Tag Archives: philosophy/religion

Karl Kraus on Morality

Posted on December 17, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Morality is a disease which progresses in three stages: virtue—boredom—syphilis.”

Karl Kraus

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Big Curmudgeon. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2007.

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The Doubter’s Companion: University

Posted on December 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

“University: A place in which a civilization’s knowledge is divided up into exclusive territories.

The principal occupation of the academic community is to invent dialects sufficiently hermetic to prevent knowledge from passing between territories. By maintaining a constant flow of written material among the specialists of each group they are able to assert the acceptable technique of communication intended to prevent communications. This in turn establishes a standard which allows them to dismiss those who seek to communicate through generally accessible language as dilettantes, deformers, or popularizers.”

Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.

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Ex Voto

Posted on December 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Ex Voto: (Lat., out of thankfulness) A painted or sculptured image given to God or gods in thanksgiving for favors and blessings. Occasionally the donor is depicted in the work.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

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Anno Domini

Posted on December 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Anno domini: Latin for ‘in the Year of Our Lord’; i.e., in the year since the nativity: generally abbreviated to AD. It was Dionysus Exiguus who fixed the date of the Nativity; he lived in the early 6th century, and his computation is probably late by some three to six years. The custom of determining dates on this basis is said to be the result of the work of the Venerable Bede.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Ex Cathedra

Posted on December 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Ex Cathedra: Pronounced from the seat or authority or by the right of one’s office, as by a papal declaration; authoritatively judgmental, sometimes without explanation or justification; presumptuous. Adverb: ex cathedra.

‘Both stamped Irving’s ‘Hughes’ samples as authentic, and both spoke forth with the certainty of the Holy Father making a pronouncement ex cathedra.’ James Phelan, Scandals, Scamps and Scoundrels

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A Glossary of Competitive Debate Terms

Posted on December 5, 2021 | Leave a comment

OK, lastly on this relatively cool morning in Brooklyn, here is a glossary of competitive debate terms that might come in handy if you’re involved in such things.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Classicism

Posted on December 1, 2021 | Leave a comment

“Classicism (noun): A classical Greek or Roman word or idiom in English, or a term or coinage based on or similar to one from one of the classical languages; classical scholarship, mode or aesthetic ideology based on or allegedly derived from a “classic” epoch. Adjective: classical, classicistic; Noun: classicist; Verb: classicize

‘The artificial facility found vent in his renderings of the Rubaiyat. “Saprous bones,” “somatick atoms,” and aimaterose heart” seem legitimate classicisms; but “methystine lake” requires some explanation as a term for drunkenness.’ Shane Leslie, Introduction to Hadrian the Seventh”

Excerpted from: Grambs, David. The Random House Dictionary for Writers and Readers. New York: Random House, 1990.

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Millions of Angels Dancing on a Pin

Posted on December 1, 2021 | Leave a comment

“The question of ‘How many angels could dance on a pin’ is often quoted as the essence of medieval scholasticism, a burning issue for the likes of Duns Scotus and Thomas Aquinas. In fact, although Scotus certainly troubled himself over the question of ‘Can several angels be in the same place?’ there is no mention of dancing on pins until it was raised as a mockery in the seventeenth century by Protestant academics. Still, it’s a question that ought to be answered and if we take an angel to be nor more or less than an atom, then 200,000 could fit in the width of a single human hair. More impressively, neuroscientist Anders Sandberg has come  up with the figure of 8.6766×1049 angels, based on theories of information physics and quantum gravity.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

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Cultural Literacy: Cupid

Posted on December 1, 2021 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Cupid. This is a half-page worksheet with a five-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. I think this is a relatively well-balanced reading in terms of the amount of content it contains. Whether or not three comprehension questions are sufficient to understand the reading in its fullness is up to you. As this is a Microsoft Word document, you can do with it as you wish.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Dr. Gholdy Muhammad on Education and Social Conditioning

Posted on December 1, 2021 | Leave a comment

“As we consider classrooms today, educators must be aware that previous social conditioning isn’t just a thing of the past but still manifests today. If a society tells children they aren’t good enough through television, songs, cartoons, or other forms of media, they may still think they aren’t capable of the intellectualism I am describing in the book. Additionally, this is exacerbated when teacher education programs and K-12 classrooms do not explicitly teach Black and Brown excellence. And I’m not just talking about teaching this history during one month of the school year–this excellence needs to be embedded in the culture and fabric of the school. Culture, race, and cultural responsiveness cannot be packaged in a program or restricted time frame….”

Excerpted from: Muhammad, Dr. Gholdy. Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. New York: Scholastic, 2020.

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