Hungry for Talking

Lots to say, but first how about a quiet moment of anticipation with Franklin and Beckham:

Watching West Seattle High School baseball practice. (Thanks to B's mom for the great photo!)

Meanwhile, just a little recap. Franklin likes my Plato mug (best gift from a student ever!), and the other day asked about Plato's books.

I started reading the beginning of the Republic. He was surprisingly patient (and kept asking for more), and asked some great questions, like what is wealth, and eventually "what does justice mean"?

Maybe my favorite though was when he didn't understand what Socrates meant when he said he had an appetite for conversation. I tried explaining that it meant something like being hungry for conversation, which Franklin found hilarious—kept repeating the phrase and giggling all morning :)

And as for hungry, how about these nascent chopsticks skills!


Oh but speaking of Plato, less giggly scene at the International Plato Society meeting in Atlanta. Great experience though.

I have been working on book 10 of Plato's Laws lately, and gave a paper about that. I won't go into the details now (but maybe I'll post the handout at some point...), but I do want to share one of my favorite quotes, which mostly made it into my paper.

Laws 10 is all about what to do with troublesome atheists, deists, and folks who believe gods can be bribed or bought off. Anyway, there's a great bit in response to the idea that gods don't care about us:

ὧν ἓν καὶ τὸ σόν, ὦ σχέτλιε, μόριον εἰς τὸ πᾶν συντείνει βλέπον ἀεί, καίπερ πάνσμικρον ὄν, σὲ δὲ λέληθεν περὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸ ὡς γένεσις ἕνεκα ἐκείνου γίγνεται πᾶσα, ὅπως ᾖ τῷ τοῦ παντὸς βίῳ ὑπάρχουσα εὐδαίμων οὐσία, οὐχ ἕνεκα σοῦ γιγνομένη, σὺ δ’ ἕνεκα ἐκείνου

Translation:
Now then, you stubborn fellow, one part of the universe is you—a mere speck that nevertheless constantly contributes to the good of the whole; but you have forgotten that nothing is created except to provide the entire universe with a happy life. You forget that creation is not for your benefit: you exist for the sake of the universe (903c)

Very charming, no? I can't help but also add this bit on the punishment that people like me would face if they ever moved to the city described in the Laws:

Consider first a complete atheist: he may have a naturally just character and be the sort of person who hates scoundrels, and because of his loathing of injustice is not tempted to commit it; he may flee the unjust and feel fondness for the just. Alternatively, besides believing that all things are ‘empty of’ gods, he may be a prey to an uncontrollable urge to experience pleasure and avoid pain, and he may have a retentive memory and be capable of shrewd insights. Both these people suffer from a common failing, atheism, but in terms of the harm they do to others the former is much less dangerous than the latter....

The dissembling atheist deserves to die for his sins not just once or twice but many times, whereas the other kind needs simply admonition combined with incarceration (908b-e)

I mean, um, that seems fair, right? ;)

What else? Had some fun with the end (alas) of basketball season:


Getting pretty good at the alma mater too:



Thanks for the photo, Wendy!

As of now the big question seems to be, will Franklin ever wear another shirt, and if so, when?

And thanks to Emily for getting me one to wear with him!

Okay, I can't resist one more Plato thing. Just saw this in the latest issue of Phronesis, a leading journal for Ancient Philosophy:

Check out note 14! Woo!

And if you want to read (or maybe re-read?) Dominick 2010, I've posted it online.

Other big news (bigger than a footnote? maybe...) is my new role as Associate Director (!) of the Seattle U Core Honors program, but maybe I'll wait and say more once I've actually started.

It Just Mattered That You Played

Just a coincidence that Franklin spent an afternoon transfixed by the guitar two days before the Times ran a story on the benefits of music lessons?

Either way, sounds good to me!

He's also been busy cleaning up at daycare. Not always clear why you'd want, for example, to sweep up rain puddles in a sandbox, but there you go:

I love that his classmates paused to smile for Emily's camera while Franklin was just too busy to take a break.



Did pause the other day to look at some recent issues of the Journal of the History of Philosophy:

He insisted that I look at one while he flipped through another. Cute, yes, but also helpful: he pointed me to an article on Aristotle that I think will prove quite helpful in the classroom. Not bad!

Speaking of journal articles, you know how I was working on a paper on Plato's Symposium a few years ago, and then the Classical Quarterly said they'd publish it?

Well, I'm happy to say that now it's finally out! Woo! Feel free to take a look—I'd love to know what you think!

