What is poetry?" and looking particularly at the relationship between poetry as a whole and the special class of lyrics as poetry.
My reflections on poetry are not entirely systematic, and in part are grounded in some earlier essays on poetic form. One of the basic premises of my non-scholarly writing (say, short stories, novels, and poetry) over the past twenty years or so has been to avoid "technical" or "jargon" language; this is a premise which has proved hard to maintain. Some of the tension of everyday language (in which, for example, "scaffold" or "telephone" might be perfectly acceptable) and the artificially-patrolled language of poetry (aiming to be "more natural than nature" or at any rate "more English than English") is illustrated in the posts on this blog.
So, if you are interested in some of the ways that poetry can come about and are not afraid of sometimes obscure discussion of language, follow this link: http:/words-are-the-matter.blogspot.com.
My reflections on poetry are not entirely systematic, and in part are grounded in some earlier essays on poetic form. One of the basic premises of my non-scholarly writing (say, short stories, novels, and poetry) over the past twenty years or so has been to avoid "technical" or "jargon" language; this is a premise which has proved hard to maintain. Some of the tension of everyday language (in which, for example, "scaffold" or "telephone" might be perfectly acceptable) and the artificially-patrolled language of poetry (aiming to be "more natural than nature" or at any rate "more English than English") is illustrated in the posts on this blog.
So, if you are interested in some of the ways that poetry can come about and are not afraid of sometimes obscure discussion of language, follow this link: http:/words-are-the-matter.blogspot.com.
3.iii.08 Foundations of Verbal Communications
Phew! So, I finally prepped those packets for the poetry project. Each one should include:
1. My review of your presentation headed "Oral Presentation Rubric" (see comment below)
2. Your presentation sheet headed "Oral Presentations of Poetry"
3. The full text of the poem you memorized and presented
4. One or more than one "Listening to Oral Presentations of Poetry" evaluation forms, completed by one or more of your classmates, responding to your presentation
5. My review of your listening exercise (see 6), headed "Listening exercise evaluation"
6. One or more than one "Listening to Oral Presentations of Poetry" evaluation forms completed by you, responding to other students' presentations
Comment on "Oral Presentation Rubric": I was recently informed that this is not, properly speaking, a rubric, but an evaluation form. I will strive to use the proper terminology in future: "evaluation form".
***
Now that we are moving into the presentations of the informative essays, I can reflect more fully on the poetry project.
I've generally shied away from poetry in FVC101/102 or its predecessor courses, LA101/102, but based on this class's experience I am inclined to make with poetry practically the first project.
In poetry, for example, we have
a great memorization tool
a focus for analysis
a means by which to reflect upon the self and personality
concise and meaningful material for oral presentation
an introduction to the artistry of language
In preparing their presentations on poetry, I called upon students to research the backgrounds of their chosen poems and the poets who composed the poems: this can lead directly to an examination of bibliographic format. In presenting the analysis, students can be challenged to properly quote, paraphrase, summarize, and refer to their sources.
In brief, a poetry unit can tie into technical research training and technical format training as well as technical training in rhetorical analysis. A poem illustrates the rhetorical triangle of author/audience/material as boldly and baldly as any form.
***
The oral presentations of poetry in FVC102.F3 this semester may have seemed at times slow, but from my perspective we covered an awful lot of ground. Although I probably could have been more demanding of strict postural correctness, careful enunciation, and so on, I notice that the students are making these sorts of suggestions in the comments to the informational presentations. The main thing is that we all be aware of better versus worse posture, and strive to improve our own posture, that we be aware of better versus worse enunciation, and strive to improve our own enunciation, and so on. Scholarship -- being part of a school and studying -- is about improvement, after all, steady, ongoing improvement, not instant perfection. Although, instant perfection would be nice.
Yes, I probably could be more concise in my comments. On the other hand, I do strive to be thorough. I personally find the atmosphere of the class with presentations that turn into conversations more attractive than an entire class of me talking. Not that I don't like to talk.
I would be happy if I sensed less need for me to talk. More thorough preparation before the presentations would ease my burden of correction. At a certain point, we must move on to the next project; I have to play my desire to be fair by giving everyone a chance to present and to hear suggestions surrounding the work and the need to fit all the assignments into the semester.
One comment made at a recent informal faculty meeting was that, astonishingly, students do not make notes of the comments given during critique.
I know that I have a lot of trouble remembering things if I do not write down some notes. When discussing something as significant as one's foundational technical training in the arts, it would seem to me that any artist would want to make careful notes. I know that you may not think of yourself as being in the same league as daVinci, but Leonardo took extensive notes throughout his life. I'll say this: taking notes in and of itself won't make you the next daVinci, but not taking notes will lower your chances of reaching that goal.
It's true, I will sometimes make light jokes in class, but generally I strive to say weighty and valuable things, and I certainly hope that my comments on your work are useful. Making notes of them could save you -- and me -- a lot of trouble in the future.
1. My review of your presentation headed "Oral Presentation Rubric" (see comment below)
2. Your presentation sheet headed "Oral Presentations of Poetry"
3. The full text of the poem you memorized and presented
4. One or more than one "Listening to Oral Presentations of Poetry" evaluation forms, completed by one or more of your classmates, responding to your presentation
5. My review of your listening exercise (see 6), headed "Listening exercise evaluation"
6. One or more than one "Listening to Oral Presentations of Poetry" evaluation forms completed by you, responding to other students' presentations
Comment on "Oral Presentation Rubric": I was recently informed that this is not, properly speaking, a rubric, but an evaluation form. I will strive to use the proper terminology in future: "evaluation form".
***
Now that we are moving into the presentations of the informative essays, I can reflect more fully on the poetry project.
I've generally shied away from poetry in FVC101/102 or its predecessor courses, LA101/102, but based on this class's experience I am inclined to make with poetry practically the first project.
In poetry, for example, we have
a great memorization tool
a focus for analysis
a means by which to reflect upon the self and personality
concise and meaningful material for oral presentation
an introduction to the artistry of language
In preparing their presentations on poetry, I called upon students to research the backgrounds of their chosen poems and the poets who composed the poems: this can lead directly to an examination of bibliographic format. In presenting the analysis, students can be challenged to properly quote, paraphrase, summarize, and refer to their sources.
In brief, a poetry unit can tie into technical research training and technical format training as well as technical training in rhetorical analysis. A poem illustrates the rhetorical triangle of author/audience/material as boldly and baldly as any form.
***
The oral presentations of poetry in FVC102.F3 this semester may have seemed at times slow, but from my perspective we covered an awful lot of ground. Although I probably could have been more demanding of strict postural correctness, careful enunciation, and so on, I notice that the students are making these sorts of suggestions in the comments to the informational presentations. The main thing is that we all be aware of better versus worse posture, and strive to improve our own posture, that we be aware of better versus worse enunciation, and strive to improve our own enunciation, and so on. Scholarship -- being part of a school and studying -- is about improvement, after all, steady, ongoing improvement, not instant perfection. Although, instant perfection would be nice.
Yes, I probably could be more concise in my comments. On the other hand, I do strive to be thorough. I personally find the atmosphere of the class with presentations that turn into conversations more attractive than an entire class of me talking. Not that I don't like to talk.
I would be happy if I sensed less need for me to talk. More thorough preparation before the presentations would ease my burden of correction. At a certain point, we must move on to the next project; I have to play my desire to be fair by giving everyone a chance to present and to hear suggestions surrounding the work and the need to fit all the assignments into the semester.
One comment made at a recent informal faculty meeting was that, astonishingly, students do not make notes of the comments given during critique.
I know that I have a lot of trouble remembering things if I do not write down some notes. When discussing something as significant as one's foundational technical training in the arts, it would seem to me that any artist would want to make careful notes. I know that you may not think of yourself as being in the same league as daVinci, but Leonardo took extensive notes throughout his life. I'll say this: taking notes in and of itself won't make you the next daVinci, but not taking notes will lower your chances of reaching that goal.
It's true, I will sometimes make light jokes in class, but generally I strive to say weighty and valuable things, and I certainly hope that my comments on your work are useful. Making notes of them could save you -- and me -- a lot of trouble in the future.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Formulations of the Categorical Imperative
In PHL202, Foundations of Ethics, we have been slowly creeping through the rich landscape of Immanuel Kant's Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten in James Ellington's translation Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (3rd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett: 1993).
I think now that we have been working on Kant for a few weeks, re-reading (or reading) Ellington's introduction may be a valuable exercise, as Ellington summarizes much of what I have been presenting in class with extended examples and explanations.
I believe it would be useful to prepare a glossary of the specialized terms Kant uses:
imperative
categorical imperative
hypothetical imperative
formulations of the moral law (categorical imperative)
duty
four cases of duty
respect
inclination versus interest
autonomy versus heteronomy
end versus means
end in itself
kingdom of ends
universality (unity)
plurality
totality
law
universal law
will
the good will
practical
practical law
practical necessity
maxim
morality
I recommend that you prepare a set of index cards, on each one of which is one of these terms; on the reverse write out the definition. You will find quickly that the terms link to each other in a variety of ways -- they are not linearly progressive, but are a network of ideas -- so having a set of such cards, you can arrange the cards in various ways while contemplating their relationships. I recognize this as something earnestly to be desired, but ideal.
Formulations of the Categorical Imperative:
Formula of the Universal Law: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law" (30).
Formula of the Law of Nature: "Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a universal law of nature" (30).
Formula of the End in Itself: "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means" (36).
Formula of Autonomy: Act as though "the will of every rational being [is] a will that legislates universal law" (38).
Formula of the Kingdom of Ends: Act as though a member of the (ideal) kingdom of ends (39).
Let's have all that again:
Universal Formula of the Categorical Imperative: "Act according to that maxim which can at the same time make itself a universal law" (42).
The Supreme Law of the Unconditionally Good Will: "Act always according to that maxim whose universality as a law you can at the same time will" (42).
"Act according to maxims which can at the same time have for their object themselves as universal laws of nature" (42).
"So act in regard to every rational being (yourself and others) that he [or she] may at the same time count in your maxim as an end in [her- or] himself"; "Act on a maxim which at the same time contains in itself its own universal validity for every rational being" (43).
"So act as if your maxims were to serve at the same time as a universal law (for all rational beings)" (43).
"Act in accordance with the maxims of a member legislating laws for a merely possible kingdom of ends" (43).
I think now that we have been working on Kant for a few weeks, re-reading (or reading) Ellington's introduction may be a valuable exercise, as Ellington summarizes much of what I have been presenting in class with extended examples and explanations.
I believe it would be useful to prepare a glossary of the specialized terms Kant uses:
imperative
categorical imperative
hypothetical imperative
formulations of the moral law (categorical imperative)
duty
four cases of duty
respect
inclination versus interest
autonomy versus heteronomy
end versus means
end in itself
kingdom of ends
universality (unity)
plurality
totality
law
universal law
will
the good will
practical
practical law
practical necessity
maxim
morality
I recommend that you prepare a set of index cards, on each one of which is one of these terms; on the reverse write out the definition. You will find quickly that the terms link to each other in a variety of ways -- they are not linearly progressive, but are a network of ideas -- so having a set of such cards, you can arrange the cards in various ways while contemplating their relationships. I recognize this as something earnestly to be desired, but ideal.
Formulations of the Categorical Imperative:
Formula of the Universal Law: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law" (30).
Formula of the Law of Nature: "Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a universal law of nature" (30).
Formula of the End in Itself: "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means" (36).
Formula of Autonomy: Act as though "the will of every rational being [is] a will that legislates universal law" (38).
Formula of the Kingdom of Ends: Act as though a member of the (ideal) kingdom of ends (39).
Let's have all that again:
Universal Formula of the Categorical Imperative: "Act according to that maxim which can at the same time make itself a universal law" (42).
The Supreme Law of the Unconditionally Good Will: "Act always according to that maxim whose universality as a law you can at the same time will" (42).
"Act according to maxims which can at the same time have for their object themselves as universal laws of nature" (42).
"So act in regard to every rational being (yourself and others) that he [or she] may at the same time count in your maxim as an end in [her- or] himself"; "Act on a maxim which at the same time contains in itself its own universal validity for every rational being" (43).
"So act as if your maxims were to serve at the same time as a universal law (for all rational beings)" (43).
"Act in accordance with the maxims of a member legislating laws for a merely possible kingdom of ends" (43).
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
26.ii.08 Foundations of Verbal Communication
So, I'm waiting for You Tube to crank out Alanis Morissette's "Thank You" for my delectation while I grade the oral presentations and listening exercises, and I realized that I really missed a great opportunity here.
Now, I'm sure that students in FVC102.F3 will not be terribly disappointed that I neglected to add this component to the oral presentations, but in the future I will certainly want to:
Ensure that a bibliography of sources is included with the presentation.
Where did you folks get your information? Sure, it may be "common knowledge", which generally speaking does not require citation, but we're practicing here, and should take every possible opportunity to do so. And maybe, just maybe, in the process misattributions (like -- and not to pick on any one person, but just to give an example -- lines 40-53 of Twelfth Night II.3 presented as a sonnet) would not occur, or could be checked much more efficiently (I spent a quarter of an hour tracking that one down. If I charged the regular "professorial rate" that would be, let's see... $45?).
Now, I'm sure that students in FVC102.F3 will not be terribly disappointed that I neglected to add this component to the oral presentations, but in the future I will certainly want to:
Ensure that a bibliography of sources is included with the presentation.
Where did you folks get your information? Sure, it may be "common knowledge", which generally speaking does not require citation, but we're practicing here, and should take every possible opportunity to do so. And maybe, just maybe, in the process misattributions (like -- and not to pick on any one person, but just to give an example -- lines 40-53 of Twelfth Night II.3 presented as a sonnet) would not occur, or could be checked much more efficiently (I spent a quarter of an hour tracking that one down. If I charged the regular "professorial rate" that would be, let's see... $45?).
Monday, February 25, 2008
25.ii.08 Foundations of Verbal Communications
I'm reflecting upon our oral presentations of poetry, now several weeks in progress, and a few overall thoughts occur to me:
A prefatory and somewhat technical (some may even think "snide") remark: In the past two class sessions, several students, in discussing the diction of the poems recited, have used the phrase "old English". I suspect, since all the poems recited so far have been in Modern English (yes, even "The Ballad of Bonnie George Campbell", which as I noted merely attempts to present a Highland accent rather than a real dialectual variant on English) that by "old English" is meant merely "a vocabulary with which I am unfamiliar and which appears to be "older"", and if this is so, why, this may well be correct. But it does not really show outstanding scholarship. Most dictionaries will give information about the approximate age of words in their various meanings. Poets often use words which have passed out of everyday use for particular effects.
