(GB Y1 W35) It's Good to be the King, Slavery to be the Tyrant

The Iliad - Homer, Ch. IV-VI: The gods decide the two armies need to duke it out and provoke a foolish Trojan to break the pact. Achaeans swear vengence, Diomed rages and even hurts Venus, then taunts her. Then he wounds Mars himself, who runs whining to Zeus. Hector runs back to encourage everyone to pray and gather up his cowardly brother, Paris. Such a chaotic world, indeed chaos is at the root (the gods). It's also hard to "enjoy" the fighting when Homer lets you "get to know" each person just before they die. Is Homer actually anti-war, or is this just an expression of fatalism?

The Republic of Plato, Book IX: Two irrational principles in man ("angry" and "appetitive"), and one rational. All men have this wild "lawless" irrational beast raging within us. The democratic man gives into these irrational principles and becomes tyrannical.  The Tyrant himself is the worst of this group. Tyranny is the worst, most enslaved, most vulgar, most miserable form of government. Monarchy is the best. Three kinds of men arise from the three principles: lovers of honor, gain, wisdom (philosophers). Philosopher's the best. Distinction between pleasure, pain, and "lack of pain". Men confuse "lack of pain" for pleasure. Real pleasure is with the pure, immortal. Monarchy closest to this purity, tyranny furthest away. Ideal state need not be "real". I don't know about the division of the soul into the three principles. Seems like the rational principle always gets off the hook somehow. Isn't the mind fallible like everything else? Would he say that the conscience is speaking through the mind? On the flip side, can't anger and desire be righteous?

Of Youth and Age - Francis Bacon: Usually the older is wiser than the younger.  Younger men more fit to innovate, invent, execute, start new projects, but err in taking on too much, not considering means and ends, having no sound principles. Older err in objecting too much, adventuring too little.  Need to "compound employments of both...because the virtues of either age may correct the defects of both". Question: is there a way to retain the inventiveness/adventure of youth, or at least set yourself on the right course early on?

Federalist # 52, 53 - Hamilton or Madison: 52) Examination of nature of House of Representatives. Qualifications of electors and elected. House is and ought to be dependent on the people. 53) Further justifications for term length. Fear of longer term: tyranny. "Where annual elections end, tyranny begins." Tricky subject. They didn't seem concerned with number of terms an elector has served though. A "life-long" representative is still elected and thus accountable to the people. Perhaps they'd say this is sufficient to avoid the tyranny threat.

Mathematical Creation - Henri Poincare: If math is just an extension of common sense, why can't everyone do math with ease? Part of the problem is that, when working on a math problem, people forget the earlier steps and thus screw up the answer. More than that though, there's a real, though unconscious, "mathematical intuition" that mathematicians use and not everyone has. This intuition is "working" on the problems (i.e. going through all varieties of "combinations" that could be the right answer) the person was last thinking about while they're now off doing other things. The person later has a "sudden illumination" where they consciously recognize and "select" out the right answer based on its elegance and usefulness to the problem (which is the same thing: it's elegant because it's useful). Sounds right.  Don't know about the "dual ego" aspect. It seems like this would apply to a variety of fields/aptitudes, not just to math. I know I've experienced this kind of eureka moment myself and I'm sure many others have as well, even if we're not doing higher mathematics.

The Process of Thought, Ch. XVI - XVII - John Dewey: Language is not thought, but it's necessary for it. Language is fundamentally anything employed as a sign. Artificial signs work better than natural signs. Language selects, retains, and applies meanings where needed to understand the world (fence, label, vehicle). Meanings taught to students must be relevant to their existing experiences. Language is primarily for "influencing the activity of others", though later used as vehicle for thought. Students need to be gradually led from former use to the latter. Active (speaking) vs. passive (comprehending) vocabulary distinguished. Reading can cause gulf between the two. Students need to form "habits of consecutive discourse" (speaking coherently about the subject). Goal for observation is "desire for expansion". Students need a problem to solve, a "plot interest" to be fully invested. Roles of direct observation (watching plants grow, etc.) vs. communicating (most subject matters). Is language's primary use to influence activity of others? As a Christian I'd question if that's what Adam's primary use for language was. I guess it's true at least as far as children are concerned though. Good explanation of need for getting students to talk during instruction. Socratic method anyone?


Here's this week's readings:

1. The Iliad of Homer, Books VII-IX  (GBWW Vol. 3, pp. 77-111)
2. “Of Experience” by Michel de Montaigne (GBWW Vol. 23, pp. 559-587)
3. Plato’s Republic, Book X (GBWW Vol. 6, pp. 427-441)
4. Federalist #54 (GBWW Vol. 40, pp. 170-172)
5. “On a Piece of Chalk“by Thomas H. Huxley (GGB Vol. 8, pp. 205-222)
6. How We Think by John Dewey, Chapter XIX (GGB Vol. 10, pp. 205-213)