The semester began yesterday! Not sure how I feel about this. This is going to be a busy semester - full of teaching (two classes rather than my typical one) and reading groups. At the moment I’ve pretty much committed myself to four reading groups: the usual Greek (reading the Sophist) and Latin (reading Tusculan Disputations 3 and 4), a reading group focused on Aristotle’s conception of eudaimonism, and a reading group with a couple of epistemologists who do work closely related to the work I do (albeit in a contemporary, rather than historical, context). I’m also pretty committed to finishing up my prospectus and passing my prospectus exam this semester. For now, though, I’m working on a paper that I want to submit to the APA (American Philosophical Association). The deadline for that is Sept 1, so the paper is pretty much my sole focus at the moment.

What else? My father left yesterday. He’s going up to Denver and then over to Kansas to pick up his trailer. It was nice seeing him and spending time with him…but it’s also really nice to have my house to myself again.

Beyond that, it’s just been busy over here, first doing final preparations for the semester and then settling in and finding my routine now that the semester has begun. Oh. And that Democratic National Convention thing. Yeah. That’s taking up some of my time, too.

:)

Today’s schedule:
Up at 5:30
Gym 6:00 - 7:00
On campus at about 7:45 with last minute prep for the first year orientation I helped lead
Orientation from 8:30 - 5:00
Happy hour with the department from 5:00 - 6:45
Dinner with a couple of friends 7:15 - 8:15
Coffee with another friend 8:30 - 10:00

Holy crap am I tired.

(A quick thought. Probably just stating the obvious to most folks…but, um, this wasn’t really obvious to me until today. Also: I don’t have a copy of the Republic with me (I know, I’m shocked, too) and so I can’t cite things directly from the text. Apologies. But take my word for it. No, really.)

Something I’ve been mildly bothered about for a long while is the disparity between what Plato says about dialectic in book seven and what he does in other places. Namely in book seven Socrates says that much care must be shown with respect to who engages in dialectic. Dialectic involves questioning one’s most fundamental beliefs, after all, and if one is constantly undermined by a skilled questioner she will likely stop holding those beliefs and come to think that there are no moral truths and become a misologist. The point is made very forcefully in the Republic and, well, it seems like a quite good point.

But the question is how to reconcile that with what he actually does in other dialogues. In the early dialogues, after all, Socrates goes about to all sorts of people and questions them. Some of them are old and well established in their professions (Hippias, Nicias, Laches) but others are very impressionable youths (Alcibiades, Theaetetus).

Does what Plato says in his discussion of dialectic in book seven, then, conflict with what he actually does in other dialogues? Is what we see in book seven a pretty explicit criticism of Socrates’ practice of elenchus?

I don’t think so. I think there’s an important - vital, huge - difference between the circumstances Plato has in mind in book seven and the circumstances that we find when he is engaging in dialectic with his interlocutors throughout the Platonic corpus.¹ What is the difference? The beliefs held by one engaging in dialectic. I think it’s just about that simple.

Huh? Well consider. Book seven of the Republic comes after a very long discussion of the selection and moral education of the youths of Kallipolis. This moral education instills in them true beliefs about what is fine and shameful, to be valued and to be avoided. When the properly educated youths of Kallipolis are engaging in dialectic, then, the beliefs that are going to be challenged are true beliefs. If they stop holding those beliefs (because they see that their reasons for holding them aren’t good reasons) then they will become worse people.

Throughout the corpus, though, the elenchus is used as a sort of therapy. The individuals that Plato engages in dialectic with have all sorts of false beliefs about the matter at hand. But they think they’re right. So when, on account of engaging in dialectic, they come to realize that their reasons for holding the beliefs they do are bad and they’re left in a state of aporia, they’re in a better place than they would be had they continued in their ignorance.

We see Socrates say this pretty explicitly in the digression of the Theaetetus. He has described an unjust person, saying that “their very ignorance of their true state fixes them more firmly therein” (176d). There is one tool that can be used against the unjust person, though. Socrates says, “there is one accident to which the unjust man is liable. When it comes to giving and taking an account in a private discussion of the things he disparages; when he is willing to stand his ground like a man for long enough, instead of running away like a coward, then, my friend, an odd thing happens. In the end the things he says do not satisfy even himself; that famous eloquence of his dries up, and he is left looking nothing more than a child” (177ab). This seems like a clear description of dialectic - there is a mention of giving and taking an account, of standing his ground (presumably against questions).

Thus dialectic can be used against the unjust person. While many of his interlocutors aren’t villains, they are certainly individuals who think they know more than they in fact do. And when dialectic makes their ignorance evident, they are able to then reflect more on the matter and (hopefully!) come to hold true beliefs. The destructive power of dialectic is for the good in these cases. We might say that this is a sort of rudimentary (though, sadly, quite negative) form of moral education.