Very few people today use "hereafter" or "behold" or "withal" or "slay" (to give four examples) in everyday speech, but some poets even today might use these terms for effect. Today the intended effect would probably be comedic as much as anything else, but fifty years ago and more these terms, although again not commonplace, would have been used seriously to give a sense of connection to older tradition, and in a sense, as I talked about today in reference to Poe, to "legitimize" or "elevate" the poet's work, to give it a sense of age and therefore respectability.
But while these words may be "old" (and for great information on the age and history of words, see Online Etymological Dictionary, which was created right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: you can take some vicarious pride in that, I think) -- they all go back at least to the 14th century in their current form -- they are not "Old English" in the sense of Old English, Middle English, Modern English. In Old English these words would have the forms heraefter, bihaldan, mid ealle , and slean, which you may agree are like the modern English words, but are certainly not the same.
1) one of my goals in establishing oral performances in poetry was to provide an opportunity for students who tend to rush in speaking, or to swallow their words, or to mumble (if that is distinct from swallowing words), to correct these patterns. I think this goal has been met in part. The struggle to memorize lines may dominate, but even to some degree that struggle has overshadowed the discomfort or distraction of public speaking. I notice that in the analytical portions of the presentation -- where the student is neither reciting nor reading, but is summarizing some question about her or his poem, speech tends to be clearer.
However, in responding to the problems of, for example, what may be the tone or the sound or the structure or the diction of the poem, students tend to be
a) exceedingly brief, and
b) necessarily (because of the above) vague and unspecific.
To counter these, I proposed that students give specific examples from their poems showing, rather than telling about, the presence of the various qualities.
Having said all of this, though, I do sense that as a general rule, some real progress has been made. I hope that the time spent as a class listening to one after another of your classmates' work "torn apart", and having to hear a poem or section of a poem repeated several times, has provided some real use.
2) I am very curious to explore why, out of the many many poems available in the world, people choose the ones they do. When one choses a poem to memorize and recite, it is a bit like choosing a significant other (a bit like): this poem is going to enter into your consciousness, become a part of you, and you should think carefully whether and why it is one you want to become so intimate with. And just as in interpersonal relationships, one must learn and perhaps learn by mistakes, so with poems.
3) In asking about structure, external form, alliteration, assonance, and so on, one might legitimately note (although no one has), "Well, we were not taught about these things in this class -- how are we supposed to comment on them?" I am working from the (perhaps faulty) assumption that rhyme schemes, metre, sound-patterns, have been presented in "English" classes over the past twelve years or so, and that it is more a matter of recalling information learned and then stowed away unused rather than encountering completely new information. I make similar assumptions about other mechanical or technical aspects of verbal communication. I assume, for example, that anyone who could be admitted into a college program understands that an English sentence must consist of two parts, a subject and a predicate; or that when one is uncertain of the meaning of a word, a dictionary is used to gain some higher degree of certainty; or that a paragraph should consist of, at very least, three sentences.
At a certain point, I simply have to move forward from these and other similar assumptions. I am perfectly happy to assist a person who is confused. At the same time, I have reached the point at which, while I desire not to embarrass a student who has apparently not a clue as to the meaning of an English word, when the assignment in which the word occurs has been standing for about a month and dictionaries are still readily available, even if the student does not own one her- or himself, and when the misunderstanding of that word may completely reverse the understanding of the passage in which it is found, that desire is overridden by the thought that this cluelessness and misunderstanding is inexcusable. Am I intolerant, or rude, to call a student on this by saying, "What does this word mean? You don't know? Well, I do, because I use a dictionary."
Before answering that question, consider, too, that I am not asking for private recitals here: the recitations of poems are given to the class as a whole, are the basis of listening exercises, and therefore are not merely personal. In a sense, without stating it in so many words, I am asking for each presenter to function as a teacher for ten minutes or so. We should all be learning something about poets and poetry here, as well as gaining experience as listeners and speakers.
The upcoming exercise in which students are to present results of their research should also meet the maxim "Simple in means, rich in ends". I am eager to learn about The Brat Pack's influence on music, the development of Celtic tree alphabets, martial art forms, foreign versus domestic adoptions, the effects of caffeine on human functioning, physical responses in love, and so on. I, for one, hope to gain some information and insight here, but I also hope to see and hear improved posture, presence, enunciation, pronunciation, and projection. The five/fours and the poetry recitations served their own purposes as well, but recognize that all of these exercises together build to something else.
4) Consider how technical knowledge, critical thinking, and understanding of the liberal arts are to be fostered. All of the examination of poetry which is the basis of this exercise (or should be the basic of this exercise) is technical. First, the process of analysis and memorization is technical: you used some sort of technique to figure out what the structure of the poem is, what the diction of the poem is, and so on. It may not have been a sophisticated technique, but in part that is why I ask of you the questions I do -- like, "what does this line mean?" or "what is the rhyme scheme in this stanza?" or "how can you find out the meaning of that word?"
Second, poetry itself is technical: one must employ techniques in forming a poem, whether it be division of lines, division of stanzas, inclusion (or non-inclusion) of specific words, of metres, of rhyme, of alliteration, of assonance, and so on. To be able to achieve a recognizable tone or theme, the poet must have a greater rather than lesser degree of technical control. My comments on Poe as a poet were largely technical: to be able to ask why he does not structure the alliteration or internal rhyme schemes of "The Raven", one must first grasp the techniques of alliteration and internal rhyme.
Remember LeGuin's definition of poetry: "patterned intensity of language". Poetry succeeds to the degree it is intense and patterned. The tension of poetry exists specifically in such points as the play between the internal rhyme and the end-rhyme (and the alliteration) of the stanza in "The Raven" and the tags at the end of each stanza: "only this, and nothing more"; "nameless here forevermore"; "this is it and nothing more"; "darkness there, and nothing more" and so on. Here we may have (depending on the critic's argument) a ghastly lack of imagination or vocabulary (really, Edgar, can you think of other rhymes than "or"?) or a brilliant grasp of the maxim expressed by Brian Eno as "repetition is a form of change". Certainly the repetition in "The Raven" is intense in a way. Perhaps intensely boring. At any rate, until one recognizes the presence of the repetition, which along with variation is the key to Poe's technique (and, to those who see "The Raven" as a triumph, to his success here), one cannot interpret the poem sensibly.
"Critical thinking" is a somewhat problematic term, because the term "critical" has become so strongly connected with "negative judgment" or "attack". It need not mean this, but I'll admit readily that the uses of "critic" to mean "opponent" and "critical" to mean "negatively judgmental" are common. "Analysis" or "analytical thought" and "judgment" or "discerning thought" have been suggested as alternatives. But "analysis" does not really replace "critical thought", because it has to do properly only with the process of dividing up a problem into its constituent parts and perhaps categorizing those parts, but not necessarily making a judgment about their relative values. And "judgment" does not necessarily imply analysis. But critical thinking involves both analysis and synthesis and judgment.
In the poetry presentations, I have asked for analysis in the process of examining the various components of a poem, the technical aspects: metre, diction, sound, and so on. In asking for the theme and the tone, I am calling for a synthesis (drawing together) of the components of the poem to see a single unified whole, and for a judgment of the most important features of the poem in forming that picture of the whole.
One of the frustrations I experience is that here is an exercise which, were it really followed through, could be a very rich experience in critical thought. I'm not convinced that it has been that. So I ask myself, "why has this not been a rich experience?"
I wish I could lay the answer at my own feet: "You made up a bad exercise for the students!"
Unhappily, I don't think that is the case. I sincerely believe that this is a case of motivation. The tools to carry out this exercise are readily available. PCA&D's library may be small physically, but the collection is excellent, and we have plenty of on-line resources. Furthermore, we have excellent staff and faculty who are more than happy to help students who ask for it.
No, I'm afraid the trouble is a lack of motivation at the student level. If students won't even investigate what a word means, or consider what the significance of a classical allusion may be, when the answers are virtually at the finger-tips in dictionary or encyclopedia, it would seem that a basic malaise needs to be addressed.
Do we need to be slipping caffeine into the drinking water supply? Should we provide some sort of negative reinforcement?
Perhaps the answer lies in a general attitude toward the liberal arts (some of the LA faculty are strongly of this opinion). Perhaps the LA staff are too complaisant, not sufficiently demanding. Perhaps we are not flamboyant enough to merit imitation. Perhaps students actually believe that it does not matter whether they know how to use scholarly (and only barely scholarly) tools like dictionaries or grammar-checks, or that they use them, "because I am an artist."
And I think part of this has to do with a misunderstanding of the liberal arts: what the liberal arts are, and what value they have to artists.
As an artist -- and by that I mean "artist" in a very broad sense, because I compose and perform music, I have acted on stage and in film, I have worked as an animator, I design type, and I write poems, essays, short stories, and novels, for example, as well as draw and paint -- I am convinced of the value of the liberal arts. Obviously, my writing is supported by understanding verbal communications, but I also benefit from my understanding of nature that comes through the life and physical sciences and mathematics, from my understanding of human beings that comes through the behavioral and social sciences and history, from my understanding of the deep workings of the mind and the soul that comes from the study of philosophy and religion. The liberal arts provide content to place into the form of the technical training provided in the studio or fine arts.
Why a model should stand in a certain way, wearing certain clothing, or no clothing, with or without props, or why the lighting should be arranged this way or that, or why I should use conte rather than charcoal rather than graphite rather than something else, or why this paper or that -- all of these decisions are not purely technical within the visual arts. The liberal arts provide the context, the framework, the means by which the technical judgments about perspective, pressure, stance, and so on are to be made.
It is possible that artists can act without the benefit of liberal arts experience or training. Their work tends to be naive. That can be fine; but it's not what PCA&D is aiming for.
I hope that students will earnestly consider the possibility that the liberal arts curriculum is not an appendage -- especially not a vestigial appendage -- not a mere burden, but a vital part of training in the visual arts.
I wish I knew what to do about what seems to be lack of student motivation to engage with the liberal arts. If I knew, I could think of a plan of action.
This is not to say that NO ONE did a good job, that no one investigated the poems presented, that no one used scholarly tools. There have been high points in each of the presentations.
Certainly I am impressed with the overall improvement in posture (well, okay, maybe not that), pronunciation, enunciation, and projection. This is great. I sense that most of the students in FVC 101/102 are far more comfortable now speaking in public -- at least in front of the class -- than six months ago. Some students have made really astonishing progress, and this is great.
I'll end on that note.
A prefatory and somewhat technical (some may even think "snide") remark: In the past two class sessions, several students, in discussing the diction of the poems recited, have used the phrase "old English". I suspect, since all the poems recited so far have been in Modern English (yes, even "The Ballad of Bonnie George Campbell", which as I noted merely attempts to present a Highland accent rather than a real dialectual variant on English) that by "old English" is meant merely "a vocabulary with which I am unfamiliar and which appears to be "older"", and if this is so, why, this may well be correct. But it does not really show outstanding scholarship. Most dictionaries will give information about the approximate age of words in their various meanings. Poets often use words which have passed out of everyday use for particular effects.
Very few people today use "hereafter" or "behold" or "withal" or "slay" (to give four examples) in everyday speech, but some poets even today might use these terms for effect. Today the intended effect would probably be comedic as much as anything else, but fifty years ago and more these terms, although again not commonplace, would have been used seriously to give a sense of connection to older tradition, and in a sense, as I talked about today in reference to Poe, to "legitimize" or "elevate" the poet's work, to give it a sense of age and therefore respectability.
But while these words may be "old" (and for great information on the age and history of words, see Online Etymological Dictionary, which was created right here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: you can take some vicarious pride in that, I think) -- they all go back at least to the 14th century in their current form -- they are not "Old English" in the sense of Old English, Middle English, Modern English. In Old English these words would have the forms heraefter, bihaldan, mid ealle , and slean, which you may agree are like the modern English words, but are certainly not the same.
1) one of my goals in establishing oral performances in poetry was to provide an opportunity for students who tend to rush in speaking, or to swallow their words, or to mumble (if that is distinct from swallowing words), to correct these patterns. I think this goal has been met in part. The struggle to memorize lines may dominate, but even to some degree that struggle has overshadowed the discomfort or distraction of public speaking. I notice that in the analytical portions of the presentation -- where the student is neither reciting nor reading, but is summarizing some question about her or his poem, speech tends to be clearer.
However, in responding to the problems of, for example, what may be the tone or the sound or the structure or the diction of the poem, students tend to be
a) exceedingly brief, and
b) necessarily (because of the above) vague and unspecific.
To counter these, I proposed that students give specific examples from their poems showing, rather than telling about, the presence of the various qualities.
Having said all of this, though, I do sense that as a general rule, some real progress has been made. I hope that the time spent as a class listening to one after another of your classmates' work "torn apart", and having to hear a poem or section of a poem repeated several times, has provided some real use.
2) I am very curious to explore why, out of the many many poems available in the world, people choose the ones they do. When one choses a poem to memorize and recite, it is a bit like choosing a significant other (a bit like): this poem is going to enter into your consciousness, become a part of you, and you should think carefully whether and why it is one you want to become so intimate with. And just as in interpersonal relationships, one must learn and perhaps learn by mistakes, so with poems.
3) In asking about structure, external form, alliteration, assonance, and so on, one might legitimately note (although no one has), "Well, we were not taught about these things in this class -- how are we supposed to comment on them?" I am working from the (perhaps faulty) assumption that rhyme schemes, metre, sound-patterns, have been presented in "English" classes over the past twelve years or so, and that it is more a matter of recalling information learned and then stowed away unused rather than encountering completely new information. I make similar assumptions about other mechanical or technical aspects of verbal communication. I assume, for example, that anyone who could be admitted into a college program understands that an English sentence must consist of two parts, a subject and a predicate; or that when one is uncertain of the meaning of a word, a dictionary is used to gain some higher degree of certainty; or that a paragraph should consist of, at very least, three sentences.
At a certain point, I simply have to move forward from these and other similar assumptions. I am perfectly happy to assist a person who is confused. At the same time, I have reached the point at which, while I desire not to embarrass a student who has apparently not a clue as to the meaning of an English word, when the assignment in which the word occurs has been standing for about a month and dictionaries are still readily available, even if the student does not own one her- or himself, and when the misunderstanding of that word may completely reverse the understanding of the passage in which it is found, that desire is overridden by the thought that this cluelessness and misunderstanding is inexcusable. Am I intolerant, or rude, to call a student on this by saying, "What does this word mean? You don't know? Well, I do, because I use a dictionary."
Before answering that question, consider, too, that I am not asking for private recitals here: the recitations of poems are given to the class as a whole, are the basis of listening exercises, and therefore are not merely personal. In a sense, without stating it in so many words, I am asking for each presenter to function as a teacher for ten minutes or so. We should all be learning something about poets and poetry here, as well as gaining experience as listeners and speakers.
