(Y1 W51) Of Changes in the Earth and State

I hope everyone is having a merry pre-Christmas. This week's readings were shorter, which, for me at least, was helpful at this time of year. One more week then we're done with Year 1!

Moby Dick - Herman Melville, Ch. 76-92: Tashtego falls inside a whale as it's sinking. Queequeg jumps in and cuts him out. They out-chase a German vessel to a pod and kill the older male. Outrun Malay pirates and find themselves in a massive pod (but kill only one). Explains fast-fish/loose-fish laws of whaling. Meet a French whaling ship with a newby captain and trick him out of a dead whale, recovering prized ambergris out of it. Melville is quite literate and runs the full breadth of biblical and classical references.

The Virginia Constitution - Thomas Jefferson: Despite promising early origins of American colonies, rights quickly began to be threatened by the British crown. Eventually, "no alternative was presented but resistance or unconditional surrender," hence the rebellion started. The first Constitution had many defects: majority not properly represented, an "elective despotism" fell into the hands of legislative", etc. It's best to fix the Constitution and "amend its defects". He really doesn't like the idea of a dictator - he went off on the idea for several pages at the end. This highlights, again, how the founding fathers saw the need for separation of powers out of actual events they witnessed and not just because they were drop-dead brilliant.

Geological Evolution - Charles Lyell: Everyone recognizes the earth has gone through changes - the causes of such changes are the things in question. The major problem in approaching the question is geologists' "ignorance respecting the operations of the existing agents of change". They must take into account "gradual mutations now in progress". This is the "alphabet and grammar of geology", which we will eventually use to contemplate more general questions. Such a simple, yet profound project.

Of Cannibals - Montaigne: We need to judge things for ourselves, not take our ideas from common report. Descriptions of New World peoples are not of a barbarous people, but of those "having received but very little form and fashion from art and human invention". They're more like noble savages. We exceed them in barbarity by our practices. It seems he's right about some things (extent of barbarity in the Europeans of the time), wrong about others (the plenitude and near-innocence of primitive peoples in the Americas).

On the Loadstone - William Gilbert, Book V: Now, we'll look into the "dip" motion of the loadstone ("one end or pole tending toward the earth's center"). Describes an instrument to measure it with. At the equator, the dip is nil; completely dipped at the poles. It's not from coition. Variation in dip seen in navigation is also due to unevenness of earth's surface. Earth, stars, etc. really do have "souls" or animating principles. Though they're not thinking souls, they do work reasonably "from the very foundations and beginnings of the world", we're just too weak in our souls to understand them. Most of it seems like it'd be quite helpful for navigation. The philosophizing was interesting. Makes me want to jump to that section in Aristotle.

Politics - Aristotle, Book V: Now, onto causes of revolutions and modes of state preservation. Two kinds of changes: 1) those affecting the constitution; 2) changes in administration. "Everywhere inequality is a cause of revolution, but an inequality in which there is no proportion." Revolutions effected in two ways: 1) by force; 2) by fraud. To preserve oligarchies and democracies: maintain obedience to laws; guard against beginning of change; don't let magistrates make money. Education should conform to type of government. Moral relativism is wrong. Monarchies preserved by limiting power; tyrannies by: 1) oppression; 2) appearing to rule like a good king. Good mix of his theoretical approach (listing out all possible options) along with real-world examples.

Here's the readings for this week:

1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 93-101  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. 188-204)
2. “The United States in 1800” by Henry Adams (GGB Vol. 6, pp. 322-359; Vol. I, Ch. I and VI of History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson)
3. Rules for the Direction of the Mind by René Descartes, I-XI (GBWW Vol. 28, pp. 223-240; Here is a volume containing the entire text.)
4. “Sanity of True Genius” by Charles Lamb (GBB Vol. 5, pp. 308-310)
5. On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies by William Gilbert, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 26, pp. 106-121)
6. The Politics of Aristotle, Book VI (GBWW Vol. 8, pp. 520-526)