Nietzsche predicts Paris Attack

In "The Uses and Abuses of History," Nietzsche is speaking of the harm our memories (only humans have histories) do to us if we cannot absorb them and continue with living. Grudges kill:

There is a degree of insomnia, of rumination, of the historical sense, through which living comes to harm and finally is destroyed, whether it is a person or a people or a culture.

But how can the mind of, say, Denmark or Yale and Mizzou be able to cope with the mind of ISIS?

Who said it, Trotsky? "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."

Hard times for the Enlightenment. Fantasy is in the saddle. 


Madona as Betsy Ross?

I saw a video of Madonna at a concert on the night after the Paris massacre. She says that she thought of cancelling, but chose to resist ISIS by doing the show. She noted that the targets were all places where people came to have "fun." She added, to much audience cheering, that we all deserve our fun and the freedom to choose how we have fun. She stood up to ISIS on the platform of fun.

Part of me was jolted a bit. Are we, like thwarted children, reduced to defending our playtime rights? Not the right to participate in our own political governance, including the governance of ourselves, the sine qua non of free government?

But then another part of me reflected, is not Madonna standing up for political freedom, too, by defying those who would choose for us?

There, I have united right and left!


Follow da money at Yale

Extortion? Co-optation? Wise advancement of a humane and decent agenda? You decide.

[Yale President} Salovey directly responded to most of the demands and met the students’ deadline of November 18, though notably omitted their demand to remove Nicholas and Erika Christakis, the faculty members whose emails about Halloween costumes angered much of the New Haven campus.

Salovey did, however, announce the formation of a multidisciplinary center. The university will hire four new faculty members to address the “histories, lives, and cultures of unrepresented and under-represented communities,” he said.

“Recent events across the country have made clear that now is the time to develop such a transformative, multidisciplinary center drawing on expertise from across Yale’s schools; it will be launched this year and will have significant resources for both programming and staff,” Salovey said in a statement. “Over time, this center will position Yale to stand at the forefront of research and teaching in these intellectually ambitious and important fields.”

Now, don't fall asleep here. Watch who gets control of these significant resources. Gramsci triumphs.



Ah Youth

from Mona Charen

The truth is that universities are and always have been ripe environments for absolutism. Students, brimming with self-righteousness, unaware of how easily violence can spread, and stimulated by the scent of blood in the water, have provided the shock troops for most totalitarian movements.


Follow da money at Mizzou

I wondered why a student protest could get two highly respected (at one time for sure when they were hired and always by some) and capable men of good will fired. The whole thing seemed prearranged. Like Larry Summers? Then I read this:

On Sunday morning, several players met with coaches to explain their decision to boycott next practice and next week’s game against Brigham Young University. Forfeiture would automatically cause the university to pay BYU $1 million, plus it would see the university lose out on revenue from ticket sales.

There ya go. When the Missouri U. football players joined the hunger striker (sent from where?) the game got serious. Even today a million bucks ain't chicken feed.


A Senate Speech in Latin--Audio of Cicero Discovered!

To hear Cicero attacking the conspirator Cataline in the Roman Senate in a speech learned by every fourth year Latin student, you must navigate to this wondrous page

http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/Cicero/cicero.htm

But first, read the text and translation so that you can let the magical, musical sounds of Classical Latin roll over you. Notice how the invective builds to a crescendo of the slightly rolled "r" sound. Amazing that after 2000 years we can have a recording of Cicero, one of the greatest orators of all time, almost as good as being there. Of course, we have to take the scholars at their word when they reassure us that this is what it sounded like.



 SOCIETY FOR THE ORAL READING OF GREEK AND LATIN LITERATURE (SORGLL)

 


Cicero, In Catilinam, I.1-3.

read in the restored pronunciation of classical Latin
by Robert P. Sonkowsky, University of Minnesota.

(Text followed by translation.)


When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? Do not the mighty guards placed on the Palatine Hill — do not the watches posted throughout the city — does not the alarm of the people, and the union of all good men — does not the precaution taken of assembling the senate in this most defensible place — do not the looks and countenances of this venerable body here present, have any effect upon you? Do you not feel that your plans are detected? Do you not see that your conspiracy is already arrested and rendered powerless by the knowledge which every one here possesses of it? What is there that you did last night, what the night before — where is it that you were — who was there that you summoned to meet you — what design was there which was adopted by you — with which you think that any one of us is unacquainted?

Shame on the age and on its principles! The senate is aware of these things; the consul sees them; and yet this man lives. Lives! ay, he comes even into the senate. He takes a part in the public deliberations; he is watching and marking down and checking off for slaughter every individual among us. And we, gallant men that we are, think that we are doing our duty to the republic if we keep out of the way of his frenzied attacks.

You ought, O Catiline, long ago to have been led to execution by command of the counsel. That destruction which you have been long plotting against us ought to have already fallen on your own head.

What? Did not that most illustrious man, Publius Scipio, the Pontifex Maximus, in his capacity of a private citizen, put to death Tiberius Gracchus, though but slightly undermining the constitution? And shall we, who are the consuls, tolerate Catiline, openly desirous to destroy the whole world with fire and slaughter? For I pass over older instances, such as how Caius Servilius Ahala with his own hand slew Spurius Mælius when plotting a revolution in the state. There was — there was once such virtue in this republic that brave men would repress mischievous citizens with severer chastisement than the most bitter enemy. For we have a resolution of the senate, a formidable and authoritative decree against you, O Catiline; the wisdom of the republic is not at fault, nor the dignity of this senatorial body. We, we alone — I say it openly — we, the consuls, are wanting in our duty.

trans. J.C. Tichenor


Why Descartes needs God

From Sparks Notes comes this succinct paragraph.

In fact, in order to be a proper Cartesian rationalist (i.e. someone who believes that the entire world can be explained in terms of a chain of logical connections and that we have access to this explanation) you have to believe in the possibility of an ontological argument. Without an ontological argument, explanation must either end in some brute, unexplained fact, or turn into an infinite regress, where the there is no end to explanation. In order to ensure that explanation comes to a final halt (and a halt with no loose, unexplained end), it is necessary that there be some level of reality that causes itself, something that is its own explanation. The only plausible candidate for an entity that is its own explanation is God. And the only way for God to be his own explanation is for some version of the ontological argument to work.

I take this to mean that Science must end in the brute fact that there is our universe (or more?) just simply is and cannot be explained or known to Science or else it ends in an infinite regress since each cause was itself an effect of a previous cause, which was itself the effect of a prior cause, and so on forever.  Either situation is a far cry from the certainty Descartes sought.

The UR version of "Bonaparte's Retreat"

Old time fiddle tune "Bonaparte's Retreat," performed by Kentucky fiddler William H. Stepp. Recording made for the Library of Congress by Alan Lomax in 1937. This particular recording of the tune formed the basis for the "Hoe-Down" section of "Rodeo" by Aaron Copland.

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To my ear, this is like an Irish fox hunting reel, often played on small pipes to recreate the sound of the hunt. As for the comment, I take it to be pointing to which part of the tune represents the baying, retreating general.