The upcoming exercise in which students are to present results of their research should also meet the maxim "Simple in means, rich in ends". I am eager to learn about The Brat Pack's influence on music, the development of Celtic tree alphabets, martial art forms, foreign versus domestic adoptions, the effects of caffeine on human functioning, physical responses in love, and so on. I, for one, hope to gain some information and insight here, but I also hope to see and hear improved posture, presence, enunciation, pronunciation, and projection. The five/fours and the poetry recitations served their own purposes as well, but recognize that all of these exercises together build to something else.
4) Consider how technical knowledge, critical thinking, and understanding of the liberal arts are to be fostered. All of the examination of poetry which is the basis of this exercise (or should be the basic of this exercise) is technical. First, the process of analysis and memorization is technical: you used some sort of technique to figure out what the structure of the poem is, what the diction of the poem is, and so on. It may not have been a sophisticated technique, but in part that is why I ask of you the questions I do -- like, "what does this line mean?" or "what is the rhyme scheme in this stanza?" or "how can you find out the meaning of that word?"
Second, poetry itself is technical: one must employ techniques in forming a poem, whether it be division of lines, division of stanzas, inclusion (or non-inclusion) of specific words, of metres, of rhyme, of alliteration, of assonance, and so on. To be able to achieve a recognizable tone or theme, the poet must have a greater rather than lesser degree of technical control. My comments on Poe as a poet were largely technical: to be able to ask why he does not structure the alliteration or internal rhyme schemes of "The Raven", one must first grasp the techniques of alliteration and internal rhyme.
Remember LeGuin's definition of poetry: "patterned intensity of language". Poetry succeeds to the degree it is intense and patterned. The tension of poetry exists specifically in such points as the play between the internal rhyme and the end-rhyme (and the alliteration) of the stanza in "The Raven" and the tags at the end of each stanza: "only this, and nothing more"; "nameless here forevermore"; "this is it and nothing more"; "darkness there, and nothing more" and so on. Here we may have (depending on the critic's argument) a ghastly lack of imagination or vocabulary (really, Edgar, can you think of other rhymes than "or"?) or a brilliant grasp of the maxim expressed by Brian Eno as "repetition is a form of change". Certainly the repetition in "The Raven" is intense in a way. Perhaps intensely boring. At any rate, until one recognizes the presence of the repetition, which along with variation is the key to Poe's technique (and, to those who see "The Raven" as a triumph, to his success here), one cannot interpret the poem sensibly.
"Critical thinking" is a somewhat problematic term, because the term "critical" has become so strongly connected with "negative judgment" or "attack". It need not mean this, but I'll admit readily that the uses of "critic" to mean "opponent" and "critical" to mean "negatively judgmental" are common. "Analysis" or "analytical thought" and "judgment" or "discerning thought" have been suggested as alternatives. But "analysis" does not really replace "critical thought", because it has to do properly only with the process of dividing up a problem into its constituent parts and perhaps categorizing those parts, but not necessarily making a judgment about their relative values. And "judgment" does not necessarily imply analysis. But critical thinking involves both analysis and synthesis and judgment.
In the poetry presentations, I have asked for analysis in the process of examining the various components of a poem, the technical aspects: metre, diction, sound, and so on. In asking for the theme and the tone, I am calling for a synthesis (drawing together) of the components of the poem to see a single unified whole, and for a judgment of the most important features of the poem in forming that picture of the whole.
One of the frustrations I experience is that here is an exercise which, were it really followed through, could be a very rich experience in critical thought. I'm not convinced that it has been that. So I ask myself, "why has this not been a rich experience?"
I wish I could lay the answer at my own feet: "You made up a bad exercise for the students!"
Unhappily, I don't think that is the case. I sincerely believe that this is a case of motivation. The tools to carry out this exercise are readily available. PCA&D's library may be small physically, but the collection is excellent, and we have plenty of on-line resources. Furthermore, we have excellent staff and faculty who are more than happy to help students who ask for it.
No, I'm afraid the trouble is a lack of motivation at the student level. If students won't even investigate what a word means, or consider what the significance of a classical allusion may be, when the answers are virtually at the finger-tips in dictionary or encyclopedia, it would seem that a basic malaise needs to be addressed.
Do we need to be slipping caffeine into the drinking water supply? Should we provide some sort of negative reinforcement?
Perhaps the answer lies in a general attitude toward the liberal arts (some of the LA faculty are strongly of this opinion). Perhaps the LA staff are too complaisant, not sufficiently demanding. Perhaps we are not flamboyant enough to merit imitation. Perhaps students actually believe that it does not matter whether they know how to use scholarly (and only barely scholarly) tools like dictionaries or grammar-checks, or that they use them, "because I am an artist."
And I think part of this has to do with a misunderstanding of the liberal arts: what the liberal arts are, and what value they have to artists.
As an artist -- and by that I mean "artist" in a very broad sense, because I compose and perform music, I have acted on stage and in film, I have worked as an animator, I design type, and I write poems, essays, short stories, and novels, for example, as well as draw and paint -- I am convinced of the value of the liberal arts. Obviously, my writing is supported by understanding verbal communications, but I also benefit from my understanding of nature that comes through the life and physical sciences and mathematics, from my understanding of human beings that comes through the behavioral and social sciences and history, from my understanding of the deep workings of the mind and the soul that comes from the study of philosophy and religion. The liberal arts provide content to place into the form of the technical training provided in the studio or fine arts.
Why a model should stand in a certain way, wearing certain clothing, or no clothing, with or without props, or why the lighting should be arranged this way or that, or why I should use conte rather than charcoal rather than graphite rather than something else, or why this paper or that -- all of these decisions are not purely technical within the visual arts. The liberal arts provide the context, the framework, the means by which the technical judgments about perspective, pressure, stance, and so on are to be made.
It is possible that artists can act without the benefit of liberal arts experience or training. Their work tends to be naive. That can be fine; but it's not what PCA&D is aiming for.
I hope that students will earnestly consider the possibility that the liberal arts curriculum is not an appendage -- especially not a vestigial appendage -- not a mere burden, but a vital part of training in the visual arts.
I wish I knew what to do about what seems to be lack of student motivation to engage with the liberal arts. If I knew, I could think of a plan of action.
This is not to say that NO ONE did a good job, that no one investigated the poems presented, that no one used scholarly tools. There have been high points in each of the presentations.
Certainly I am impressed with the overall improvement in posture (well, okay, maybe not that), pronunciation, enunciation, and projection. This is great. I sense that most of the students in FVC 101/102 are far more comfortable now speaking in public -- at least in front of the class -- than six months ago. Some students have made really astonishing progress, and this is great.
I'll end on that note.
Monday, February 18, 2008
18.ii.08 Foundations of Verbal Communications
A bit of a slow day today; only two oral presentations due to my interference. A fine suggestion was made that I purchase a timer and limit my comments to the absolute essentials.
I found in examining the listening exercises that the responses were generally quite brief, which may in part be due to poor listening skills, but may also be a necessary reaction to limited analysis. I don't know how useful the model I presented in class may have been, but I summarize here in writing what I presented in class this morning orally.
In making the oral presentations of poetry, show the ways in which the biography of your chosen poet relates to the poem. Also, in showing the subject, the speaker, the setting, the tone, and so on, make direct reference to the poem, quoting pertinent passages, to defend your analysis.
So, for example, I may give a recitation of a poem by a local poet who was active in environmental organizations, worked for a time as a naturalist, and was familiar with the nearby nature preserve (owned by PPL) called Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve. The poem is entitled "From Shenk's Ferry".
This hidden folding of the land
where foxes ran beneath the grape
here the leaves mouldering lay
from soil into sky turning back
shake the bells upon the tree
like the wind of hallowtide
when the silver treehall shines
with slanting golden beams
this narrow passage of the stream
where hartstongue shoots between the stones
and rabbits bite the grass then go
beneath tanglewood to stay unseen
rise up in mists when you have passed
exhaled from loam that holds your form
you cannot last although you roar
it fades into the cries of ants
The subject or situation is the place, Shenk's Ferry, but there is also a kind of advice or command given in the second stanza: "shake the bells..." and another in the last stanza: "rise up in mists..."
The speaker would appear to be the poet, and the setting, again, is Shenk's Ferry, apparently in autumn. My argument for this is that hallowtide, referenced in the poem, is the period between Halloween and winter solstice (around Christmas): this is the second half of the autumn season. Also, the "silver treehall shines/ with slanting golden beams" suggests late autumn (and indeed this is merely defining "hallowtide", for this is "when the silver treehall shines...") because at this point in the year the leaves have fallen from the trees. At Shenk's Ferry is a great stand of Beeches, trees with silver-grey bark, and it seems likely that the poet refers to this; the "slanting golden beams" are presumably sun-beams, and the angle of the sun in late autumn is low.
However, the poem also refers to "hartstongue", which is a kind of fern which I think is not evergreen, so the poem may not be describing any particular time of year but a single place in several seasons.
The overall tone of the poem I would say is mostly descriptive, but includes some interesting commands. The first stanza does nothing more than describe the place, and the third stanza does the same. "The bells upon the tree" may be a reference to a kind of bell-shaped pod on trees growing along the path at Shenk's Ferry. I don't know what the name of that tree may be, but an observant person walking there would see them, especially after the leaves have fallen. Grapes are mentioned, and foxes, hartstongue, grass, and rabbits. It seems like a straightforward snapshot of a forest.
In the second stanza, we have the rather odd command to "shake the bells upon the tree/like the wind of hallowtide". Why would a tree have bells on it? It almost suggests some sort of decoration. But the shaking is supposed to be like the wind of hallowtide -- and what would that be? Wind is often associated with the spirit or soul (in fact, in their origins, both these words meant "wind" as well as "breath"), and All Hallow's is the Day of the Dead, so the shaking of the bells may be done by or like the spirits of the departed... and the association of the bell with the spirit is maybe pretty common.
But in the fourth stanza, the tone changes, and in light of this change the whole poem takes on a different quality: here, the listener or reader is told to "rise up in mists", which echoes the "from soil into sky turning back" of the first stanza. "You cannot last although you roar" -- so even if you do wonderful things, it is natural to die, to decay, and whatever spirit you may have will "rise up in mists", while the "loam" or soil "holds your form". The direct address of "you" engages the reader. The tone, I would say, becomes maybe a bit melancholic, or maybe stoic: we are called to accept nature as it is. We gain a different view, perhaps, of the place of the foxes which "ran beneath the grape" and the rabbits which "go beneath tanglewood to stay unseen" -- unseen from the fox? -- predator and prey, the natural cycle. And there is a larger cycle of decay and renewal in the leaves "from soil into sky turning back" and the mists "exhaled from loam" -- essentially the leaves of the first stanza are like the "form" or body (presumably human body) of the last stanza: all beings collapse, degrade, and become something new. The poet might also have noted that the sky becomes the soil as the leaves take in chemicals and radiation from the sun, and then fall to the ground.
The diction of the poem, characteristic of this poet, is limited almost entirely to words deriving from the Germanic roots of English. Only "exhale" comes from another source: Latin, in this case. English has three main elements: the base in Anglo-Saxon, a language closely related to Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, German, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian; a strong influence of the Romance language French (which is closely allied to Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, all of which derive much from Latin -- hence "Roman-ish" or Romance); the third element of English is "other": words like moccasin, teepee, cannibal, tobacco, from native American languages, or algebra or alchemy, from Arabic, or geometry, logical, or synthesis, from Greek. And of course we have taken many words from Latin, like exhale or corrupt or degrade.
But this poem is mostly basic English words, although some are rare, like Hallowtide and Hartstongue, and one is a bit of poetic invention, tree-hall. Tanglewood is not particularly common, but all of these oddities are really pretty straightforward in their meaning (maybe Hallowtide not so much, and it may also be an invention of the poet, on the model of Christmastide or Eastertide).
I think "From soil into sky turning back" and "exhaled from loam that holds your form" are notable phrases, as is "it fades into the cries of ants" -- these peculiar phrases also are central to the purpose of the poem (as I understand it): things changing into others through decay. The most mysterious to me is the fading "into the cries of ants", because grammatically what is fading is either the "roar" or the "form" (strictly grammatically, it must be the form) -- since the cries of ants are pretty darn faint, that a roar would fade into them seems a sensible reduction, a deflation of ego... but for the form or body to fade into the cries of ants argues for a more complex process of change, especially since ant cries are basically chemical signals... I guess that the poet was aware of this and intended to say that the chemicals in a body break down and float around and are taken up into the ants and then sent out again in their communications -- a kind of reincarnation, I suppose one might say.
The poet uses the word "this" to introduce the first and third stanzas, which in effect divides the poem into two units. "This" also gives a precision and nearness to the poem. We may ask, as listeners or readers: "This? Which?" Since "this" is the first word, it must refer to something later, or outside of the poem -- either way we are drawn into the mystery: to what does "this" refer?
As for sound, the poem does not use rhyme, but an assonance structure based on the vowels of the final words in each line, with the pattern ABBA CDDC CEEC AFFA (this also is part of the structure of the poem, obviously). The poet has repeated sounds, not necessarily in any particular order, throughout:
this/hidden; folding/foxes; land/ran; folding/mouldering; leaves/lay; soil/sky; back/bells; bells/wind; bell/hallowtide/treehall; shake/shines; silver/slanting; wind/when/with, and so on.
A good bit of this is alliteration or "head rhyme", but again, it seems not to be in any strict pattern. It's not quite a tongue-twister, but "stream/ where hartstongue shoots between the stones" comes awfully close.
The rhythm of the piece is not strictly patterned, either, but seems just to be a natural flow, although there are some strong parallels (and here I pass over into the structure of the poem).
As for musicality, the rising and falling tones of the first line, for example "this hidden folding of the land" has a progression of rising tones in the accented syllables: this and hidden are essentially the same tone, but folding rises; the unstressed syllables are lower tones, and so the whole line together has a kind of rising and falling which creates an auditory picture of the folding land which is described.
"Narrow passage" also, because of the doubled consonants, expresses a kind of constriction (one could lengthen the words, too, but this would seem unnatural; try it both ways to confirm for yourself); here there is a quick rising and falling pattern which again suggests in a way a rocky valley with tall and close sides. Perhaps this is just my own impression of the poem, but I find that it describes not only in the meaning of the words, but in the sound of the words. I don't think it would be as effective in translation into, say, French:
Ce passage étroit du jet
où pousse la langue du cerf entre les pierres
et les lapins mordent l'herbe et alors vont
sous le bois embrouillé rester invisibles
Sure, it sounds "nice" (and French), but one could not readily force this into the structure of about seven syllables, with about four stressed syllables, per line, as in English. And of course, the assonance scheme is totally lost. And speaking of syllables, here is the way the structure of this poem breaks down.
