Philosophy Now Forum

Hello all. I am Aidan O'Donoghue. Living in Cork, Ireland. Having only recently stumbled upon Philosophy Now I feel I have found that missing piece of the jigsaw that had eluded me for so long. A fabulous publication! I am a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a teacher of mathematics and physics. I blog at aidanodonoghue.com. My first encounter with philosophy was as an early twenty-somthing perplexing over the novels of Camus and Dosteovesky. My philosophical interests are wide ranging, from the Ancient Greeks to the Existentialists, and much in between. I am particularly interested in philosophy in literature - Steinbeck, Dosteoevsky, Camus, even the dystopian Cormac McCarthy. I look forward to engaging in some good philosophical jousting on this forum. Kind Regards.

Hello Aidan,

lots of philosophy in "Anna Karenina" too.

Am I at liberty to let my fire of passion burn freely ?
Or should I respect the conventions ?
Many of them can be disgusting and insulting my idea of fairness.

Hello Duszek

Yes Anna Karenina has been on my list of must reads for many years. I need a long holiday to read it however. So many books, so little time ...

It is being read on the radio in German, in 92 episodes.

I read the book a very long time ago, during a vacation in the Alps.

Tolstoy is a good writer but of course he expresses his own values by arranging fates of his characters and interpreting everything psychologically.

It seems to be about the conflict between personal freedom (and personal whims) and the common good.

The insights into the structure of the Russian society in those days are revealing indeed, and some elements are still present in our lives if we wish to detect them.

Perhaps your wife could read to you one page at a time each evening as bed-time reading ?
I have developed a similar ritual with my ex (we are reading the Rebublic by Plato at the moment) and we both love it.

Thank God you have arrived. Save this forum. Welcome!
http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civil ... vilization

And they are famous travelers, too.

Marc O´Polo and many more.

duszek wrote: Perhaps your wife could read to you one page at a time each evening as bed-time reading ?
I have developed a similar ritual with my ex (we are reading the Rebublic by Plato at the moment) and we both love it.

Wow. Your ex?

A Platonic reading of Plato...

Well, not a Platonic reading.

Normal reading of philosophy expressed in the form of dialogues.

The right tempo is important. I read slowly so that he has time to process the content and if an occasion arises we stop and comment for fun.

No shortage of occasions, if you are in the right mood. An old man on a cushioned chair and with a garland on his head (because he was sacrificing) is a good example.

Immersing oneself in times very long ago helps to switch off the present day for a while.

tbieter wrote:Thank God you have arrived. Save this forum. Welcome!
http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civil ... vilization

I'll try my best. But you know, us Irish also have a habit of leaving things worse than when we found them. Ask anyone who's had an Irish plumber do work for them....

[quote="duszek"]. The right tempo is important. I read slowly so that he has time to process the content and if an occasion arises we stop and comment for fun. quote]

Sounds like...er, fun. I must try it.

aiddon wrote:

tbieter wrote:Thank God you have arrived. Save this forum. Welcome!
http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civil ... vilization

I'll try my best. But you know, us Irish also have a habit of leaving things worse than when we found them. Ask anyone who's had an Irish plumber do work for them....

I'm glad I didn't mention my Irish grandmother.

thedoc wrote:

aiddon wrote:

tbieter wrote:Thank God you have arrived. Save this forum. Welcome!
http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civil ... vilization

I'll try my best. But you know, us Irish also have a habit of leaving things worse than when we found them. Ask anyone who's had an Irish plumber do work for them....

I'm glad I didn't mention my Irish grandmother.

m mum from Cork



prill

Hjarloprillar wrote:

thedoc wrote: I'm glad I didn't mention my Irish grandmother.

m mum from Cork

prill

I'm not sure where in Ireland her people were from originally, only that they were kicked out of Ireland and sent to Australia, and then Kicked out of Australia and sent to America.

thedoc wrote:

Hjarloprillar wrote:

thedoc wrote: I'm glad I didn't mention my Irish grandmother.

m mum from Cork

prill

I'm not sure where in Ireland her people were from originally, only that they were kicked out of Ireland and sent to Australia, and then Kicked out of Australia and sent to America.

If it was only that easy to get into America today.