The day was seductive.
Maybe I felt too good.
You’re always second-guessing your mood
When you have bipolar disorder
I don’t think I’m manic
A day like today can make a guy think money doesn’t matter
That a life devoted to liberal arts is a good idea
Make you shrug off for a moment the debt you undertook
And you’re still paying on your education 27 years later,
That 17 years of your life in school, impoverished,
Did something good to your soul, and it is a good idea
To do something good to your soul
That jamming on keys with a blues guitar player all morning
And a walk in the park with a sober friend, talking
On a sunny, 75-degree day
Would make you feel so good you question whether you’re manic,
Forget that you’re years past due for a teeth cleaning
That you can’t get the root canal and a few crowns
And though your home is Canada, you used the remaining balance
On your American credit card to pay for your oil change
That just yesterday I went out for a cup of tea instead of breakfast
SEDUCTION
14 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in Blog Tags: bipolar, debt, education, liberal arts, manic, money, music, poem, poverty, sober
Philosophy of Education
21 Oct 2020 Leave a comment
in Blog Tags: academic, career, education, Harvard, influence, literature, meaning, philosophy, religion
I went to school to learn. That may seem self-evident. It should be self-evident. But it is not.
As I reflect back, I see that many of my colleagues did not go to school to learn–at least, that was not their primary objective. I remember asking one of my Harvard English professors why it was that hardly anybody in class asked questions or even spoke. The distressing reason was that the students wanted to make a good impression on their professor. Silence is less risky than asking a question that could indict the interlocuter. But I asked a lot of questions when I didn’t understand something, or when I disagreed with an interpretation. I was less concerned with the way I looked than I was concerned with learning.
I remember talking with a professor at a wine and cheese social. We were talking about students who try to ingratiate themselves with influential professors. It happened to be an influential professor I was talking to. He told me that it is so obvious when students try to do it. Then he exclaimed, “You’re not like that, David!” Never have been.
My academic major was not calculated to lead to a tenured faculty position. Were I interested in an academic career, I would have been an English major, or would have majored in scriptures, or ethics, or history, or any number of well-established academic disciplines. But I majored in religion and literature. There were only two major universities in the US that had religion and literature majors. Not a promising discipline to major in.
But I wanted to learn about modes that express meaning. I believe that two leading ways humanity has expressed meaning are religion and literature. I already had a B.A. in philosophy. I achieved my aim of learning about meaning. I learned about poetry and about religions and they taught me about meaning in life. And, more importantly, I learned how to continue my learning after school. And I continue to learn, even in these, my senior years.
I am not commending the path and approach I took to education. I was never tenured, never had much of an academic career. But I’m at a stage in life when many of my friends are done with their careers. So it’s all in the past with all of us. And, finally, in these my senior years, I am happy with the learning I have pursued and continue to pursue, and the subsequent life I have cultivated and now live.
KNOWLEDGE, APPRECIATION, AND ENJOYMENT
24 Apr 2020 Leave a comment
in Blog Tags: criticism, culture, education, joy, Nietzsche, poem, poetry, reflection, Shakespeare, Shelley, verse
I enjoy reading Shakespeare when I’m moved to
Richard III is thrilling
When I don’t have to study it for a course:
Memorize plot, character, Act and scene
Nietzsche on Greek Tragedy is enthralling
When I don’t have to place it in relation to
Zarathustra, Christian criticism, Ubermensch, herd
Education is a mixed blessing
A blessing, if it serves to enhance
Joy in culture’s works
Mixed if it serves merely to teach
Appreciation only, or worse, criticism
Still, without education, I wouldn’t read Shelley
And Shelley teach me to enjoy Shakespeare
Magnanimity and Pop-Culture
04 Sep 2019 Leave a comment
in Blog Tags: Aristotle, classical music, education, Hendrix, Jazz, Jesus, Kierkegaard, magnanimous, Sinatra
Aristotle writes about magnanimity, or “high-minded” in Book IV.3 of the Nicomachean Ethics. The Greek word is megalopsuchia–literally, “Great, or large soul.” It is an elusive and difficult virtue to understand. It is largely a quality of mind, or an attitude. I take it to mean a mind that values high things and acts in a high manner. Aristotle himself says that magnanimous persons can appear arrogant. And a person who prizes great things can seem to be elitist, or a snob. Yet I think that magnanimity is indeed a virtue to cultivate. I have.
I have followed a course in my life that has been and continues to be dedicated to great things. I spent large sums of money (student loans) educating myself–money I am still paying back even 25 years after graduation. I have been exposed to great works of literature, philosophy, art, religion, and music. I continue to pursue my quest to acquaint myself with great things.
I have been called a snob. And it is beginning to appear as if the causes to which I have dedicated my life are fading in our culture. Musically, I appreciate classical music, jazz, classic rock, and now I am trying to learn about East Indian music of the Sikhs and traditional sitar music. I continue my reading in poetry and novels. I am adding to my formal graduate education in religions by inquiring into the spirituality of First Nations. I am progressing in my competence on piano, continuing to write poetry, and continue my reading in philosophy and great works of fiction. As I acquire new competencies I continue to meditate and make my new learning my own. It is a thankless task. But the magnanimous soul is not concerned with monetary rewards or praise from the masses. Virtue is its own reward.
I’m not sure that Aristotle’s great soul is compatible with Christian ethics. Jesus’ way is one of humility, and indifference to the things of this world. Still, the virtues of love, forgiveness, and solidarity with others are also included in Aristotle’s magnanimity. And I believe that Aristotle’s great soul would revere the gods.
I think that the tension between Jesus and Aristotle is in the definition of great things. Kierkegaard was suspicious of the aesthetic life. I believe that it would truly take a great soul to aspire to great things, and also keep her or his feet grounded in humility. Yet what I get from Bach or Beethoven is among the best things I treasure. This does not conflict with what I get from the texts of Christianity.
Our most prestigious institutions of learning are now teaching pop-culture. Pop-culture is fine for those who like it. But I do not think that it deserves a place in university curricula. We are in an age that seeks to destroy elitism and the works that have in the past been considered elite, like Bach or Beethoven. I refuse to equate Bon Jovi in any way with Beethoven. Beethoven wrote pop music for country bands to play. But it was all in good fun; he never considered them on a par with his symphonies.
I can imagine how distressed my parents had been when the melodious sounds of Frank Sinatra clashed with the wailing guitar of Jimi Hendrix. It must have looked as if the world was decaying. Yet I appreciate Hendrix and Sinatra. If the world is sinking in the bland currents of pop-culture, it looks like the world is decaying to me, too. I wonder if contemporary culture will consider those well-versed in pop-culture great souls. Or is the whole notion of great souls too elitist to persist in our world anymore?
David Fekete 