Philosophical Readings

Aaron James

I mentioned that I got to meet one TOP reader on my recent trip to the Midwest. I had an extra day between visits to family members, so I made a short drive to Peoria, Illinois, to look into real estate, thinking that one day I'll move closer to my son and his family. The opportunities are limited right at the moment, but life comes in waves. Aaron James, a philosophy professor from Peoria, was able to meet me for lunch. It made my day, literally. The Indian restaurant we wanted to go to was closed on Mondays, so we ended up at a little hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant that looked almost comically tacky and cheap; but when we walked in, all the patrons looked like they might be from that part of the world. That's usually a good indication of authenticity at an ethnic restaurant of any sort. Sure enough, the food was excellent, so good that it fired up a hankering for Indian food that I'm still feeling. My son took me to a fantastic Indian restaurant in Bloomington, too. There are apparently a lot of choices in that area. You wouldn't guess that central Illinois, with its endless flat farm fields, would be a hotbed of great Indian food, but it appears that it is so.

Aaron brought photographs. He has an eye for finely considered, gentle compositions, and the color palette he prefers is clean and delicate. He does his work for himself and I could see why he gets enjoyment out of it. I always enjoy seeing work.

We talked for several hours, which managed to seem too short. I always worry that readers will be disappointed when they meet me—Joan Didion once talked about the way people think they'll get something more and better from writers in person, like there's something more and better hiding behind the written words, when actually it's the opposite. I think she said something like "you get the best of me on the printed page."

I told Aaron that I am to philosophers what George Costanza is to architects. I took enough of it at various colleges to learn that I have only a sidewise aptitude for it—the enthusiasm of the wannabe, the admiration of the hanger-on. We got to talking about what kind of philosophy books I like to read, and I said I had trouble reading original writings but enjoyed general nonfiction on the subject. Guided tours, I think I put it, by someone knowledgeable about the subject but who could explain it to be from a contemporary and more distanced perspective. I need it to be put it into context for me.

Here's what Aaron sent me along those lines a few days later (passed on to you with his permission):

Here are a couple of philosophy book recommendations if you're so inclined. They're both books by professional philosophers aimed at a general audiences. So, they're deep (if you will) without being technical. They both relate to life and wisdom, or meaning in life, or what a good life is like, or some such. Those were major preoccupations for ancient and medieval philosophy, less so in the modern period. Some contemporary philosophers are returning to those questions now.

Robert Nozick, The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations published originally in 1989. Nozick was a Harvard prof probably best known for his political philosophy, but also influential in epistemology. As the title suggests these are his meditations on topics like dying, parents and children, love, reality, enlightenment, and so forth. Although not jargon-filled it's best read slowly.

Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko, The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning, Penguin, 2022. Sullivan and Blaschko are Notre Dame profs who based this book on an introductory class they teach. They're both practicing Roman Catholics so it has a religious slant, but it's not intrusive. Not sure what your religious sensibilities are (or aren't) but there's plenty of engagement with lots of philosophers throughout history and other religious traditions.

It's always great to meet readers—I wish I could do more of that, too.

Portraits and photo stores
By the way, the portrait above is an example of an unofficial genre you might be familiar with—"the photography friend across the lunch table." You know how it is—you meet a photo-buddy, one brings a camera to show the other or just has one with him, and one or maybe even both might take a quick snap, one and done (I took two here, but they're identical). Another genre I used to have a lot of is the "photo-store counterperson being an unwilling model for a test shot," but I don't know how long it's been since I've been in a photo store. I miss 'em, I'll be honest.

Aaron asked me what I would do to make portraits better, and I said "two hours, a number of different setups, several different shirts, and lots more exposures." The full portrait file of Aaron has wonderful properties, though—I should do more portraits with the fp-M. I'm already looking at that Sigma Contemporary 65mm ƒ/2. As as aside to this aside, one of the nice things about the fp-M is that the giant viewfinder makes it a pleasure to show people pictures right in the camera. I'll even make the offer to strangers who ask what I'm doing, and they're usually favorably impressed.