Take x as an accented syllable and - as an unaccented syllable, and the poem has a form like this:
x x- x- - - x
x x- x -x - x
x - x x- x
- x -- x x- x
x - x -x - x
x - x - x- x
x - x- x- x
- x- x- x
x x- x- - - x
x x- x -x - x
- x- x - x - x
-x x-x - x x-
x x - x - x - x
-x - x - x - x
x x- x -x - x
- x -x - x - x
The first two lines of the first and third stanzas have identical rhythms. Other than that, the structure is not exact, but no line has more than five stressed syllables, and only one has fewer than four ("with slanting golden beams" has three, which then to keep pace with the rest of the stanza demands a lengthening of the vowels, which perhaps emphasizes the "slanting").
The overall structure of the poem is that it is has four stanzas, each of four lines, all fairly compact, ten of the sixteen lines having four stressed syllables, five having five, and one having three stressed syllables. There are 7 5/8 (7.625) syllables in each line, on average, which probably has no cosmic significance at all. But poets are sometimes peculiar about hidden messages. As noted above, the first and third stanzas are descriptive, the first including a predatory animal and the third including a prey animal; the second and fourth stanzas include commands. The assonance scheme of ABBA CDDC CEEC AFFA suggests an arc or an interlacing; it may be that a longer poem would continue with BCCB DEED DFFD BAAB, CDDC EFFE EAAE CBBC, and so on, something like a pantoum. But as it stands, we have only the four stanzas, so this is mere speculation on my part. This scheme is the invention of the poet, rather than an existing external form.
The theme of the poem, I would summarize in a single word as "recycling" or "reincarnation".
From Shenk's Ferry
This hidden folding of the land
where foxes ran beneath the grape
here the leaves mouldering lay
from soil into sky turning back
shake the bells upon the tree
like the wind of hallowtide
when the silver treehall shines
with slanting golden beams
this narrow passage of the stream
where hartstongue shoots between the stones
and rabbits bite the grass then go
beneath tanglewood to stay unseen
rise up in mists when you have passed
exhaled from loam that holds your form
you cannot last although you roar
it fades into the cries of ants
MEA.
I found in examining the listening exercises that the responses were generally quite brief, which may in part be due to poor listening skills, but may also be a necessary reaction to limited analysis. I don't know how useful the model I presented in class may have been, but I summarize here in writing what I presented in class this morning orally.
In making the oral presentations of poetry, show the ways in which the biography of your chosen poet relates to the poem. Also, in showing the subject, the speaker, the setting, the tone, and so on, make direct reference to the poem, quoting pertinent passages, to defend your analysis.
So, for example, I may give a recitation of a poem by a local poet who was active in environmental organizations, worked for a time as a naturalist, and was familiar with the nearby nature preserve (owned by PPL) called Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve. The poem is entitled "From Shenk's Ferry".
This hidden folding of the land
where foxes ran beneath the grape
here the leaves mouldering lay
from soil into sky turning back
shake the bells upon the tree
like the wind of hallowtide
when the silver treehall shines
with slanting golden beams
this narrow passage of the stream
where hartstongue shoots between the stones
and rabbits bite the grass then go
beneath tanglewood to stay unseen
rise up in mists when you have passed
exhaled from loam that holds your form
you cannot last although you roar
it fades into the cries of ants
The subject or situation is the place, Shenk's Ferry, but there is also a kind of advice or command given in the second stanza: "shake the bells..." and another in the last stanza: "rise up in mists..."
The speaker would appear to be the poet, and the setting, again, is Shenk's Ferry, apparently in autumn. My argument for this is that hallowtide, referenced in the poem, is the period between Halloween and winter solstice (around Christmas): this is the second half of the autumn season. Also, the "silver treehall shines/ with slanting golden beams" suggests late autumn (and indeed this is merely defining "hallowtide", for this is "when the silver treehall shines...") because at this point in the year the leaves have fallen from the trees. At Shenk's Ferry is a great stand of Beeches, trees with silver-grey bark, and it seems likely that the poet refers to this; the "slanting golden beams" are presumably sun-beams, and the angle of the sun in late autumn is low.
However, the poem also refers to "hartstongue", which is a kind of fern which I think is not evergreen, so the poem may not be describing any particular time of year but a single place in several seasons.
The overall tone of the poem I would say is mostly descriptive, but includes some interesting commands. The first stanza does nothing more than describe the place, and the third stanza does the same. "The bells upon the tree" may be a reference to a kind of bell-shaped pod on trees growing along the path at Shenk's Ferry. I don't know what the name of that tree may be, but an observant person walking there would see them, especially after the leaves have fallen. Grapes are mentioned, and foxes, hartstongue, grass, and rabbits. It seems like a straightforward snapshot of a forest.
In the second stanza, we have the rather odd command to "shake the bells upon the tree/like the wind of hallowtide". Why would a tree have bells on it? It almost suggests some sort of decoration. But the shaking is supposed to be like the wind of hallowtide -- and what would that be? Wind is often associated with the spirit or soul (in fact, in their origins, both these words meant "wind" as well as "breath"), and All Hallow's is the Day of the Dead, so the shaking of the bells may be done by or like the spirits of the departed... and the association of the bell with the spirit is maybe pretty common.
But in the fourth stanza, the tone changes, and in light of this change the whole poem takes on a different quality: here, the listener or reader is told to "rise up in mists", which echoes the "from soil into sky turning back" of the first stanza. "You cannot last although you roar" -- so even if you do wonderful things, it is natural to die, to decay, and whatever spirit you may have will "rise up in mists", while the "loam" or soil "holds your form". The direct address of "you" engages the reader. The tone, I would say, becomes maybe a bit melancholic, or maybe stoic: we are called to accept nature as it is. We gain a different view, perhaps, of the place of the foxes which "ran beneath the grape" and the rabbits which "go beneath tanglewood to stay unseen" -- unseen from the fox? -- predator and prey, the natural cycle. And there is a larger cycle of decay and renewal in the leaves "from soil into sky turning back" and the mists "exhaled from loam" -- essentially the leaves of the first stanza are like the "form" or body (presumably human body) of the last stanza: all beings collapse, degrade, and become something new. The poet might also have noted that the sky becomes the soil as the leaves take in chemicals and radiation from the sun, and then fall to the ground.
The diction of the poem, characteristic of this poet, is limited almost entirely to words deriving from the Germanic roots of English. Only "exhale" comes from another source: Latin, in this case. English has three main elements: the base in Anglo-Saxon, a language closely related to Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, German, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian; a strong influence of the Romance language French (which is closely allied to Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, all of which derive much from Latin -- hence "Roman-ish" or Romance); the third element of English is "other": words like moccasin, teepee, cannibal, tobacco, from native American languages, or algebra or alchemy, from Arabic, or geometry, logical, or synthesis, from Greek. And of course we have taken many words from Latin, like exhale or corrupt or degrade.
But this poem is mostly basic English words, although some are rare, like Hallowtide and Hartstongue, and one is a bit of poetic invention, tree-hall. Tanglewood is not particularly common, but all of these oddities are really pretty straightforward in their meaning (maybe Hallowtide not so much, and it may also be an invention of the poet, on the model of Christmastide or Eastertide).
I think "From soil into sky turning back" and "exhaled from loam that holds your form" are notable phrases, as is "it fades into the cries of ants" -- these peculiar phrases also are central to the purpose of the poem (as I understand it): things changing into others through decay. The most mysterious to me is the fading "into the cries of ants", because grammatically what is fading is either the "roar" or the "form" (strictly grammatically, it must be the form) -- since the cries of ants are pretty darn faint, that a roar would fade into them seems a sensible reduction, a deflation of ego... but for the form or body to fade into the cries of ants argues for a more complex process of change, especially since ant cries are basically chemical signals... I guess that the poet was aware of this and intended to say that the chemicals in a body break down and float around and are taken up into the ants and then sent out again in their communications -- a kind of reincarnation, I suppose one might say.
The poet uses the word "this" to introduce the first and third stanzas, which in effect divides the poem into two units. "This" also gives a precision and nearness to the poem. We may ask, as listeners or readers: "This? Which?" Since "this" is the first word, it must refer to something later, or outside of the poem -- either way we are drawn into the mystery: to what does "this" refer?
As for sound, the poem does not use rhyme, but an assonance structure based on the vowels of the final words in each line, with the pattern ABBA CDDC CEEC AFFA (this also is part of the structure of the poem, obviously). The poet has repeated sounds, not necessarily in any particular order, throughout:
this/hidden; folding/foxes; land/ran; folding/mouldering; leaves/lay; soil/sky; back/bells; bells/wind; bell/hallowtide/treehall; shake/shines; silver/slanting; wind/when/with, and so on.
A good bit of this is alliteration or "head rhyme", but again, it seems not to be in any strict pattern. It's not quite a tongue-twister, but "stream/ where hartstongue shoots between the stones" comes awfully close.
The rhythm of the piece is not strictly patterned, either, but seems just to be a natural flow, although there are some strong parallels (and here I pass over into the structure of the poem).
As for musicality, the rising and falling tones of the first line, for example "this hidden folding of the land" has a progression of rising tones in the accented syllables: this and hidden are essentially the same tone, but folding rises; the unstressed syllables are lower tones, and so the whole line together has a kind of rising and falling which creates an auditory picture of the folding land which is described.
"Narrow passage" also, because of the doubled consonants, expresses a kind of constriction (one could lengthen the words, too, but this would seem unnatural; try it both ways to confirm for yourself); here there is a quick rising and falling pattern which again suggests in a way a rocky valley with tall and close sides. Perhaps this is just my own impression of the poem, but I find that it describes not only in the meaning of the words, but in the sound of the words. I don't think it would be as effective in translation into, say, French:
Ce passage étroit du jet
où pousse la langue du cerf entre les pierres
et les lapins mordent l'herbe et alors vont
sous le bois embrouillé rester invisibles
Sure, it sounds "nice" (and French), but one could not readily force this into the structure of about seven syllables, with about four stressed syllables, per line, as in English. And of course, the assonance scheme is totally lost. And speaking of syllables, here is the way the structure of this poem breaks down.
Take x as an accented syllable and - as an unaccented syllable, and the poem has a form like this:
x x- x- - - x
x x- x -x - x
x - x x- x
- x -- x x- x
x - x -x - x
x - x - x- x
x - x- x- x
- x- x- x
x x- x- - - x
x x- x -x - x
- x- x - x - x
-x x-x - x x-
x x - x - x - x
-x - x - x - x
x x- x -x - x
- x -x - x - x
The first two lines of the first and third stanzas have identical rhythms. Other than that, the structure is not exact, but no line has more than five stressed syllables, and only one has fewer than four ("with slanting golden beams" has three, which then to keep pace with the rest of the stanza demands a lengthening of the vowels, which perhaps emphasizes the "slanting").
The overall structure of the poem is that it is has four stanzas, each of four lines, all fairly compact, ten of the sixteen lines having four stressed syllables, five having five, and one having three stressed syllables. There are 7 5/8 (7.625) syllables in each line, on average, which probably has no cosmic significance at all. But poets are sometimes peculiar about hidden messages. As noted above, the first and third stanzas are descriptive, the first including a predatory animal and the third including a prey animal; the second and fourth stanzas include commands. The assonance scheme of ABBA CDDC CEEC AFFA suggests an arc or an interlacing; it may be that a longer poem would continue with BCCB DEED DFFD BAAB, CDDC EFFE EAAE CBBC, and so on, something like a pantoum. But as it stands, we have only the four stanzas, so this is mere speculation on my part. This scheme is the invention of the poet, rather than an existing external form.
The theme of the poem, I would summarize in a single word as "recycling" or "reincarnation".
From Shenk's Ferry
This hidden folding of the land
where foxes ran beneath the grape
here the leaves mouldering lay
from soil into sky turning back
shake the bells upon the tree
like the wind of hallowtide
when the silver treehall shines
with slanting golden beams
this narrow passage of the stream
where hartstongue shoots between the stones
and rabbits bite the grass then go
beneath tanglewood to stay unseen
rise up in mists when you have passed
exhaled from loam that holds your form
you cannot last although you roar
it fades into the cries of ants
MEA.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
14.ii.07 Ethics on SS Valentines' Day
Yes, SS Valentines': there were two Saints Valentine, both of whom were martyred. During the colonial period, the Mennonites in this area at least found a greater resonance with Valentines' Day than with Christmas, presumably in part because of the association with martyrdom ("The Martyrs' Mirror" being a key [and quite bulky] text in the Mennonite library).
So, we're back in the educational saddle again after the better part of two days off due to weather. On Monday I left the college with no suspicions of the weather predictions, and I took no work with me, in part because my back pain was acute and I knew I would not be able to concentrate, and in part because I was figuring on being in on Tuesday to read over the descriptive ethics projects. Tuesday morning I went to my medical clinic and met with a new doctor in the practice, who examined my back and suggested that I take an anti-inflammatory medication for two weeks, at the end of which time we will meet again and determine whether I need to undergo an MRI scan. Meanwhile, I am to use hot compresses as needed and ease back into gentle yoga; perhaps, she says, I should wait to start the weight-lifting program I was planning on, or just use lighter dumbbells with more reps.
After my appointment, I drove to my parents'; by this time the snow was beginning. While I was visiting with my parents (who were eager for me to try out some chairs which they thought would be better for my back than the wooden-seated windsors I have have at home, and also to have me use a full-body massaging heating pad [very noisy and weirdly jarring -- I'm used to a sticky yoga mat or a futon, or the ground]) I received the call that classes would be cancelled. By that time, about a quarter inch of snow and the same of ice was on the ground, and I could not safely back my van out of my parents' driveway, so I stayed the night there, driving directly home about mid-day Wednesday, so again, I did not pick up student work, thinking that I would get it when I came in for class. I had some difficulty driving up the lane, although the main roads were safe. They might even have been safe with the usual quantity of traffic, but I was glad that very few drivers were out. And I was glad, too, when I found that evening classes had been cancelled, because as I was bringing some items in from the car, I slipped twice on the ice. Since my landlord is in South Africa until later this month, if I had been hurt, I might have been stuck on the ice until I could crawl indoors, and I wasn't enthusiastic about that possibility.
This morning leaving to come to the college, the driveway at my house was even more slick than yesterday, but again, once I was out to the main road, everything was fine. I arrived and then attended a series of meetings until class-time, and so I still have a stack of descriptive ethics projects to review, but I will take them home with me this evening.
***
Because of the class cancellation Tuesday, the deadline for topic selection for the classical-school exercise is postponed until Tuesday the 19th. From the handout on ethical criteria (emotive-criteria, intuitive-criteria, extrinsic-criteria, intrinsic-criteria), or from other experience, select two schools of ethics you find intriguing. Present your selections with an explanation of what you find intriguing about those schools. About a paragraph for each school should be sufficient. You need not perform much research before making the selection, although you may: the next step is the annotated bibliography. For this, be certain to list not fewer than five sources in not fewer than three media. You are welcome to begin with a key-word search, or even with Wikipedia, but be sure to use this only as a starting point; look for bibliographic suggestions and follow up on them.