Oh, and as I mentioned on Facebook the other day, Franklin really loves apples. Ate all of this one:

I mean all—seeds, core... eventually Emily asked where the stem was and he smiled and spit it out.


And I mean, they are delicious, especially this time of year.

Okay, speaking of this time of year, I'm still finding great shots from our walk through the Arboretum last month:

Hope you enjoy it while it lasts!

Cheers, reader.

Summer's Final Bow

Yes, I know those rainy day photos might have made you think of fall, and I know my last post mentioned autumn mists, but let's not forget that we still have a few sweet days of summer left!

In fact, the opening bit of Melissa Clark's recent column is just about perfect:

The calendar may claim September as a summer month, but our national psyche insists that it’s fall. That’s probably because we associate going back to school with crunching leaves underfoot and bundling up in cozy sweaters, even when the temperatures are still in the 70s and the trees still green and full.

This is sad in a way, because in the Northeast September is usually the nicest of all the summer months...

Awfully nice here too of course!

And a nice time to celebrate the closing days of this wonderful summer.

Best summer class I've had the pleasure to teach:

In fact, simply one of the best classes I've taught.

Great experience!

Meanwhile, once fall's really here the new ballet season starts up. Check it out on their website. And yes, the woman sitting in the middle up above is featured on the home page of the Pacific Northwest Ballet :)

Fall's approach also means my summer of planning is almost over and the Northwest Ancient Philosophy Workshop is almost here!

Hope you like that website by the way!

Finally, you're probably wondering what Franklin's been up to lately. Well, he's learned how to climb into his chair:


And he's found his favorite section of the newspaper:

Car ads—figures :)

And had some fun checking out the scene at Flowers on 15th the other day:

Enjoy the rest of your summer, reader!

I'm Posting a Post about a Poster

Getting excited for the Ancient Philosophy workshop I'm organizing for September! And check out the poster:


The background image is the first page of the 1578 Stephanus edition text of Plato's Republic.

Now, as that nice, informative linked page will tell you, the Stephanus edition is cool not only because it's pretty to look at, but also because that edition provides the standard citation system for Plato. So your own copy of the Republic ought to have a little "327" on its first page, helping us all find quotes and whatnot; and that "327," as you can see, corresponds to this actual page. Love it!

I also love that in this magical time the entire thing is available to read online at the Internet Archive. What the heck, here's a look:

(Also kind of a cool bonus that that's John Adams' copy!)

Okay, I'd better get back to actually organizing the conference. Until next time, reader!

Matters of Taste

I have to say, that West Coast Plato Workshop really hit the spot. Restful, restorative, challenging, and fascinating. Wish I could do that in the middle of every term of teaching!

(Yes, even though it meant coming home to over 200 items in need of grading...)

And the folks at Stanford played no small part in making it such a success. Well done all!

Also enjoyed that my hotel was, by sheer coincidence, north of campus, so I walked through this handsome entrance each day:


All of it was made extra fun when Geoff came up from Oakland for dinner after the Workshop was over.

Hopefully next time won't be quite so many years!

If I have one regret about the trip, it's that I didn't notice Coupa Café sooner. I'd never heard of a marrón before, but apparently it's like a latte but much stronger and, perhaps as a direct result, much better :)

Also loved the breakfast arepa:


Later this week, once I was finally home with Franklin, I had the pleasure of learning that he's a huge fan of the pastries at Than Brothers:

Thanks to Pete for the great photos!



Finally, many of you have probably already seen the awesome video Emily took while I was in California, but I think it's worth at least one more look:

Busy, But, You Know, the Good Kind of Busy

So, first of all, I'm excited for the upcoming West Coast Plato Workshop, which meets this weekend at Stanford.

My handout? Sure, take a look:

WCP Cratylus Handout by Yancy Hughes Dominick

Want to know more? Take a look at the full program. Should be a lot of fun!

I also had the pleasure of delivering an address to this year's cohort of students completing the Faith and the Great Ideas Program at SU. It was perhaps a celebration, but I decided to give a pretty serious talk about Plato (how could I pass up the chance to give another talk about Plato?); in any case, I'm particularly proud of my last line: "most of all, I hope someone comes along very soon and refutes all of your beliefs."

As far as refuting people goes, I don't usually like to give books bad reviews, but by the time I finished reading the book I reviewed recently, I kind of had no choice. Too bad, but what can you do?

Finally, I'm excited to report that I'll be teaching a special section of my Philosophy of the Human Person class this summer for some of the dancers in the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Yes, that Pacific Northwest Ballet :)

It's part of their Second Stage program, which, as I understand it now anyway, helps people prepare for the lives they'll live after their career onstage.