I think that's it about my trip. I felt fine for the whole trip, with adequate energy and good focus, but it's taking me a long time to recover. It's also surprising how much work it's been to get back into my daily routine. But I'll get there, I'll get there.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

David Aiken: "I did two-thirds of my BA in the Philosophy department of my local state university in Australia and I'd add another book to Aaron's list, a book that my favourite philosophy lecturer borrowed from me for several months when he discovered I owned a copy. It's Peter Heath's The Philosopher's Alice which is still available on Amazon but at a prohibitive price.

"It contains the text of Lewis Carroll's two Alice books with philosophical annotations by Heath. In real life Carroll was Charles Dodgson, an English Anglican priest and lecturer in logic amongst several other things, and he packed the Alice books with every form of paradox and logical fallacy that he knew. The Alice books have long been a favourite hunting ground for philosophers and logicians looking for examples to use in their lectures and writings. You don't need to be a philosopher to appreciate the footnotes, but they'll bring many smiles to your face as you see what Carroll was playing with as he wrote the Alice books. It will totally change the way you view the Alice books and it may well change the way you read a lot of 'normal,' i.e., non-philosophical, writing. It's definitely on a par with Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice for those who like the Alice books and are bemused by many of the goings on in them.

"Philosophers do know how to have fun."

Aaron: "I had a great time at lunch, too. I'm very glad you let us know you'd be stopping by Peoria. I think your readers won't be surprised by this, but you're as interesting and amiable in person as you seem online. I get what Joan Didion is saying, but the pleasure of meeting you in person is exactly that—meeting the person, not merely the words. If you get back this way, let us know."

Mike replies: I definitely will.

kirk: "As a counterpoint to someone's comment recommending 'one camera, one lens' (OCOL), the 65mm Sigma is one of my all-time favorite lenses with high performance wide open. A wonderful portrait focal length. It's a totally different look from the 45mm. Not all lenses are the 'same.' You can keep things too KISS. Imagine dinner every day with only one thing on the menu...."

Comments

[Robert Roaldi]

You might also enjoy Filthy Lucre by Joseph Heath, a U of Toronto philosophy prof. Not a book about philosophy, more like applied philosophy, if that has any meaning.

[Jeff]

I’m reading this as I’m enjoying the buffet lunch at my favorite Indian restaurant.

[Dan Khong]

Having a readership worldwide is an amazing benefit of the Internet.

I wonder how many of your readers are from Singapore?

[Simon]

You don't need another lens - the one you have is fine. And the sensor has more than enough resolution that you can take a step back, shoot wide open and crop the image to make it look like what a 65mm or similar lens would produce. OCOL, KISS.

[Mark Sampson]

From the "It's a small world" department- Until recently my brother-in-law was a philosophy professor at Eureka College in central Illinois, in exactly the region you've just been to. (I've only visited there once, a stopover on my wife's and my move from Virginia to Arizona, five years ago.) Scott then recommended to me a compilation that he had his students read, "The Good Life", edited by Charles Guignon. Sadly I must admit that I've hardly picked it up (yet).

[Christopher Deere]

Good morning, Mike. (It's morning here, as I write these words.) If you ever manage to visit Melbourne, in Australia (no, not Florida), I'll gladly treat you to lunch at my favourite Indian (or Italian, as I prefer that cuisine) restaurant, and talk philosophy with you for hours. As far as photography is concerned, however, may I suggest 'The Ongoing Moment' by Geoff Dyer? The philosophical - or ontological - resonations of that book live with me for a long time after each reading, and I think that I've counted four full go-throughs along with all of the countless piecemeal dippings. It's a quietly stunning book. - My regards, Christopher

[Henry Rinne]

I'll suggest another book that is very approachable and has a very practical application: Tom Morris, If Aristotle Ran General Motors.

[Robert Stahl]

Speaking of Alice in Wonderland I can recommend the following book:
Wonderland: The Zen Of Alice by Daniel Doen Silberberg.

[David Comdico]

I recommend Iain McGilchrist’s The Matter with Things. It’s a big book and dense but is well-written in clear, good prose and will change how you think about the nature of reality. You can watch some of his explanatory videos on YouTube to get a feel for the content and decide if it’s for you.