There is an important difference, then, between the youths of Kallipolis engaging in dialectic and the interlocutors of the dialogues. The youths do not need the therapy of dialectic because they have gotten a far superior moral education (as outlined in books 2 and 3). They still do need the dialectical method, though, because it is the method one uses to come to have knowledge. But because it is serving this purpose alone, because it is not being used as a form of moral education, much care must be taken to ensure that the destructive force of dialectic not have an impact on the youths of Kallipolis. Hence the strongly worded warning in book seven (535? 536?).

1. I’m just going to assert that he is engaging in dialectic with his interlocutors. If nothing else he is engaging in question and answer about the nature of various concepts/truths. Look at the description of dialectic on 533-5. What Socrates is doing throughout the corpus is damned close to precisely this characterization of dialectic. Moreover, I think that the elenchus is a breed of dialectic. Again, I’ll just assert this. I can argue for it later, maybe.↩

Listening to Pandora with a radio station that was developed by my inputting both Andrew Bird and Kathleen Williams. So far all of the songs that have played this morning have been *fantastic*…a nice mix of songs that I’m familiar with and ones I’ve never heard, all chill, with just enough of a hint of alt-country to keep me happy. The list of songs thus far:
Opposite Day - Andrew Bird
The Biggest Lie - Elliot Smith
Delicate - Damien Rice
Pink Emerson Radion - Kathleen Edwards
I Lost It - Lucinda Williams
Throw it All Away - Brandi Carlile
Hallelujah - Ryan Adams
Sunflower - Low

Pandora is amazing. And this particular ’station’ is super-duper amazing.

I’m going to go listen now. Well listen and think about the digression in the Theaetetus. Maybe write some more on my prospectus. Something like that.

(Or is it nerd? geek? I really don’t get the distinction between these three words despite it having been explained to me, patiently, a couple of times.)

Here’s my etsy store: platoshandbags.etsy.com. Yes. Yes that is the name that I settled on. Yes, yes I do recognize that such utter dorkiness should lead people to cross the street when they see me walking down it, so as to avoid the potential for said dorkiness wearing off on them.

I’ll now return to my cave. (Get it? Huh? Huh? CAVE?! I crack myself up!) (Really don’t get it? Um. Well, it’s Plato humor. Yes, you do need to cross the street when you see me coming. Or I need to get out more. Somethin’.)

Other things are fine. My father is still here. Believe me, I’ll announce it, I’ll sing it from the mountain tops, when he leaves. Thus far? No dice. Classes start next week so I’m finalizing syllabi and trying to just relax (so far as is possible when my house is occupied by someone else) in preparation from the semester ahead.

It’s come to my attention that some people (namely, my mother) wish that I would write entries more frequently than I currently have. I typically go in cycles with posting and this has been a particularly dry spell. Why? Not entirely sure, actually.

So what has gone on in the last several weeks?

(1) My father has come to visit. He’s still here. No real word on how long he’s going to be staying. It’s really nice to see him, of course, but the visit has been hard on me because I have to share my small (800 square foot) house with someone else. And I’m an intensely private and introverted person. But for the last several weeks I haven’t really had *any* privacy and haven’t had *any* time in the house by myself. (My father doesn’t take trips out of town at all. Hell he doesn’t really leave the house to go to places in town. He’s a homebody who happens to be living in my home at the moment.) Those two things are enough to lead to an emotional breakdown. I’m holding on at the moment, but I really don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to deal with it.

(2) I finished a second draft of the paper I want to submit to the APA. It’s in the form that it’ll be in now until I talk to a couple of folks about it. I also have drafts the syllabi for the two courses that I’m teaching in the fall. (Did I mention that? That I’m teaching two classes in the fall? I’m teaching philosophy in literature and a general ed course which is basically a history of philosophy class on moral and political philosophy.) I’m moving on now to start work on a 20 page prospectus of my dissertation…which is basically just an overview of the project as I see it. I’d love to have something drafted up by the beginning of the semester. But that’s only in a week and a half, so we’ll see if I actually get it done.

(3) Holy crap! The semester starts in a week and a half?!

(4) I’ve still been sewing a bit. Not as much since my dad got here…but still a bit. I’ve set up an Etsy store to see if I can get people to buy what I make. But I’ve yet to put anything in it. (Baby steps!) A good friend of mine DID just set up an etsy store and actually post items to sell! Randi is a phenomenal photographer and she’s selling some prints of flower photos that she’s taken. Her store is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6115096. Go see what she has! Go support a truly wonderful human being!

