USUPhilosophy

This was a philosophy professor you should know about. His book, The Practice of Philosophy, is the best short introduction to the subject I know. It is clear he lived a full and rich life, worthy of emulation. I have copied his obituary here. His webpage is well worth exploring.

Father Laurence Paul Hemming will be leading a discussion on “Faith and Reason”  tomorrow Nov. 18th from 2-3  in TSC  336.

Check his info here.

If you think you’re pretty smart, you should read this post over at In Socrates’s Wake. Apparently, the less able you are, the more likely it is that you will believe you are very able.

It is not a surprise that, in the wake of the election, thoughtful conservatives (and, in this case, culturally conservative Catholics) are trying to sort out the new landscape.  The two articles below present somewhat different visions of where to go from here. 

Here is an article here by Richard John Neuhaus on ‘The Coming Kulturkampf’.  After briefly discussing culture (Western, American, Christian), he argues that while the Catholic Church has very often taken a transformative role in culture, it may be that the Church will have no choice but to stand against the culture.

And an article here by Brad Miner, a sort of post-mortem on conservative culture.  He is more on the populist side of things, and wants to embrace fully American culture (something like an attempt to synthesize high Catholicism and Nascar), which is another possible direction.

Mark your calendars:

Philosophy major and pianist Dan Tate, along with his friend John Price, will be giving a free concert in the USU performance hall on Saturday, December 6 at 7pm.

This will make for a nice break from your pre-finals week study sessions.  Besides, good music is essential to the proper formation of the soul.  In fact, listening to good music might be the most important part of your education (see Plato’s Republic).  Here is their provisional playlist:

Impromptu in E-flat Major, Op. 90 No. 2        Schubert

Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1            Chopin

Etude in A-flat Major, Op. 25 No. 1               Chopin

Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35                      Chopin

Romance in F-Sharp Major, Op. 28 No. 2      Schumann

Etude in D-Sharp minor, Op. 8 No. 12           Scriabin

Sonata in C Major, K. 330, 1st Mvmt.           Mozart

Concerto in C minor, Op. 18, 2nd Mvmt.       Rachmaninoff