You can read more about the Seattle U part of the program here. I don't know much more than that now, but I can't wait to find out more this summer!

Okay, speaking of summer... Thanks for reading this far without seeing any photos of Franklin! In return, here he is today asking me to read one of his current favorite books:

Mama, Is It Summer Yet? Thanks again, Jen!

And if you just can't get enough, here's a few minutes of raw video footage Emily got the other day:

Quite a guy.

All right reader, see you after I get back from California!

Lucid, Inescapable Rhythms

Been the kind of month what'll make a head spin. Mostly good times, but boy have they been whirring by!

Here's a rundown of just this past weekend:

Friday and Saturday I was at the Seattle U Workshop on Plato's Sophist that I mentioned recently. Long days, big ideas, and some great opportunities to sit and talk with some great scholars who I've been reading for years.

My talk seemed to go well, and I hope to keep up with these new contacts and get even more feedback so that I'll be able to get the thing published eventually. In the meantime, I've posted my handout for your reading pleasure. Still hungry for more? The Phil. Dept. actually posted a handful of the papers on their website. I'd just ask that you not quote or cite mine, since it's just a draft at this point. But if you do read it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Big thanks to Emily and Franklin for keeping an eye on each other while I was pursuing elusive truths all day!

Then on Sunday, we attended a wonderful baby shower in the afternoon and met up with some friends for dinner at Queen Sheba that evening. [UPDATE April 15, 2014: here's a new link to the official Queen Sheba website.] Aside from the surprise of a couple of spicy bites, I think it's safe to say that Franklin now likes Ethiopian food. And can you blame him? Yum!

Yesterday, we took that awesome little guy in for his nine-month appointment. Can't believe he's gotten so old so quickly! And of course everything looked good.

So, today I'm trying to catch my breath.

Actually had time to catch up on some music too. Absolutely love the new Mynabirds video:

So, as for the song itself, I'm not a huge fan of Sartre, but it is definitely charming that the refrain comes from an unsourced quote of his.

And I didn't notice it until I watched the video this morning, but I'm pretty sure that line about seeing a blackbird a thousand ways must be a reference to this great Wallace Stevens poem.

For what it's worth, I like VIII best of all:

I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.

:)

That poem—and that stanza—now always makes me think of the time that Emily took me to see the contemporary classical ensemble eighth blackbird at the Lied Center at the University of Kansas. Seems like a lifetime ago, but I don't expect to ever forget the striking impression they made on me. Of course, we had to buy their CD on the way out!

In this spirit of creative association, let's close with a recent video of theirs:

Happy Thanksgiving, reader!

Food Before Thought

Chilly weather and fading light provide great accompaniment in the kitchen, so we've been staying in and trying out all kinds of new recipes lately. From a list that's into double digits at this point, I present our family's two consensus favorites:

First, from the New York Times, Chicken Thighs with Delicata Squash:

(Thanks to the Times for the beautiful photo. And the recipe!)

Amazingly flavorful dish, and Franklin seemed really like it, especially the squash. And how could he not? Fresh sage? Maple syrup? Roasted and caramelized lemon wedges? Yum!

The Times also posted this great little video, which is worth watching even if you'd never come near a chicken thigh:

Note, though, that chicken thighs are delicious, so you should probably try some soon ;)

The little guy's other favorite, which Emily and I liked pretty well (though it could have used a little more zazz): Broccoli Cream Pesto from Smitten Kitchen:

(Photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.)

Now every now and then, Franklin's food travels a circuitous route from spoon to lips to floor and then at last to tummy. I'm probably oversimplifying the science here, but this totally fascinating New Yorker story about the importance of the human "microbiome" has me at least a little reassured that that path may not be cause for too much concern.

Lots and lots of interesting stuff there. Unfortunately it's behind their pay wall, but if you want to borrow my copy, reader, just let me know.

In the meantime, here's one great bit:

By the time a child can crawl, he has been blanketed by an enormous, unseen cloud of microorganisms—a hundred trillion or more. They are bacteria, mostly, but also viruses and fungi (including a variety of yeasts), and they come at us from all directions: other people, food, furniture, clothing, cars, buildings, trees, pets, even the air we breathe. They congregate in our digestive systems and our mouths, fill the space between our teeth, cover our skin, and line our throats. We are inhabited by as many as ten thousand bacterial species; these cells outnumber those which we consider our own by ten to one, and weigh, all told, about three pounds—the same as our brain. Together, they are referred to as our microbiome—and they play such a crucial role in our lives that scientists... have begun to reconsider what it means to be human.

