To those who have not yet heard, Notre Dame was recently the scene of a strange and peculiarly malicious hate crime.  You can read about it in this news article.

Long story short, someone put pieces of fried chicken in the mailboxes of the Black Students Association and the African Students Association, during Black History Month (February).  Seriously?  What a stupid gesture.  I honestly can't believe that something like that happened at our beloved Notre Dame.  It's an act of such gratuitous small-mindedness, such petty malice.

I guess I just want you to be aware, so that we can continue the good fight to show others respect and dignity.  To regard others with Buber's I-Thou look of personhood and respect. 

And to the perpetrators?  Come on, Domers.  Grow up.

-LC

Someone posed this question to a philosophy professor at a conference that I recently attended. The professor, in a somewhat agitated voice, said “I am not prepared to answer that question right now; I can’t talk to you about what philosophy is.” I thought that this was an interesting response, considering that the professor is, after all, a professional philosopher.

A friend of mine recently asked me why I am studying philosophy, if I already have the truth (namely, Christianity). He said that most people who study philosophy today do not have the truth, and study philosophy to find some sort of truth, which probably is not Christianity.

Since then, I have been trying to formulate an answer to the question ‘What is philosophy’, but I am having trouble defining philosophy so that 1) the definition takes into account philosophy’s relation to revelation, and 2) its relation to the natural and social sciences.

Of course, one obvious way to answer this question is to explain that revelation needs philosophy in order to make the truth manifest, and philosophy needs revelation to develop true teachings. This is the Thomistic view, and most Catholics would agree. However, this is not how philosophy is studied and pursued at most universities today. Most philosophers today do not deal with religion, and treat philosophy as something that can be pursued independently of revelation. As we know, this has been the predominant trend since the Enlightenment. However, I find this view to be unsatisfying because  it seems to follow that from the perspective a Christian, there is no truth to be gained from philosophy, and hence no reason to pursue philosophy. So, I am looking for a more comprehensive view of philosophy, one that clarifies its relation to both theology and the practical sciences.

Is it possible to give a positive definition of what philosophy is? Or must it always be defined in historical terms in conjunction with some other science (e.g. in year X philosophy was Y in the service of theology, or philosophy is Z in the service ofnatural science). This is another problem I have been having lately: how to make a distinction between the history of philosophy and philosophy ‘proper’. Is all philosophy historical? Maybe it cannot be defined and is rather a method than a science with a definite subject. I have my own views on this, which are constantly changing and evolving; these are just some of my rough thoughts. But I am wondering what other people think.

Adam 

Dearly beloveds,
Please take a moment to ponder this article/book review, written by a friend of a friend.  In short, it explains why everyone should do a liberal arts degree (no frickin' duh).

A few salacious quotes:

"Reading Shakespeare and Plato in college is a good way to get smarter and therefore become generically better at everything in general, including business."

"Study the liberal arts, unless you want to be a scientist, bored, or a fraud, QED."

As a management consultant, I have to add the caveat that my firm actually does REAL work and that this article is not half fair to the consulting profession.  But it's still good and thought-provoking and worth considering for those who think PLS needs specialization or more practicality (Ahem.  Adam.  ;-)  )

Hugs to all,
LC

I just stumbled upon this great article which basically lays out the case for pre-college classical education and gives a short history of this small but growing movement. I knew there were schools like this dotting the country, but I didn't realize that there were so many. It gives me reason to hope...as long as they don't fall into the trap of becoming mere instrumentalist training grounds for culture warriors of the Christian Right, as the author points out.
-Joey