A brief overview of my talk today:
In the classical system project (comparing two classic schools of ethical thought), you are to articulate principles of the schools you examine. Therefore, you must grasp clearly the notion of principle as opposed to issue.
As examples, I spoke of the principles of Stoicism as shown in Epictetus and those of Hedonism.
In Stoicism, one of the basic principles is that Nature is a controlling and limiting factor: things are as they are, and there is nothing one can do about that.
Another is that the will is essentially free: one can choose to do whatever one can do. One can also choose to do what one cannot do, but in this case one will be disappointed, because simply to will something is not to be able to do it. I may wish to fly and put a lot of effort into trying to fly, but the fact is that humans are not capable of flight, and probably I will do a good deal of injury to my body if I persist in acting as though they are.
These two principles, the freedom of the will and the limits of nature, may seem to be at odds with each other. The reconciliation, for Stoics, comes in the idea that one should attune one's will to desire to act only the way one can. If one does not understand the way things are, and acts contrary to nature, one will be unhappy, but if one understands how things are and does not wish them to be otherwise, but is contented with things as they are, one will be happy.
This position proposes that goodness, that which is right, is found when one understands logic (the organization of thoughts, but also the organization of things and processes in nature) and physics (the limits of material reality, especially cause and effect) and acts in accord with them alone.
A different approach to goodness is found in Hedonism. The term Hedonism comes from the Greek word "hedone" meaning "pleasure". In Hedonism, the good is defined by that which is pleasant, or which brings pleasure: what is evil is that which limits pleasure or causes pain, or is pain, or privation of pleasure. This might seem unsophisticated and egocentric, and hedonism can be unsophisticated and egocentric, but this depends in part upon whether pleasure is viewed simply as a matter of quantity or as a matter of quality.
Some would argue that simply having much of something pleasurable is enough to increase pleasure, and therefore to have good. But others would understand that, for example, to play a song over and over, even if it is a perfectly good song, may not increase the pleasure from that song, or one's pleasure generally. It might be better to have one bar of Lindt chocolate than five Hershey bars (but of course this may be very largely or entirely a matter of taste: someone may find Hershey to be exquisite comparable to Lindt [it is conceivable]). The emphasis of quality over quantity characterizes the Epicurean school of hedonism.
Jeremy Bentham argued that any act could be judged as to its value using what he called an "hedonic calculus", measured based on seven essential factors. His godson J.S. Mill was less sanguine about exact quantitative measurement of pleasures, and furthermore Mill argued that pleasure was not merely individual: one should act to produce the greatest possible good (pleasure) for the greatest possible number of people. The usefulness or pleasure-production of any act, its utility, in Mill's terminology, was determined largely by its relationship to this basic principle of utility: to produce the greatest good for the greatest number.
Thus, in Mill's version of hedonism, one is guided to the higher pleasures of providing for social welfare with fine medicine, education, transportation, good government, an efficient and profitable economy, and so on.
Also, throughout the hedonistic schools, one finds the need to balance momentary pains with future pleasures. It may be that eating carefully now is a pain, but compared with the pleasure of a long life with a healthy body, these pains are worthwhile. It may be that guitar practice is a pain, but the pleasurable reward comes when one can play effortlessly (for those of us who achieve such a state).
So, under the general banner of hedonism, we can see the following principles:
1. The good = the pleasurable.
2. The end may justify the means (no pain, no gain).
3. Less of high quality is better than more of low quality (Epicurus).
4. Pleasure may be measured (Bentham).
5. The highest pleasure comes from altruism (Mill).
In none of these cases are specifics put forward; these are universal principles, applicable to any moral issues. It is the principles of the classical systems you examine which are to be the focus of your next project; only in the third project should you concentrate on issues.
So, we're back in the educational saddle again after the better part of two days off due to weather. On Monday I left the college with no suspicions of the weather predictions, and I took no work with me, in part because my back pain was acute and I knew I would not be able to concentrate, and in part because I was figuring on being in on Tuesday to read over the descriptive ethics projects. Tuesday morning I went to my medical clinic and met with a new doctor in the practice, who examined my back and suggested that I take an anti-inflammatory medication for two weeks, at the end of which time we will meet again and determine whether I need to undergo an MRI scan. Meanwhile, I am to use hot compresses as needed and ease back into gentle yoga; perhaps, she says, I should wait to start the weight-lifting program I was planning on, or just use lighter dumbbells with more reps.
After my appointment, I drove to my parents'; by this time the snow was beginning. While I was visiting with my parents (who were eager for me to try out some chairs which they thought would be better for my back than the wooden-seated windsors I have have at home, and also to have me use a full-body massaging heating pad [very noisy and weirdly jarring -- I'm used to a sticky yoga mat or a futon, or the ground]) I received the call that classes would be cancelled. By that time, about a quarter inch of snow and the same of ice was on the ground, and I could not safely back my van out of my parents' driveway, so I stayed the night there, driving directly home about mid-day Wednesday, so again, I did not pick up student work, thinking that I would get it when I came in for class. I had some difficulty driving up the lane, although the main roads were safe. They might even have been safe with the usual quantity of traffic, but I was glad that very few drivers were out. And I was glad, too, when I found that evening classes had been cancelled, because as I was bringing some items in from the car, I slipped twice on the ice. Since my landlord is in South Africa until later this month, if I had been hurt, I might have been stuck on the ice until I could crawl indoors, and I wasn't enthusiastic about that possibility.
This morning leaving to come to the college, the driveway at my house was even more slick than yesterday, but again, once I was out to the main road, everything was fine. I arrived and then attended a series of meetings until class-time, and so I still have a stack of descriptive ethics projects to review, but I will take them home with me this evening.
***
Because of the class cancellation Tuesday, the deadline for topic selection for the classical-school exercise is postponed until Tuesday the 19th. From the handout on ethical criteria (emotive-criteria, intuitive-criteria, extrinsic-criteria, intrinsic-criteria), or from other experience, select two schools of ethics you find intriguing. Present your selections with an explanation of what you find intriguing about those schools. About a paragraph for each school should be sufficient. You need not perform much research before making the selection, although you may: the next step is the annotated bibliography. For this, be certain to list not fewer than five sources in not fewer than three media. You are welcome to begin with a key-word search, or even with Wikipedia, but be sure to use this only as a starting point; look for bibliographic suggestions and follow up on them.
A brief overview of my talk today:
In the classical system project (comparing two classic schools of ethical thought), you are to articulate principles of the schools you examine. Therefore, you must grasp clearly the notion of principle as opposed to issue.
As examples, I spoke of the principles of Stoicism as shown in Epictetus and those of Hedonism.
In Stoicism, one of the basic principles is that Nature is a controlling and limiting factor: things are as they are, and there is nothing one can do about that.
Another is that the will is essentially free: one can choose to do whatever one can do. One can also choose to do what one cannot do, but in this case one will be disappointed, because simply to will something is not to be able to do it. I may wish to fly and put a lot of effort into trying to fly, but the fact is that humans are not capable of flight, and probably I will do a good deal of injury to my body if I persist in acting as though they are.
These two principles, the freedom of the will and the limits of nature, may seem to be at odds with each other. The reconciliation, for Stoics, comes in the idea that one should attune one's will to desire to act only the way one can. If one does not understand the way things are, and acts contrary to nature, one will be unhappy, but if one understands how things are and does not wish them to be otherwise, but is contented with things as they are, one will be happy.
This position proposes that goodness, that which is right, is found when one understands logic (the organization of thoughts, but also the organization of things and processes in nature) and physics (the limits of material reality, especially cause and effect) and acts in accord with them alone.
A different approach to goodness is found in Hedonism. The term Hedonism comes from the Greek word "hedone" meaning "pleasure". In Hedonism, the good is defined by that which is pleasant, or which brings pleasure: what is evil is that which limits pleasure or causes pain, or is pain, or privation of pleasure. This might seem unsophisticated and egocentric, and hedonism can be unsophisticated and egocentric, but this depends in part upon whether pleasure is viewed simply as a matter of quantity or as a matter of quality.
Some would argue that simply having much of something pleasurable is enough to increase pleasure, and therefore to have good. But others would understand that, for example, to play a song over and over, even if it is a perfectly good song, may not increase the pleasure from that song, or one's pleasure generally. It might be better to have one bar of Lindt chocolate than five Hershey bars (but of course this may be very largely or entirely a matter of taste: someone may find Hershey to be exquisite comparable to Lindt [it is conceivable]). The emphasis of quality over quantity characterizes the Epicurean school of hedonism.
Jeremy Bentham argued that any act could be judged as to its value using what he called an "hedonic calculus", measured based on seven essential factors. His godson J.S. Mill was less sanguine about exact quantitative measurement of pleasures, and furthermore Mill argued that pleasure was not merely individual: one should act to produce the greatest possible good (pleasure) for the greatest possible number of people. The usefulness or pleasure-production of any act, its utility, in Mill's terminology, was determined largely by its relationship to this basic principle of utility: to produce the greatest good for the greatest number.
Thus, in Mill's version of hedonism, one is guided to the higher pleasures of providing for social welfare with fine medicine, education, transportation, good government, an efficient and profitable economy, and so on.
Also, throughout the hedonistic schools, one finds the need to balance momentary pains with future pleasures. It may be that eating carefully now is a pain, but compared with the pleasure of a long life with a healthy body, these pains are worthwhile. It may be that guitar practice is a pain, but the pleasurable reward comes when one can play effortlessly (for those of us who achieve such a state).
So, under the general banner of hedonism, we can see the following principles:
1. The good = the pleasurable.
2. The end may justify the means (no pain, no gain).
3. Less of high quality is better than more of low quality (Epicurus).
4. Pleasure may be measured (Bentham).
5. The highest pleasure comes from altruism (Mill).
In none of these cases are specifics put forward; these are universal principles, applicable to any moral issues. It is the principles of the classical systems you examine which are to be the focus of your next project; only in the third project should you concentrate on issues.
Monday, February 11, 2008
11.ii.08 Ethics
In Ethics, we have been moving back and forth between discussion of individual student topics for the descriptive ethics project, presenting major criteria of ethical consideration, and examining Plato's Socratic dialogues.
The basic sense I have of these lessons is that they are a bit disjointed, and I imagine that the student experience may be the same. One of the points I hoped to avoid in the course was the problem of students acting without a clear notion of what they were to do, and to know what to do in respect to ethics requires that one have some notion of
1. the nature of ethical problems, or what sorts of acts and ideas about acts are given moral weight (that is, what sorts of acts or ideas about acts may be construed as having to do with right and wrong, with good and evil)
2. the nature of ethical principles, or what sorts of fundamental ideas govern thinking about moral problems, and
3. the nature of ethical method, or what way one can or should approach either discovering principles or interpreting problems of the moral variety.
My greatest concern at this point in the course is to find a way to achieve a clear and complete presentation of each of the matters listed above. In the future, I must consider ways to present more basic information sooner in the course, so that we have a common vocabulary and common information about ethics within the first three or four weeks of the course.
For now, I think the best approach is to continue to move back and forth between the presentation of criteria and the presentation on Plato.
Last class session I spent some time talking about the difference between fact and value which is worth summarizing.
"Persons committed to Buddhism are to engage in right livelihood, which argues against, for example, work as a butcher, or as a soldier, or as a sex-worker": this is a factual statement. It asserts something about the values of Buddhism. A committed Buddhist will generally declare that sex-work, for example, does not lead to the ultimate goal of the end of suffering, and may indeed lead the sex-worker and others to increased suffering. This, again, is a factual statement about Buddhists, but it points to ethical principles, which are values.
However, so long as the statement is about Buddhists or Buddhism, it is not a value-assertion, but a fact-assertion.
If I were to say "Sex-work is wrong because it may lead to suffering," I make a value-assertion. I am no longer proposing something which can be assessed both logically and empirically, that is, both by the rules of thought and the evidence of the senses.
In making a statement about Buddhists, I say something which can be tested by the senses: I can watch what Buddhists do, I can read what Buddhists write, I can hear what Buddhists say. I can judge by my senses whether what I learn about Buddhists has logical consistency and coherence. If it has, I can accept it as being logically valid and factually correct.
But I can only assess the logical validity of the statement "sex-work is wrong because it may lead to suffering". I might be able to judge whether I myself suffer because of sex-work, and I might extrapolate that this makes sex-work wrong -- but I cannot assess this conclusion as a fact: it would be value.
This is one of the important points made in Plato's dialogue "Euthyphro": it is on points of value that the gods differ, not on matters of fact. Therefore, on the very point to which one might wish to appeal to the gods for counsel -- moral problems -- the gods differ, and therefore if the gods define morality one is certain to give offense at some level.
The basic sense I have of these lessons is that they are a bit disjointed, and I imagine that the student experience may be the same. One of the points I hoped to avoid in the course was the problem of students acting without a clear notion of what they were to do, and to know what to do in respect to ethics requires that one have some notion of
1. the nature of ethical problems, or what sorts of acts and ideas about acts are given moral weight (that is, what sorts of acts or ideas about acts may be construed as having to do with right and wrong, with good and evil)
2. the nature of ethical principles, or what sorts of fundamental ideas govern thinking about moral problems, and
3. the nature of ethical method, or what way one can or should approach either discovering principles or interpreting problems of the moral variety.
My greatest concern at this point in the course is to find a way to achieve a clear and complete presentation of each of the matters listed above. In the future, I must consider ways to present more basic information sooner in the course, so that we have a common vocabulary and common information about ethics within the first three or four weeks of the course.
For now, I think the best approach is to continue to move back and forth between the presentation of criteria and the presentation on Plato.
Last class session I spent some time talking about the difference between fact and value which is worth summarizing.
"Persons committed to Buddhism are to engage in right livelihood, which argues against, for example, work as a butcher, or as a soldier, or as a sex-worker": this is a factual statement. It asserts something about the values of Buddhism. A committed Buddhist will generally declare that sex-work, for example, does not lead to the ultimate goal of the end of suffering, and may indeed lead the sex-worker and others to increased suffering. This, again, is a factual statement about Buddhists, but it points to ethical principles, which are values.
However, so long as the statement is about Buddhists or Buddhism, it is not a value-assertion, but a fact-assertion.
If I were to say "Sex-work is wrong because it may lead to suffering," I make a value-assertion. I am no longer proposing something which can be assessed both logically and empirically, that is, both by the rules of thought and the evidence of the senses.