Such a great read. Seriously, let me know if you want my copy.

In other ongoing attempts to understand ourselves, the Seattle U Philosophy Department put together this poster for their upcoming workshop on the Sophist:

Not sure how many of those names you recognize, reader, but let's just say I'm the only one on there who hasn't published multiple books. So, no pressure, right? In fact, I should probably go finish my paper and stop all this blogging!

Okay, before I go, you've almost certainly seen this before, but here's another look at Franklin in his Halloween costume:

Reading Materials

Well, Merrica was wondering how the Workshop went, and that's inspired me to post a few bits of text for your reading pleasure today.

First, I've posted my handout from last week, containing a few juicy quotes that I think together suggest that Aristotle might view large systems and patterns (my particular concern in this project is with climate) as operating not at random or even as byproducts of individual things pursuing certain purposes, but for a purpose of their own:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/106467305/NWAPW-2012-Handout

I got some tough questions, but that's for the best in the long run. Fun, friendly group... and the prof. who hosted things invited us all to his house to try his homemade wine: very Oregon :)

My interest in this project stemmed from my fascination with Aristotle's brief but mind-blowing discussion of natural selection (note: Aristotle died thousands of years before Darwin was born). Just so happened that that brief discussion was mentioned in the issue of the New Yorker that I was reading on the train to Oregon.

Great article/book review (by Anthony Gottlieb, former editor of the Economist, speaking of Merrica) about new research (or should that be "research"?) in evolutionary psychology, and I highly recommend it.

Which makes me feel funny about quoting the ending, but it's just too clever to leave unquoted:
Barash muses, at the end of his book, on the fact that our minds have a stubborn fondness for simple-sounding explanations that may be false. That’s true enough, and not only at bedtime. It complements a fondness for thinking that one has found the key to everything. Perhaps there’s an evolutionary explanation for such proclivities.
Full article here.

My other train reading was, of course, the Times, where I read a fascinating review of the new FDR Four Freedoms Park in New York City:

Space sounds super cool, and it's a fascinating story, since the park was built so long after the designer's death. And that Four Freedoms speech isn't too shabby either!

Huzzah for people named Franklin!

Speaking of, in our unexpected but seemingly unstoppable drive to fill his shelves with 80-year-old books, we recently picked up a copy of one of my very favorite books from my younger years:

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Okay, well, you've been very patient, so how about a quick look at some of the fun had back home in Seattle while I was away at the Workshop:

Sit Back and Relax

Well, I finished that paper, and now I need to head to the Amtrak station and get myself to the University of Oregon to read it at this year's Northwest Ancient Philosophy Workshop. Here's the sort of fun I'll have to live without for a couple of days:

Can't wait to see these two again!

In the meantime, a belated congrats to Merrica! She recently completed her initial training for the Foreign Service. Here she is finding out that her first posting (after she learns Swahili (how cool is that?)) will be in Tanzania:

With Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield: "She is our class mentor. She is currently the Director General of the Foreign Service, and before that was the Ambassador to Liberia."

Okay, this is a bit of a grab-bag post, but speaking of congratulations, this marriage proposal by David Pogue, my favorite tech columnist, is pretty cool:


Finally, for some reason this song has been in my head lately, which means that when Franklin can't sleep at night he gets to hear my try to sing it:

I'm nowhere near that good, but so far he doesn't seem to mind :)

Cheers, reader. Have a great weekend!

Let Us Eat One Last Cookie, and Then We Will Stop

Do you know that frog & toad story about the cookies? Has this sort of thing happened to you?

I'm teaching a class this quarter on what's known as "weakness of will" or "akrasia" (from the Greek ἀκρασία), which means doing what you know you should not do.

Here's the description of the class:

Is it possible for a person to willingly do what she or he believes to be wrong? Plato’s Socrates famously holds that we always do what we think is best, and that “no one willingly makes a mistake or does anything wrong or bad” (Protagoras 345e). Nearly every major thinker in the Western tradition has struggled with this challenging idea. Some have defended Socrates, denying the possibility of what has come to be called both akrasia and weakness of will. Other thinkers have attempted to show how it might be possible for someone to act against his or her better judgment. This quarter, we will examine key ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary accounts of weakness of will and akrasia. Doing so will give us the opportunity to engage with a fascinating ongoing philosophical debate while also providing a way to examine important views on the nature of the human person.

