Wittgenstein, contra Hawking

Stephen Hawking recently said that philosophy is "dead" because it simply hasn't kept up with science in recent years. Hawking is not the first to make this sort of charge. A number of people have written replies to Hawking's charge, and I won't cover that ground again.  Instead, let me simply offer a reply from Wittgenstein:

“Philosophy has made no progress?  If somebody scratches where it itches, does that count as progress?  If not, does that mean it wasn’t an authentic scratch?  Not an authentic itch?  Couldn’t this response to the stimulus go on for a long time until a remedy for itching is found?”

No Room In The South Dakota Inn? An unjust and ironic law.

Manny Steele and two other SD legislators are apparently proposing that we criminalize hospitality.  Their proposed law would make it illegal to offer a ride or lodging to illegal immigrants, and it would also make it a crime for an illegal immigrant to ask for work. 

Putting aside the fact that this would be a very difficult law to obey and to enforce (Would bus drivers and cab drivers need to verify citizenship before taking on fares?  Would it be illegal to offer a ride to a stranger?  Would shelters be forced to turn aside illegal immigrants on freezing nights?) this is ironic news to appear on the first Sunday of Advent, the season in which we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  This is the Jesus who was born to poor immigrants who had no place to live in their hometown.  Who was born in a barn.  Whose parents were forced to flee their homeland to escape politically motivated violence. 

I propose that our legislators take some time this Advent to try to put themselves in the shoes of other poor migrants.  Think about it: if you lived in Mexico, would you willingly give up that climate for South Dakota winters if you could avoid it?  Would you give up your hometown, your family, your language, your familiar food - in short, everything - to come to South Dakota if you could avoid it? 

More to the point: Would you make Mary give birth in your barn or your garage?  I understand why you're concerned about jobs and about enforcing our laws.  We have a great country, and we should work to keep it great.  But we will not make our country greater by making our hearts harder.

Meanwhile, as for me and my family, we would rather stand with Mary and Joseph.  And we will continue to say, as Christians and Jews have said for millennia, that an unjust law is no law at all. 

María y José, bienvenidos en nuestro pueblo. 

Reading and Writing and Gratitude

It's easy to get too busy to read, and too busy to write.  My sporadic blog posting reflects the cycles of the academic year: some times I'm full of time to post and full of ideas for writing; other times, I'm simply too busy to write.  Those too-busy-to-write times seem to come more often than the other times.

Still, I make myself promise to write -- books, articles, reviews, essays -- as a means of self-discipline.  If I'm reading, I'm learning.  If I'm writing, I'm learning even more.

But I am busy.  So all this posting will do is acknowledge the giants upon whose shoulders I have been sitting this past week: Plato's Phaedrus; Augustine's City of God; Mooney's Lost Intimacy in American Thought; West's Prophetic Fragments and American Evasion of Philosophy; Apuleius' De Deo Socratis  and his Asinus; a handful of Rorty's essays; Royce's Problem of Christianity; a handful of books on environmental philosophy (trying to sort out both some ethical issues and the practical matter of next spring's syllabus!); and, as always, a smattering of Peirce.

No, I don't usually read quite that many books in a week.  (Actually, I think I'm leaving out a half-dozen or so - oh, yeah, there was some Rauschenbusch in there, and some Martin Luther King, too.  Lots of social and political thought about religion, politics, freedom, and creativity, mostly.)

Last week was a marathon of reading and writing.  The result was a book chapter and sketches of about ten other articles.  Not sure they'll all get written - I only have so much time, remember?  But the most important part of this has been not the words on the page, but the way those words have served as a tool for thinking.  For that, and for the life that allows me to do that at all, I am very, very grateful.

On Writing Philosophy Essays

Writing a philosophy paper?  Here are a few phrases you should probably avoid:

1) "Socrates* feels that X is true."  (We don't know much about his feelings, do we?  Focus on what he said rather than on what you think he felt, unless you're also prepared to explain your insight into his feelings, and the relevance of that insight and of those feelings.) (*Or any other philosopher who doesn't tell us how she is feeling.)