In making a statement about Buddhists, I say something which can be tested by the senses: I can watch what Buddhists do, I can read what Buddhists write, I can hear what Buddhists say. I can judge by my senses whether what I learn about Buddhists has logical consistency and coherence. If it has, I can accept it as being logically valid and factually correct.
But I can only assess the logical validity of the statement "sex-work is wrong because it may lead to suffering". I might be able to judge whether I myself suffer because of sex-work, and I might extrapolate that this makes sex-work wrong -- but I cannot assess this conclusion as a fact: it would be value.
This is one of the important points made in Plato's dialogue "Euthyphro": it is on points of value that the gods differ, not on matters of fact. Therefore, on the very point to which one might wish to appeal to the gods for counsel -- moral problems -- the gods differ, and therefore if the gods define morality one is certain to give offense at some level.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Foundations of Verbal Communication Oral Performance Project
Our first oral performance project of this semester has been composing, memorizing, and reciting "Five/Fours", a poetic form devised by Ursula K. LeGuin and illustrated in her novel Always Coming Home.
Thoughts
Thinking of nothing.
Nothing at all.
Knowing there's something.
Preparing to fall.
-- Amanda Kelley
Thoughts
Thinking of nothing.
Nothing at all.
Knowing there's something.
Preparing to fall.
-- Amanda Kelley
Untitled
Gentle sway of heat
Kissing rosy cheeks
August's halo of
Light and blue above
-- Mairin-Taj Caya
[Notice the enjambment of the last two lines in Caya's piece. Kelley's is fully end-stopped; indeed, Kelley has emphasized the end-stops with periods.]
Gentle sway of heat
Kissing rosy cheeks
August's halo of
Light and blue above
-- Mairin-Taj Caya
[Notice the enjambment of the last two lines in Caya's piece. Kelley's is fully end-stopped; indeed, Kelley has emphasized the end-stops with periods.]
Procrastination
I did not do this
Until this morning
I am a slacker
Procrastination
-- Josh Yinger
[I particularly appreciate the echo of the stressed syllable of "slacker" in the stressed syllables of "procrastination". I also appreciate the use of a single word for an entire line.]
I did not do this
Until this morning
I am a slacker
Procrastination
-- Josh Yinger
[I particularly appreciate the echo of the stressed syllable of "slacker" in the stressed syllables of "procrastination". I also appreciate the use of a single word for an entire line.]
Anxiety
Constant sleepless nights
Killing me slowly
What if I could stop?
What would life be like?
-- Sara Warfel
Constant sleepless nights
Killing me slowly
What if I could stop?
What would life be like?
-- Sara Warfel
Design
Stitches here and there
Keep it together
Pull up, button, zip
It's a perfect fit
-- Megan Scallion
Stitches here and there
Keep it together
Pull up, button, zip
It's a perfect fit
-- Megan Scallion
Gone
I'm not here or there
I stay in the dark
No mind has control
No control of my mind
-- Sarah Solak
[As discussed in class, this is not quite a five/four as the last line has six syllables. A few alterations could be suggested; I would not change the phrases "no mind" / "no control", though, because the juxtaposition is one of the great strengths of the poem. Perhaps the reversal could be emphasized by replacing "of my" by "has"?]
I'm not here or there
I stay in the dark
No mind has control
No control of my mind
-- Sarah Solak
[As discussed in class, this is not quite a five/four as the last line has six syllables. A few alterations could be suggested; I would not change the phrases "no mind" / "no control", though, because the juxtaposition is one of the great strengths of the poem. Perhaps the reversal could be emphasized by replacing "of my" by "has"?]
Attack of the Bean Burrito
We sit in silence
No one is speaking
No pins are dropping
Then Emily farts
-- Kaitlin Sanders
[But perhaps it wasn't the burrito -- perhaps it was:]
We sit in silence
No one is speaking
No pins are dropping
Then Emily farts
-- Kaitlin Sanders
[But perhaps it wasn't the burrito -- perhaps it was:]
Haggis
Have you heard of it?
Cabbage, potatoes
Whiskey and mutton
Stuffed in sheep's stomach
-- Emily Atkins
Have you heard of it?
Cabbage, potatoes
Whiskey and mutton
Stuffed in sheep's stomach
-- Emily Atkins
Austin
You're a gift from God
Our little treasure
Sent by your mother
Now ours forever
-- Triscia Felty
You're a gift from God
Our little treasure
Sent by your mother
Now ours forever
-- Triscia Felty
Sick
Under the raincloud
Time passes slowly
Can't get out of bed
Another sick day
-- Samantha Emonds
Under the raincloud
Time passes slowly
Can't get out of bed
Another sick day
-- Samantha Emonds
Loss
He offers a hand
To those who need him
Takes them from this world
To live in Heaven
-- Madeline Mowery
He offers a hand
To those who need him
Takes them from this world
To live in Heaven
-- Madeline Mowery
Anger
I am so angry.
Do not piss me off.
I'm going to win.
I love you so much!
-- Kim Jackson
I am so angry.
Do not piss me off.
I'm going to win.
I love you so much!
-- Kim Jackson
At Dawn, Hear the Bells
The night strangles us,
Faces peer through mist.
Stars glimmer through trees.
At dawn, hear the bells.
-- Alyssa Cross
The night strangles us,
Faces peer through mist.
Stars glimmer through trees.
At dawn, hear the bells.
-- Alyssa Cross
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
28.i.08 Foundations of Verbal Communications
The main concern this morning was in considering the Quotation / Paraphrase / Summary / Reference exercise.
One minor point that many students missed is that in MLA bibliographic form University Presses are abbreviated, so in the bibliography for Always Coming Home, the publisher should be listed as "U California P" or "U of California P", not "University of California Press." The place of publication, also, should be a city whenever that information is provided, so in this case it is Berkeley (Berkeley is a sufficiently well-known place that you need not write "Berkeley CA"). Although it is true that this book was printed in the USA, the place of publication should not be listed as "USA" -- although of course Berkeley is in the USA -- but again, in the most specific location known, down to the level of city (do not include the street address of the publisher, even though that may be available).
A more considerable point is the distinction between a direct quotation, a paraphrase, and a summary.
The distinction becomes more clear if we understand the use of each in the context of a research essay.
Use a direct quotation in those instances where the idea or information expressed in some passage by another author is, first, so important to the support of your thesis as to require inclusion, and second, so beautifully or efficiently worded that it could not possibly be expressed in different words and retain its meaning. Cite the author's last name and page number and link the citation to a bibliographic entry in your "works cited" page.
If, however, the idea or information in the passage is essential to your argument, but could easily be expressed in different words that would be more your own style, change the wording, but include the idea or information. In this case, you are paraphrasing -- rewording the idea or information. You MUST include a citation with the author's name and page number, linked to a bibliographic ending in your "works cited" page, but you must not use quotation marks around the expression of the idea or information.
If you find that a long passage by another author includes ideas or information which are important to your topic, but to paraphrase or quote from the passage directly would take up too much space in your essay, and besides you can condense the idea in the long passage into a few phases or sentences, then make that condensation, using your own wording (if you do use a few words or phrases from the original passage you are condensing, place those in quotation marks). This is called a summary. It is different from a paraphrase in that a paraphrase is approximately the same length as the passage it rewords, while a summary will be briefer, often much briefer, than the passage it condenses. Summaries should be cited, like paraphrases, and if the summary is of material from several pages and you have included some direct quotations, those quotations must be cited individually to indicate the pages on which the phrase quoted occurs.
A reference is essentially an extremely condensed summary; it might be a one- or two-sentence summary of an entire essay, story, poem, novel, etc. Depending on the length of the material referenced, you will either simply include the author's name, or also include page references, but to practice safe scholarship, do include a citation even for a reference.
One minor point that many students missed is that in MLA bibliographic form University Presses are abbreviated, so in the bibliography for Always Coming Home, the publisher should be listed as "U California P" or "U of California P", not "University of California Press." The place of publication, also, should be a city whenever that information is provided, so in this case it is Berkeley (Berkeley is a sufficiently well-known place that you need not write "Berkeley CA"). Although it is true that this book was printed in the USA, the place of publication should not be listed as "USA" -- although of course Berkeley is in the USA -- but again, in the most specific location known, down to the level of city (do not include the street address of the publisher, even though that may be available).
A more considerable point is the distinction between a direct quotation, a paraphrase, and a summary.
The distinction becomes more clear if we understand the use of each in the context of a research essay.
Use a direct quotation in those instances where the idea or information expressed in some passage by another author is, first, so important to the support of your thesis as to require inclusion, and second, so beautifully or efficiently worded that it could not possibly be expressed in different words and retain its meaning. Cite the author's last name and page number and link the citation to a bibliographic entry in your "works cited" page.
If, however, the idea or information in the passage is essential to your argument, but could easily be expressed in different words that would be more your own style, change the wording, but include the idea or information. In this case, you are paraphrasing -- rewording the idea or information. You MUST include a citation with the author's name and page number, linked to a bibliographic ending in your "works cited" page, but you must not use quotation marks around the expression of the idea or information.
If you find that a long passage by another author includes ideas or information which are important to your topic, but to paraphrase or quote from the passage directly would take up too much space in your essay, and besides you can condense the idea in the long passage into a few phases or sentences, then make that condensation, using your own wording (if you do use a few words or phrases from the original passage you are condensing, place those in quotation marks). This is called a summary. It is different from a paraphrase in that a paraphrase is approximately the same length as the passage it rewords, while a summary will be briefer, often much briefer, than the passage it condenses. Summaries should be cited, like paraphrases, and if the summary is of material from several pages and you have included some direct quotations, those quotations must be cited individually to indicate the pages on which the phrase quoted occurs.
A reference is essentially an extremely condensed summary; it might be a one- or two-sentence summary of an entire essay, story, poem, novel, etc. Depending on the length of the material referenced, you will either simply include the author's name, or also include page references, but to practice safe scholarship, do include a citation even for a reference.
Friday, January 25, 2008
24.i.08 Ethics
Began class this evening with the following items on my card:
1. topic selection and questionnaire (for the descriptive ethics project) due
2. review the above to refine as needed
3. In Epictetus: What is Epictetus' method? With what problems is he particularly concerned? What are his basic principles?
4. If you have a copy of Plato: Five Dialogues, begin reading "Euthyphro" and "Meno". Compare the dialogues. How is the process followed in the "Euthyphro" like or unlike that in the "Meno". How are piety and virtue related? Would Socrates' approach to problems be irrelevant today? Explain your responses.
A question was raised about the distinction between method, problem, and principle.
Method is the general approach, the mental toolkit used, to investigate morality. A method may work descriptively (to say what a morality is) or prescriptively (or "constructively" or "creatively": to say what a morality should be). A descriptive method might be logical or rational, in which a problem is analyzed, that is, divided into parts which are then categorized according to some standard. Another type of descriptive method is intuitive, in which one is supposed to have a "moral sense" of the rightness or wrongness of various elements of a moral problem. Both rational/logical methods and intuitive methods may also be prescriptive. Another prescriptive method might be called apodeictic (sometimes spelled apodictic): a method of pronouncement as of universal, unquestionable law.
A problem, or issue, or situation, could be general or specific, simple or complex, but it is, essentially, an act or group of acts which might be perceived as having moral weight. Think "math problem", like "if n = m+1, what is the value of m in the following problem: n+m=31?" An example of a moral problem might be:
A man, completely and sincerely devoted to his wife, learns that she has a rare, degenerative disease. The man and his wife seek treatment for the disease, but their insurance money runs out. Because of her illness, the woman must leave her job, and eventually she is bedridden. Her husband is challenged to care for her and hold his job, and he finds that he must cut back his hours, further reducing the family income. Then the man learns from a pharmacist of a cure for the disease, which has been shown to be almost 100% effective, but which is extraordinarily expensive. In fact, the pharmacist has a stock of the drug on hand, but since the husband cannot pay, and now has no insurance, she refuses the drug to the husband. Then the husband learns that the security system at the pharmacy is broken and the back door is unlocked. Taking care to cover his tracks, the husband enters the pharmacy and takes enough of the drug to cure his wife (in his community, this is considered theft). He is not discovered, and although the drug is found missing, he is never prosecuted. His wife recovers, returns to her job, and within a year, the couple find that they have enough money to pay the pharmacist for the drug they took. So, one day, using unmarked bills, the husband returns to the pharmacy and leaves the money on the counter while purchasing another product.
Now, alright, this is a far-fetched story in some ways, but it sets up a series of questions:
Everything has turned out happily. In the end, no one is the worse for the events: the wife is recovered, the husband is back at work, and the pharmacist has her profits. Does this end justify the means -- stealing? Is stealing ever acceptable?
Did the man steal?
Is it right for a person to be denied care which is readily available because he or she cannot pay? At what point is it reasonable (morally upright) to deny care? Under what conditions?
Should the man have sought medical treatment for his wife, or was her illness merely part of the will of God or an act of Nature which should not have been questioned?
Should the wife, seeing that her husband was n danger of losing his job, resigned herself to her fate, and perhaps even committed suicide to save her husband from the hardships he faced?
Should the pharmacist have negotiated some sort of payment plan with the husband, or simply given the drug out of charity, despite its high cost?
Was the man justified in his actions because of the injustice of the insurance in not paying for his wife's treatments?
This is not an exhaustive list of questions which could be drawn from this problem.
The way questions about a problem are formulated, and the way they are interpreted or treated is the method.
In examining a problem, certain principles, or basic general notions, can be extracted or applied.
Some examples of general principles:
the value of an act is in the act itself
the value of an act is in the intent which underlies the act
the value of an act is imposed by outside forces (for examples, the will of the gods, or community standards)
the value of an act is not objective, but is an emotional judgement applied by some perceiver
Those principles define the basic criteria or morality.
Once those criteria are established, other principles, which often seem like laws, can be extrapolated or applied.
For examples:
Act only in such a way that you could wish that everyone would do the same thing (I am thinking here of Kant's categorical imperative, which is more properly stated "act only according to that maxim which you could at the same time will to be a universal law").
Do not steal.
Do not deny care from those in need.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A husband is obligated by his marriage vows to sacrifice everything for his wife.
Governments are formed to protect the rights of the governed.
All humans are endowed with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Seek the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number.
You may not agree with all -- or even any -- of these principles. And they may contradict each other. But they are principles, which may be abstracted or drawn out from a series of problems compared one with the other, or, once principles have been formulated, they may be applied to multiple instances.
A problem is a specific issue or situation, or it may be more general, like a topic ("euthanasia" or "partial-birth abortions" or "military conscription") -- in any case, a method may be applied to it using principles, or principles drawn from it again by using some particular method.
