Essays on Broad Subjects
A Collection of Essays on History (esp. of the Early American Republic),
Science, Language, Thinking, and Sometimes on Myself, by a half-baked Historian/Philosopher.
(Note: "half-baked", as used here is a technical term, not a term of
self abuse.)
A Paper presented for a PDR on the history of ideas at Rutgers U. (conducted
by James Livingston & Donald Kelley)
Microhistory or "master narrative", atomism or organicism,
reductionism or holism. To systemize or not to systemize.
An overview of historiography, "history with a purpose", master
narratives, and all that.
If you're looking for a short one, this is it.
Some day, perhaps, the beginnings of an encyclopedic bibliography for
study of the early American republic. Most, but not all, of the material
is from Jacksonian Miscellanies.
The section on religion is by far the most complete.
Thoughts on Howe, Daniel Walker, Making the American Self (Harvard
U. Press, 1997), with a wild digression or two.
Ways of saying something about the future, or about possible futures:
-
Predictive: The stone which I threw in the air will fall
to earth.
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Normative: No one should be a slave. One should
not {steal, eat pork, have sex with ones sister/brother}.
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Volitional: I will be a millionaire by the age of 30.
-
Promissory: I shall/will return the $1,000 with interest on or before March
1, 1999.
Every now and then, someone has an exhilarating moment in which they
"speak" a new self into existence; they suddenly start doing what they
always thought needed to be done, and any sense of inadequacy drops away,
e.g. John Brown, in response to the killing of Lovejoy, declaring
"I
consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery." (This
is not always a good thing)
This is about me and my "life quest" or something like that.
The "Life of the Mind" (such as it was) when I was a wee lad.
Besides the more common "bends", foolish young divers sometimes succumbed
to the exotic "Rapture of the Deep", and had to be rescued by veteran diver
Lloyd Bridges, on the old weekly TV show "Sea Hunt". Seems like a
good metaphor for an old vice of mine. [this essay is barely begun]
The question of whether, or to what extent, science is a "force for
good" leads to the exploration of coherence (or integrity) vs. incoherence,
as manifested in particular broad conversations (like the
study of physics, or American history), in individual psyches, in
nations, and who knows what else. In individuals, incoherence
or lack of integrity is apt to show up as "self sabotage".
If we knew how to maintain individual psychological integrity (an
example of lack of same: "wanting" to lose weight and being "unable" to),
might there be a general principle there to help us avoid blowing up the
planet?
No flank attack here; we're looking for a "theory of everything".
What mathematics, psychology, and history have in common.
This piece of writing may serve as a cautionary tale, humorous character
sketch, or the trajectory of a soon to be great life. Or it may not serve
at all.
Coming Soon:
The Declaration of the Month Syndrome
half-baked Amateur Philosophy, and Is it Oxymoronic to be a Professional
"Lover of Philosophy"?