2) "There is no answer to this question." (Do you mean no correct answer?  Why do you think I asked it, by the way?  Let me suggest that, at a minimum, there is an answer given in the texts we read.  If you think it's wrong, I'd be delighted to hear why you think it's wrong, once you've told me clearly what it is.)

3) "I've decided to ignore what the books say and focus on my own opinions here." (Not that your opinions don't matter, but they're deucedly difficult to grade.)

They Know It When They See It

An inmate in the South Dakota State Penitentiary has been denied access to art-instruction books because they contain images of unclothed human bodies.  (Original story here and here.)  While not everything that could be called an art book is a good art book, shouldn't we be doing everything we can to help felons improve their lives?  And isn't art one of the best things they can do while in prison?  Let us grant the prison wardens their claim that pornography worsens prison conditions; does that mean that all nudity is obscenity? (Scroll down to the concurring position of Mr. Justice Stewart.)

St. Nicholas Society and "un-stealing"

I just read an article about German Catholics wanting a Santa Claus-free Christmas this year.  It reminds me of something I have often spoken to students about: creating a "St. Nicholas Society."  The idea comes from the legend of the young St. Nicholas,

who was the orphaned son of wealthy parents.  One day he overheard a father lamenting that he had to sell one of his three daughters into slavery in order for the rest of the family to survive.  That night Nicholas threw some coins into the family's window to ensure the liberty of the girl, and returned the next two nights to repeat the gift on behalf of the other two girls.  This is why the symbol of St. Nicholas is often three coins:

He wanted his gift to be done in secret, perhaps so that he knew he wasn't giving in order to receive gratitude and honor.  I have come to think of this as the reverse of stealing, a secret giving or an "un-stealing."  

Once, while I was teaching at Penn State, a student told me he was weighing an invitation to join a secret society.  Some aspects of the society were appealing - friendship, loyalty, and a shared purpose, for instance - but he did not feel wholly comfortable with the idea.  I suggested then (and have suggested to several others since) that they consider forming a secret society that was not inwardly-focused but outwardly-focused.  They could call it the "St. Nicholas Society."  Its purpose would be to do good in the world without seeking to receive anything in return.

Of course, I have no idea if any of them have formed a St. Nicholas Society.  If they have, they have been successful at keeping it secret, at least from me!  And you have no idea if I've formed one, or if I just like to talk about it to others.

New Bio-Itzá Website!

Check it out.

The Asociación Bio Itzá does great, inexpensive Spanish-language immersion programs for individuals or groups in Petén, Guatemala.  It's a short trip from the Flores airport to their school and homestays in San José:

and it's also a short trip to Tikal:

They also have a school for teaching indigenous Mayan languages like Itzá, Quiché, and Kekchí. 

There are some slightly cheaper language schools in Guatemala, but this one makes your money go a long way, since they use the income to preserve and protect one of the largest unbroken stretches of rainforest North of the Amazon, and to preserve indigenous culture, protect archaeological sites, and promote sustainable agriculture.  In addition to learning Spanish, you can learn about medicinal plants; local cooking, music, and culture; rainforest ecology; Mayan archaeology (they have a licensed archaeologist on their staff); and a lot more.  Students interested in rural medicine can ask about arranging to work in the local medical clinic.  Worth every penny.

(Thanks to Luke Lynass and the other Augustana College students who worked to get this new website up and running.)

On Enemies

Just heard a very thought-provoking talk by Augustana Professor Janet Blank-Libra on the story of Jonah.  As she was talking, it occurred to me that in the story, God makes this disturbing analogy in Jonah 4.10-11:

Vine:Jonah::Nineveh:God

It's not the only possible interpretation of the verse, I admit, but it looks like at least one way to read it is that the people I think of as enemies might be as delightful to God as a shady spot in the hot desert was to Jonah.