I don't know about you, reader, but for me this problem, hard as it may be to explain, is all too real. And, by a really cool coincidence, it was also the subject of the session I chaired today at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association. The speaker, of course, defended Socrates' position. Pretty interesting, and convincing (at least on an intellectual level). I even persuaded a few of my students to come! Huzzah for doing the right thing willingly!

Okay, well, how about a video to wrap this up?

Almost Ready...

And not a minute too soon! Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of school? I really hope I am almost ready!

Just got back from the Northwest Ancient Philosophy Workshop at the University of Victoria. Good workshop. Long days, yes, but good workshop. Can't wait for next year!

I also served as the external member on an MA oral exam committee at UVic. Weird being on the other side of one of those, but I liked being part of the decisions. And I really liked feeling like I belonged on that side of things!

... and it was an interesting bit of Aristotle being discussed, so that was a nice bonus :)

Meanwhile, school is starting... I'm hoping to do another trip to the Seattle Japanese Garden for my Freshman Seminar on knowledge and beauty. Maybe a guided tour of the garden itself this time?

I've also secured tickets to Stephen Greenblatt's talk at Town Hall. According to that link, Greenblatt "examines how... one manuscript, plucked from 1,000 years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it."

That manuscript? Lucretius' poem On the Nature of Things. Philosophy! Huzzah!

Curious? The New Yorker ran a nice article, but it's behind their pay wall (psst, hey you—let me know if you're interested & I can loan you our copy). And NPR aired a discussion just yesterday: why don't you give it a listen?

I'm trying to expand my horizons this year by including some more recent (20th Century!) philosophical discussions of beauty. Found a promising piece on feminism and aesthetics my Mary Devereaux. Being the 20th Century, the discussion touches on film... And now I wonder: should I show a film? What would I show? And would I have to provide popcorn?

The second question is tough, but as to the first, well, Devereaux mentions one of my favorites, so here's a possibility:


Finally, speaking of beautiful things, I absolutely love this photo that Emily's uncle posted on Facebook the other day:

©1987 Scott Hughes - All Rights Reserved www.hughesphoto.net

Okay... Happy new school year, reader!

Did the Puyallup!

Fun time at the Puyallup Fair last weekend thanks to our friends Bria and Michael who invited a big group of people, served as guides, and shared their photos, like the above.

Katrina and Bria enjoying some of the handsome produce displays:

And note Bria's stuffed animal, won at Whac-A-Mole. Emily got one too, thanks to my (slightly embarrassing) victory over a small child...

Nick and Ben:

We didn't actually try anything from this place, but we stood in front of it with Michael, so that's something, right?

Pig Palace was a definite hit:


But the most entertaining activity had to be the "Mutton Busting," a rodeo-ish event where little kids try to ride sheep. Here's the winning ride, featuring a three year-old who seemed to love every second of his 5.5 second ride:

And just for the record: I enjoyed the event, but I'm definitely uncomfortable with the relationship that we humans have with other animals...

What else can you find at the fair? How about the Hobby Hall, where folks share their interests and collections:


And of course the food!


Oh, and I you're wondering about the title of this post, it's a reference to the fair's jingle. Who doesn't like a good jingle?

... Okay, I should go—school starts next week, but in the meantime I have to get ready for the workshop in Victoria, BC, that I mentioned the other day.

Oh, but if you were wondering about the workshop poster, the image is from a Third Century papyrus that contains a bit of Plato's Republic (472e-473d, to be specific).

Some of it doesn't make sense out of context, but I absolutely love this sentence, found toward the bottom of the bit of papyrus:

ἆρ᾽ οἷόν τέ τι πραχθῆναι ὡς λέγεται, ἢ φύσιν ἔχει πρᾶξιν λέξεως ἧττον ἀληθείας ἐφάπτεσθαι, κἂν εἰ μή τῳ δοκεῖ;

Is it possible for anything to be realized in practice as it is spoken in word, or is it the nature of things that practice should grasp truth less well than speech, even if some deny it?

(Getting Ready to) Change with the Seasons

Starting the move to our new place tomorrow! Better get packing, huh?

In the meantime, here's a look at some late summer and early fall fun...

First, I'll be taking the Victoria Clipper up north for a workshop at the University of Victoria. Kind of cute poster:

And in October, the Sisters of Providence have put together a team for the Heart Walk, a fundraiser for the American Heart Association.

Want to get involved, but not able to make it to Seattle in time? You could help Emily raise money by clicking this badge:

Can't wait to see that line move up!