Having given a talk on the distinction between methods, problems, and principles paralleling that given here, I circulated through the room, spending about fifteen minutes with each student discussing the topics and questionnaires. The problem here is that, while the exercise is a fine one, there is not sufficient time to prepare adequately and review to refine before the due date. Although fifteen minutes is probably a reasonable conference time, that gives only six conferences in a full class session, but there are thirteen students enrolled in the course; the conferences must be shortened; general comments or repeated comments should be made once; this requires careful preparation on my part. Also, for the process to work well, the students must have their work, and their best work, ready at the due date.
In this assignment, I think probably a fixed model of the layout and possible forms for questions should have been distributed. In future courses using this exercise, that should be done.
In this course, I am grading at the end of the project, although the various elements of the project represent specific percentages of the whole. I did not prepare or distribute rubrics for the topic selection sheet or for the questionnaire; rubrics should be prepared to make grading straightforward.
I am requesting students to rework their topics and questionnaires, and then to submit all the materials for the project together as a portfolio on the due date for the last element of the project; I will then grade the project as a whole, and within that project the individual elements of the project. I did, however, offer to students the possibility of receiving a grade on individual elements of the projects if they thought that that would be valuable. As of yet, none have requested grading on the individual elements.
Barring the need for shorter conference times (perhaps a stop watch would be useful) and rubrics for the elements of the projects, I felt that the class was a success.
1. topic selection and questionnaire (for the descriptive ethics project) due
2. review the above to refine as needed
3. In Epictetus: What is Epictetus' method? With what problems is he particularly concerned? What are his basic principles?
4. If you have a copy of Plato: Five Dialogues, begin reading "Euthyphro" and "Meno". Compare the dialogues. How is the process followed in the "Euthyphro" like or unlike that in the "Meno". How are piety and virtue related? Would Socrates' approach to problems be irrelevant today? Explain your responses.
A question was raised about the distinction between method, problem, and principle.
Method is the general approach, the mental toolkit used, to investigate morality. A method may work descriptively (to say what a morality is) or prescriptively (or "constructively" or "creatively": to say what a morality should be). A descriptive method might be logical or rational, in which a problem is analyzed, that is, divided into parts which are then categorized according to some standard. Another type of descriptive method is intuitive, in which one is supposed to have a "moral sense" of the rightness or wrongness of various elements of a moral problem. Both rational/logical methods and intuitive methods may also be prescriptive. Another prescriptive method might be called apodeictic (sometimes spelled apodictic): a method of pronouncement as of universal, unquestionable law.
A problem, or issue, or situation, could be general or specific, simple or complex, but it is, essentially, an act or group of acts which might be perceived as having moral weight. Think "math problem", like "if n = m+1, what is the value of m in the following problem: n+m=31?" An example of a moral problem might be:
A man, completely and sincerely devoted to his wife, learns that she has a rare, degenerative disease. The man and his wife seek treatment for the disease, but their insurance money runs out. Because of her illness, the woman must leave her job, and eventually she is bedridden. Her husband is challenged to care for her and hold his job, and he finds that he must cut back his hours, further reducing the family income. Then the man learns from a pharmacist of a cure for the disease, which has been shown to be almost 100% effective, but which is extraordinarily expensive. In fact, the pharmacist has a stock of the drug on hand, but since the husband cannot pay, and now has no insurance, she refuses the drug to the husband. Then the husband learns that the security system at the pharmacy is broken and the back door is unlocked. Taking care to cover his tracks, the husband enters the pharmacy and takes enough of the drug to cure his wife (in his community, this is considered theft). He is not discovered, and although the drug is found missing, he is never prosecuted. His wife recovers, returns to her job, and within a year, the couple find that they have enough money to pay the pharmacist for the drug they took. So, one day, using unmarked bills, the husband returns to the pharmacy and leaves the money on the counter while purchasing another product.
Now, alright, this is a far-fetched story in some ways, but it sets up a series of questions:
Everything has turned out happily. In the end, no one is the worse for the events: the wife is recovered, the husband is back at work, and the pharmacist has her profits. Does this end justify the means -- stealing? Is stealing ever acceptable?
Did the man steal?
Is it right for a person to be denied care which is readily available because he or she cannot pay? At what point is it reasonable (morally upright) to deny care? Under what conditions?
Should the man have sought medical treatment for his wife, or was her illness merely part of the will of God or an act of Nature which should not have been questioned?
Should the wife, seeing that her husband was n danger of losing his job, resigned herself to her fate, and perhaps even committed suicide to save her husband from the hardships he faced?
Should the pharmacist have negotiated some sort of payment plan with the husband, or simply given the drug out of charity, despite its high cost?
Was the man justified in his actions because of the injustice of the insurance in not paying for his wife's treatments?
This is not an exhaustive list of questions which could be drawn from this problem.
The way questions about a problem are formulated, and the way they are interpreted or treated is the method.
In examining a problem, certain principles, or basic general notions, can be extracted or applied.
Some examples of general principles:
the value of an act is in the act itself
the value of an act is in the intent which underlies the act
the value of an act is imposed by outside forces (for examples, the will of the gods, or community standards)
the value of an act is not objective, but is an emotional judgement applied by some perceiver
Those principles define the basic criteria or morality.
Once those criteria are established, other principles, which often seem like laws, can be extrapolated or applied.
For examples:
Act only in such a way that you could wish that everyone would do the same thing (I am thinking here of Kant's categorical imperative, which is more properly stated "act only according to that maxim which you could at the same time will to be a universal law").
Do not steal.
Do not deny care from those in need.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A husband is obligated by his marriage vows to sacrifice everything for his wife.
Governments are formed to protect the rights of the governed.
All humans are endowed with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Seek the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number.
You may not agree with all -- or even any -- of these principles. And they may contradict each other. But they are principles, which may be abstracted or drawn out from a series of problems compared one with the other, or, once principles have been formulated, they may be applied to multiple instances.
A problem is a specific issue or situation, or it may be more general, like a topic ("euthanasia" or "partial-birth abortions" or "military conscription") -- in any case, a method may be applied to it using principles, or principles drawn from it again by using some particular method.
Having given a talk on the distinction between methods, problems, and principles paralleling that given here, I circulated through the room, spending about fifteen minutes with each student discussing the topics and questionnaires. The problem here is that, while the exercise is a fine one, there is not sufficient time to prepare adequately and review to refine before the due date. Although fifteen minutes is probably a reasonable conference time, that gives only six conferences in a full class session, but there are thirteen students enrolled in the course; the conferences must be shortened; general comments or repeated comments should be made once; this requires careful preparation on my part. Also, for the process to work well, the students must have their work, and their best work, ready at the due date.
In this assignment, I think probably a fixed model of the layout and possible forms for questions should have been distributed. In future courses using this exercise, that should be done.
In this course, I am grading at the end of the project, although the various elements of the project represent specific percentages of the whole. I did not prepare or distribute rubrics for the topic selection sheet or for the questionnaire; rubrics should be prepared to make grading straightforward.
I am requesting students to rework their topics and questionnaires, and then to submit all the materials for the project together as a portfolio on the due date for the last element of the project; I will then grade the project as a whole, and within that project the individual elements of the project. I did, however, offer to students the possibility of receiving a grade on individual elements of the projects if they thought that that would be valuable. As of yet, none have requested grading on the individual elements.
Barring the need for shorter conference times (perhaps a stop watch would be useful) and rubrics for the elements of the projects, I felt that the class was a success.
23.i.08 HIS 310 Field Trip
This evening we experimented with an out-of-school experience, meeting at the Prince Street Cafe. I borrowed a laptop from the college so we could refer to the documents in the Avalon Project at Yale. I had begun work on a chronology of significant dates leading up to the War of Independence and was ready to give a talk on that, but we spent most of the class session considering topics for the first writing project, which is to center on some idea or event which influenced the constitution (or the Constitution) of the United States. In the syllabus, I had listed several possible topics.
Students selected the following as tentative topics:
John Locke's theory of government
Native American governmental forms
Cultural unity and diversity in the British colonies in North America.
On Locke, I pointed to "The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, March 1 1669". This is interesting on several points. It is one of two frames of government in North America (the other is Pennsylvania's) that reflect a connection with Locke; this one is directly attributed to him, although it was amended (and this is another very interesting point) by Lord Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper), who is notable as advocating "moral sense" theory of ethics. Another point of interest is that the "Constitutions" of 1669 present what amounts to a feudal structure for the province, which seems somehow antithetical to Locke's basic position on government. Also, articles 95 through 110 deal with religion in a quite liberal fashion for the period, and these are well worth examining. Article 110 is particularly interesting on another point as well, which may be clear on reading it.
On Native government, I point to William Fenton's The Great Law and the Longhouse: A Political History of the Iroquois Confederacy (Norman: U Oklahoma P, 1998). Another good source for local Native documents is Barry Kent's Susquehanna's Indians (Harrisburg: PHMC, 1984).
On the cultural diversity of the British North American colonies, an excellent starting place is David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (2nd ed, NY: Oxford UP, 1998).
Students selected the following as tentative topics:
John Locke's theory of government
Native American governmental forms
Cultural unity and diversity in the British colonies in North America.
On Locke, I pointed to "The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, March 1 1669". This is interesting on several points. It is one of two frames of government in North America (the other is Pennsylvania's) that reflect a connection with Locke; this one is directly attributed to him, although it was amended (and this is another very interesting point) by Lord Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley Cooper), who is notable as advocating "moral sense" theory of ethics. Another point of interest is that the "Constitutions" of 1669 present what amounts to a feudal structure for the province, which seems somehow antithetical to Locke's basic position on government. Also, articles 95 through 110 deal with religion in a quite liberal fashion for the period, and these are well worth examining. Article 110 is particularly interesting on another point as well, which may be clear on reading it.
On Native government, I point to William Fenton's The Great Law and the Longhouse: A Political History of the Iroquois Confederacy (Norman: U Oklahoma P, 1998). Another good source for local Native documents is Barry Kent's Susquehanna's Indians (Harrisburg: PHMC, 1984).
On the cultural diversity of the British North American colonies, an excellent starting place is David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (2nd ed, NY: Oxford UP, 1998).
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
23.i.08 The Experiment Continues
Woke this morning to find the lower back pain which was extreme yesterday afternoon had diminished, although it is still present. A new challenge presented itself in dizziness, which made movement about, showering, dressing, preparing breakfast, &c. "interesting".
I had prepared a notecard listing assignments for FVC 102 last evening before leaving the college at 8:30, and when I arrived in the classroom I wrote the contents on the board:
1. Quotation exercise due.
2. work on topic refinement continues as needed -- begin research on topics toward writing of THESIS -- due the 4th -- that's 11 days away.
3. A WEEK FROM TODAY: 5/4s presentation
4. select a poem by 25.i.08 -- 9 days to memorize and present (will need to complete the sheet [write out responses on the sheet] as preparation). [A bit of a senior moment here: I was thinking that this class session, the first of the week's, was Monday (confusion brought on by the MLKJr Day holiday), so I thought in terms of another class on "Wednesday", i.e. Friday the 25th. Still, it's fine for the students to have a deadline for selection of a poem, and Friday is as good a day as any.]
All students in the section were present but one. I believe that none of them had word-processed their assignments due today; I checked the syllabus and realized that it was merely an assumption on my part that all of the written assignments would be word-processed. This points to a correction which must be made on future syllabi; also a corrigendum making this requirement should be distributed at the next class session.
Because I did prefer that the students' work be word-processed (and I explained why: 1) it is neater, even though I do believe that handwriting is an important craft to develop through practice; 2) much written work should be presented word-processed, therefore the greater the students' experience of word-processors the more likely the students are to learn efficient word-processing; 3) MLA format, in which the assignment was to presented, is essentially a word-processing format), the students asked whether they could go to the library. This was fine, and fine, too, because this gave students the opportunity to work on their selection of poems.
The quotation / paraphrase / summary / reference exercise has obviated some basic troubles in some students' work. The next question within the experiment is, "How should work on revision of assignments, being carried forward simultaneously by the students but at different rates, be prioritized by the instructor?"
The goal of the course, in part, is to ensure that students understand the basics of MLA formatting -- this is merely mechanical -- but also that they should understand the concepts underlying the format: the distinction, for example, between a direct quotation and a paraphrase, between an edited quotation and a direct quotation....
One question raised during the exercise is the difference between a "summary" and a "reference"; I should be able to articulate this more clearly. Admittedly, the boundary between these is hazy - as also is the boundary between paraphrase and summary. But to grade students on these points without clear definition may be unfair.
Unhappily, because of the MLKJr Day holiday, we will not meet again this week, but that gives me a chance to review all of the student work collected today.
I will struggle to refrain from writing anything on the student work proper, but will photocopy the submissions and meet with the students on Monday during class session to identify any corrections which must be made.
Overall, I felt the session was useful, and the students were generally focused on their work. Despite student comment last semester that having multiple exercises concurrently is confusing, in this situation it seems to be the only way to ensure that everyone is working toward her or his project at an individually productive rate.
I had prepared a notecard listing assignments for FVC 102 last evening before leaving the college at 8:30, and when I arrived in the classroom I wrote the contents on the board:
1. Quotation exercise due.
2. work on topic refinement continues as needed -- begin research on topics toward writing of THESIS -- due the 4th -- that's 11 days away.
3. A WEEK FROM TODAY: 5/4s presentation
4. select a poem by 25.i.08 -- 9 days to memorize and present (will need to complete the sheet [write out responses on the sheet] as preparation). [A bit of a senior moment here: I was thinking that this class session, the first of the week's, was Monday (confusion brought on by the MLKJr Day holiday), so I thought in terms of another class on "Wednesday", i.e. Friday the 25th. Still, it's fine for the students to have a deadline for selection of a poem, and Friday is as good a day as any.]
All students in the section were present but one. I believe that none of them had word-processed their assignments due today; I checked the syllabus and realized that it was merely an assumption on my part that all of the written assignments would be word-processed. This points to a correction which must be made on future syllabi; also a corrigendum making this requirement should be distributed at the next class session.
Because I did prefer that the students' work be word-processed (and I explained why: 1) it is neater, even though I do believe that handwriting is an important craft to develop through practice; 2) much written work should be presented word-processed, therefore the greater the students' experience of word-processors the more likely the students are to learn efficient word-processing; 3) MLA format, in which the assignment was to presented, is essentially a word-processing format), the students asked whether they could go to the library. This was fine, and fine, too, because this gave students the opportunity to work on their selection of poems.
The quotation / paraphrase / summary / reference exercise has obviated some basic troubles in some students' work. The next question within the experiment is, "How should work on revision of assignments, being carried forward simultaneously by the students but at different rates, be prioritized by the instructor?"
The goal of the course, in part, is to ensure that students understand the basics of MLA formatting -- this is merely mechanical -- but also that they should understand the concepts underlying the format: the distinction, for example, between a direct quotation and a paraphrase, between an edited quotation and a direct quotation....
