Category: Random Journalizing
Jay Fliegelman, Coe Professor in American Literature at Stanford University, was my teacher once during my brief career as a PhD student in English. His seminar, “History as Literary Art,” was my favorite class, though I took my master’s degree and fled the Farm after two very difficult years.
I was sad to see his obituary in an alum newsletter reporting that he passed in Menlo Park on August 14, at 58 years old.
…from a trip down south, June 2007…
I wandered onto the following trailer late last night…
American philosopher Richard Rorty died June 8. Here’s a link to a brief news report (Rorty obit), and a small excerpt that says a lot about Rorty’s inspiration particularly for me:
“Rorty forged ahead on the path cleared by American pragmatists, particularly John Dewey, in asserting that ideas are tools; the ones we call ‘true’ are simply those that help us cope best with our present circumstances. Politically liberal, he especially admired Dewey’s focus on social activism—his famous urging that intellectuals shift their attention from ‘the problems of philosophy’ to ‘the problems of men.'”
The blogosphere as it currently exists is that infinite warehouse of proverbial monkeys tapping on typewriters until Shakespeare randomly coalesces on page like a chaos fractal. In this scenario, art happens by accident, not design.