One question raised during the exercise is the difference between a "summary" and a "reference"; I should be able to articulate this more clearly. Admittedly, the boundary between these is hazy - as also is the boundary between paraphrase and summary. But to grade students on these points without clear definition may be unfair.
Unhappily, because of the MLKJr Day holiday, we will not meet again this week, but that gives me a chance to review all of the student work collected today.
I will struggle to refrain from writing anything on the student work proper, but will photocopy the submissions and meet with the students on Monday during class session to identify any corrections which must be made.
Overall, I felt the session was useful, and the students were generally focused on their work. Despite student comment last semester that having multiple exercises concurrently is confusing, in this situation it seems to be the only way to ensure that everyone is working toward her or his project at an individually productive rate.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
22.i.08 Ethics: Notes on the Handbook of Epictetus
Epictetus Encheiridion
c 1 Epictetus’ initial statement about what we can and cannot do reflects in a certain way the three basic categories of moral acts:
those required, commanded, necessary
those permitted but not required
those forbidden
consider Epictetus’ statement about acting moderately (¶2)
Q.: Is this a reflection of the Aristotelian mean?
The Aristotelian mean: do all in moderation – find the middle ground between excess and deficieincy. In some respects this seems as though it would appeal to Epictetus. However, he does have a sense of
1) the necessity of force in certain conditions
2) askesis: the discipline of an athlete. (Hence the English “ascetic”).
This latter is really central to Epictetus’ understanding.
c1 ¶1 He describes if not defines “things up to us”:
free
unhindered
unimpeded – essentially he is giving synonyms rather than presenting three different parts of the definition.
Q: what makes these acts free? Epictetus seems to concentrate on the will – although he may not use the term.
c1¶3 Phantasia – “the immediate experience of sense or feeling”
Distinguish the moral significance of supposing that some experiences at least may be what they seem to be.
White mentions the skeptics – this school proposes that nothing is which is experienced can be assumed to be real.
c2 Desire & aversion
Partially this may be a matter of White’s translation, but I have the strongest sense that Epictetus’ conclusion are Buddhist. It is possible – even likely -- that Buddhist ideas had some currency in the Graeco-Roman world. Desire and Aversion are two points of experience from which the Buddhist is counseled… on the other hand, Epictetus is not counseling the elimination of desire and aversion, but the application of desire and aversion to points over which one can have control. This again points to Epictetus’ focus on will.
c 2: “for the time being eliminate desire completely”.
This is an important point: Epictetus does not argue for the complete elimination of desire, but for its complete but temporary elimination. The condition of desire is proper understanding until one has achieved proper knowledge, desire will inevitably lead to trouble. I suppose the litmus test of proper knowledge is that when one has it, to desire something will not lead to an unhappy result.
unfortunate – failing to get what one wants
misfortunate – getting what one doesn’t want.
c 3 The askesis here is simple but not easy. Begin with what is easier and work up to the more difficult.
c 4 the askesis here is to discern classes of situation – those which are under our control and those which are not under our control.
c 5 Judgements – attitudes. This is the locus of upset. But there – judgments / attitudes are purely “up to us”. We are generally very read to perceive these as imposed. But Epictetus’ (the Stoic) position is that here – in attitudes – we have control. To Epictetus, the locus of control is the “soul”, which to him means not only the life-force, but the will, the consciousness, and in large part what we might b more inclined to call the “mind” rather than the “soul”.
“Uneducated” – Epictetus points to Paideia, the process of education. Werner Jaeger examined the Greek concept of paideia at length in his three-volume work entitled, of all things, Paideia. Jaeger’s thesis is in part that paideia is fundamentally moral training; surely Epictetus’ concern is centered here.
Cf. White’s discussion of what knowledge is required on 4.
“Uneducated person accuses others; partly educated person accuses himself; fully educated person accuses no-one” echoes Lao Tzu c 41 “When the highest type of men hear Tao,/ they diligently practice it./ When the average type of men hear Tao,/ They half believe in it. / When the lowest type of men hear Tao, They laugh heartily at it” (tr Chan 1963).
Those who have a high degree of understanding have equanimity.
c 7 is reminiscent of some of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels, and some commentators have argued that Jesus was himself a Stoic, or at least influenced by Stoicism: this is far from impossible, and indeed the influence at least seems likely. Jesus often argues that it is better to concentrate on what is truly important, which is the life of the soul, rather than on the body – like Epictetus, Jesus sometimes carries this to extremes (see Mt 8.22 and 12.46ff for examples).
c 8 could be interpreted in a “panglossian” way, that is, it could seem as though Epictetus is arguing that this world is the best of all possible worlds.
c9 The implication of this chapter is that ‘you” is not the body. See also c 53, last quotation. This mind/body dualism is notable – we may well question what the “I” is that is distinguished from the body.
Q.: Consider whether situations exist in which illness or injury DO effect the will.
c 10. Stoic virtues:
self control – to deal with temptation
endurance – to deal with hardship
patience – to deal with abuse.
Compare these virtues with those enumerated by Paul in I Cor 13.13: faith, hope, and love.
The Stoic virtues allow one to distinguish between reality and appearance.
c 11 “given back” – we are just passing through life – yet what we take and give back is the material existence – yet there is it seems something which is individual; therefore moral considerations are meaningfully applied to individual acts. If all – including selves or selfhood – were corporate or mutual, no accountability could be expected of the individual.
c 12 Begin with small things. The Greek term for “to make progress” here, “prokoptein” is based on the verb “koptein”, which is roughly cognate of the English “chop”, so “prokoptein” is “to chip away”. Slowly but surely, one reduces the problem bit by bit, stroke by stroke.
c 13 If people think you amount to something, distrust yourself. This sounds a bit grim, but here as elsewhere Epictetus is particularly concerned that one not adopt the ideas of others without testing them, and to be careful not to place confidence in anything outside of oneself.
c 14: Want not to fail to get what you desire. Another way to put this is: want to succeed to get what you desire. This comes back to Epictetus’ emphasis upon really clearly visualizing what is involved in achieving the aim, and keeping that aim always in front of one as a target. Do not allow anything to stand in the way of a program you have set yourself.
c 15: Here in the situation of the banquet, it seems as though etiquette has been applied broadly and made into an ethical principle: wait your turn, and when your turn comes do not extend it.
c 16 Sympathize outwardly, but do not be caught up internally. See too, c 31: “It is always appropriate to make libations and sacrifices and give first fruits according to the custom of one’s forefather, in a manner … neither slovenly nor careless, nor indeed cheaply nor beyond one’s means” (21). This echoes something of the Confucian ethical theory that one should act outwardly in accordance with tradition, while inwardly remaining free from attachment. There is also some sense here of the motto “when in Rome do as the Romans” – but this motto should not be taken to mean that internally one changes from one position to another, only that one should respect the traditions of whatever community in which one finds oneself.
Note, too, that here Epictetus argues for a mean between excess and deficiency.
c 17 The notion of being actors performing a play which we have not written is echoed, for example, in Shakespeare (As You Like It 2.7). Epictetus here as elsewhere does not elevate the human to a position of direction of natural order: we must rather accommodate ourselves to the natural order as it is.
c 18 “All signs are favorable if I wish [because] it is up to me to be benefited by whichever of them turns out to be correct.” Although here we may be distracted by the notion of “signs” or omens, which we generally construe as being “unscientific”, “irrational”, and “superstitious” – which seems to be outside of what we expect from Epictetus – the basic gist is well in keeping with Epictetus’ philosophy; if there are meaningful signs in events, they show something outside of ourselves, and therefore they do not impact that over which we have control. That which is outside our control we deal with through our reactions, so it really doesn’t matter how things happen – in any case we must deal with our reactions to them. I am reminded of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: Rule 34: “War is good for business.” Rule 35: “Peace is good for business”.
c 19 Only enter contests you can control if you wish to be victorious. Despise what is not up to us.
c 1 Epictetus’ initial statement about what we can and cannot do reflects in a certain way the three basic categories of moral acts:
those required, commanded, necessary
those permitted but not required
those forbidden
consider Epictetus’ statement about acting moderately (¶2)
Q.: Is this a reflection of the Aristotelian mean?
The Aristotelian mean: do all in moderation – find the middle ground between excess and deficieincy. In some respects this seems as though it would appeal to Epictetus. However, he does have a sense of
1) the necessity of force in certain conditions
2) askesis: the discipline of an athlete. (Hence the English “ascetic”).
This latter is really central to Epictetus’ understanding.
c1 ¶1 He describes if not defines “things up to us”:
free
unhindered
unimpeded – essentially he is giving synonyms rather than presenting three different parts of the definition.
Q: what makes these acts free? Epictetus seems to concentrate on the will – although he may not use the term.
c1¶3 Phantasia – “the immediate experience of sense or feeling”
Distinguish the moral significance of supposing that some experiences at least may be what they seem to be.
White mentions the skeptics – this school proposes that nothing is which is experienced can be assumed to be real.
c2 Desire & aversion
Partially this may be a matter of White’s translation, but I have the strongest sense that Epictetus’ conclusion are Buddhist. It is possible – even likely -- that Buddhist ideas had some currency in the Graeco-Roman world. Desire and Aversion are two points of experience from which the Buddhist is counseled… on the other hand, Epictetus is not counseling the elimination of desire and aversion, but the application of desire and aversion to points over which one can have control. This again points to Epictetus’ focus on will.
c 2: “for the time being eliminate desire completely”.
This is an important point: Epictetus does not argue for the complete elimination of desire, but for its complete but temporary elimination. The condition of desire is proper understanding until one has achieved proper knowledge, desire will inevitably lead to trouble. I suppose the litmus test of proper knowledge is that when one has it, to desire something will not lead to an unhappy result.
unfortunate – failing to get what one wants
misfortunate – getting what one doesn’t want.
c 3 The askesis here is simple but not easy. Begin with what is easier and work up to the more difficult.
c 4 the askesis here is to discern classes of situation – those which are under our control and those which are not under our control.
c 5 Judgements – attitudes. This is the locus of upset. But there – judgments / attitudes are purely “up to us”. We are generally very read to perceive these as imposed. But Epictetus’ (the Stoic) position is that here – in attitudes – we have control. To Epictetus, the locus of control is the “soul”, which to him means not only the life-force, but the will, the consciousness, and in large part what we might b more inclined to call the “mind” rather than the “soul”.
“Uneducated” – Epictetus points to Paideia, the process of education. Werner Jaeger examined the Greek concept of paideia at length in his three-volume work entitled, of all things, Paideia. Jaeger’s thesis is in part that paideia is fundamentally moral training; surely Epictetus’ concern is centered here.
Cf. White’s discussion of what knowledge is required on 4.
“Uneducated person accuses others; partly educated person accuses himself; fully educated person accuses no-one” echoes Lao Tzu c 41 “When the highest type of men hear Tao,/ they diligently practice it./ When the average type of men hear Tao,/ They half believe in it. / When the lowest type of men hear Tao, They laugh heartily at it” (tr Chan 1963).
Those who have a high degree of understanding have equanimity.
c 7 is reminiscent of some of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels, and some commentators have argued that Jesus was himself a Stoic, or at least influenced by Stoicism: this is far from impossible, and indeed the influence at least seems likely. Jesus often argues that it is better to concentrate on what is truly important, which is the life of the soul, rather than on the body – like Epictetus, Jesus sometimes carries this to extremes (see Mt 8.22 and 12.46ff for examples).
c 8 could be interpreted in a “panglossian” way, that is, it could seem as though Epictetus is arguing that this world is the best of all possible worlds.
c9 The implication of this chapter is that ‘you” is not the body. See also c 53, last quotation. This mind/body dualism is notable – we may well question what the “I” is that is distinguished from the body.
Q.: Consider whether situations exist in which illness or injury DO effect the will.
c 10. Stoic virtues:
self control – to deal with temptation
endurance – to deal with hardship
patience – to deal with abuse.
Compare these virtues with those enumerated by Paul in I Cor 13.13: faith, hope, and love.
The Stoic virtues allow one to distinguish between reality and appearance.
c 11 “given back” – we are just passing through life – yet what we take and give back is the material existence – yet there is it seems something which is individual; therefore moral considerations are meaningfully applied to individual acts. If all – including selves or selfhood – were corporate or mutual, no accountability could be expected of the individual.
c 12 Begin with small things. The Greek term for “to make progress” here, “prokoptein” is based on the verb “koptein”, which is roughly cognate of the English “chop”, so “prokoptein” is “to chip away”. Slowly but surely, one reduces the problem bit by bit, stroke by stroke.
c 13 If people think you amount to something, distrust yourself. This sounds a bit grim, but here as elsewhere Epictetus is particularly concerned that one not adopt the ideas of others without testing them, and to be careful not to place confidence in anything outside of oneself.
c 14: Want not to fail to get what you desire. Another way to put this is: want to succeed to get what you desire. This comes back to Epictetus’ emphasis upon really clearly visualizing what is involved in achieving the aim, and keeping that aim always in front of one as a target. Do not allow anything to stand in the way of a program you have set yourself.
c 15: Here in the situation of the banquet, it seems as though etiquette has been applied broadly and made into an ethical principle: wait your turn, and when your turn comes do not extend it.
c 16 Sympathize outwardly, but do not be caught up internally. See too, c 31: “It is always appropriate to make libations and sacrifices and give first fruits according to the custom of one’s forefather, in a manner … neither slovenly nor careless, nor indeed cheaply nor beyond one’s means” (21). This echoes something of the Confucian ethical theory that one should act outwardly in accordance with tradition, while inwardly remaining free from attachment. There is also some sense here of the motto “when in Rome do as the Romans” – but this motto should not be taken to mean that internally one changes from one position to another, only that one should respect the traditions of whatever community in which one finds oneself.
Note, too, that here Epictetus argues for a mean between excess and deficiency.
c 17 The notion of being actors performing a play which we have not written is echoed, for example, in Shakespeare (As You Like It 2.7). Epictetus here as elsewhere does not elevate the human to a position of direction of natural order: we must rather accommodate ourselves to the natural order as it is.
c 18 “All signs are favorable if I wish [because] it is up to me to be benefited by whichever of them turns out to be correct.” Although here we may be distracted by the notion of “signs” or omens, which we generally construe as being “unscientific”, “irrational”, and “superstitious” – which seems to be outside of what we expect from Epictetus – the basic gist is well in keeping with Epictetus’ philosophy; if there are meaningful signs in events, they show something outside of ourselves, and therefore they do not impact that over which we have control. That which is outside our control we deal with through our reactions, so it really doesn’t matter how things happen – in any case we must deal with our reactions to them. I am reminded of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: Rule 34: “War is good for business.” Rule 35: “Peace is good for business”.
c 19 Only enter contests you can control if you wish to be victorious. Despise what is not up to us.
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