(5) Umm. What else? Olympics! YAY! Olympics! Yay swimming races! And yay! the male swimmer physique! It made me happy to turn on the television on Saturday and watch a women’s volleyball match between Italy and Russia. And then to watch the finals of a women’s archery match between Korea and China. I *heart* the Olympics. (Though it’s already mid-week and there haven’t been any track and field events yet?! Weeeeeird.)

And that’s about it. I’m presently sitting at my favorite coffee shop with a friend. There’s an iced toddy in front of me and I have The Complete Works of Plato sitting next to me waiting to be opened. So I’ll get to it. :)

I forgot to take a picture! But I need to remember the recipe, so I’m posting it here.

Recipe is adapted from the recipe posted by A Cat in the Kitchen.

There are a lot of ingredients, but the dish comes together really quickly. I served it with some brown jasmine rice.

Primary ingredients:
2 tsp hot chile oil
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper (the recipe called for Sichuan pepper but I didn’t have any)
1 tsp red chile flakes (or 2 medium dried chiles crushed)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used a pack from Trader Joes)
2 large garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped
1 tsp ground ginger (I grated it)
6-8 scallions, chopped
2 medium zucchini, chopped into smallish pieces (I quartered them lengthwise and then sliced them somewhat thickly)
1/2 can of sliced water chestnuts
1 red bell pepper, chopped into smallish pieces
1/2 cup roasted peanuts

Marinade:
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp water
1 tbsp garlic chile sauce

Kung Pao sauce:
2 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp instant concentrated chicken stock (I used vegetable broth because that’s what I had on hand)
1 tsp red chile oil
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp corn starch

Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Cut the chicken into somewhat large pieces (I used strips about 1″ wide and 2-3″ long). Put the chicken in the bowl with the marinade and stir so that the marinade coats all of the chicken. Then put that aside as you prepare the rest of the material.

Next combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set that aside.

Next prepare all of the vegetables so that you can add them quickly.

OK. You’re ready to go. First heat 2t of chile oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the pepper and chile and fry for a couple of minutes. Next add the chicken and fry until the chicken is most of the way cooked. At this point turn down the heat a bit (to med/medium low). Add the red bell pepper and stir to combine. Let that cook for a couple of minutes. Next add the zucchini, scallions, garlic and ginger. Stir to combine and let that cook for a few more minutes. Finally add the sauce and the water chestnuts and stir. Let it heat up to a boil to get the sauce to thicken a bit. Finally add the peanuts.

That’s it! You’re done! Enjoy enjoy enjoy. (And don’t forget to lick the plate. :) )

Oh, hello there. I’m Michelle, nice to meet you. Yes, yes. It’s been a while. Sorry about that. :) I just haven’t really had much to write about and haven’t been in a blogging mood. Not sure what sort of mood I have been in, really…just here, hot, and wanting my house to myself. (And whiny. I’ve also been in a very whiny mood.)

At the moment I’m in my little hole that is the basement of the science library, attempting to work on things in my study carrel. So far I’ve checked some blogs, changed up the order of the songs on my workout playlist, and went to the student union to buy a diet coke. Because I’m productive like that, yo.

OK. I’m going to go be productive doing something else now. What? I dunno. Maybe read the news or something. (What? Maybe I should work on my dissertation?! What is this common sense suggestion that you’re making?! Away! Away with you!)

Because I just finished the draft of my second chapter! Woohoo! and Yay! and Hurrah!

Now I’m going to celebrate with a wonderful, scrumptious, delectable eight hours of sleep.

If you’ve ever been in the car with me, you know that I’m an impatient driver. I want to make all the lights, I don’t want to be stuck behind that annoying slow driver, I don’t want to be forced to stop as someone turns a corner. But there’s one light that, almost every night, I hope that I miss. There’s one red light - on the corner of Broadway and Dodge - that I find myself hoping I have to stop at almost every night.

See, there’s a huge public golf course that runs south along Broadway at that intersection. And every night after the sun goes down, they water the course. And the smell of freshly watered grass saturates the air. The first time I was stopped at the light with my window down I sat there for about a minute trying to figure out what on earth the smell was. It was only after I was continuing the drive down Broadway that I realized that what I was smelling was wet grass. It’s a scent that strikes some visceral note with me. It satisfies, at least a bit, some lacking that I didn’t realize that I had and, even now, don’t think I can articulate. And every night that I am driving home from the bookstore that I study at, a couple of hours after the sun has gone down, I hope to stop for a minute or so at the intersection with the golf course so that I can smell the freshly watered grass.

Isn’t it a little bit strange, that I would find myself craving in a deep-seated, visceral way the smells (and sounds and textures) of organic things? Many days, I think so. After all, the desert has its own amazing life, it’s own smells and sounds and textures. The smell of the rain in the desert, for example, is indescribable. I hope everyone has the chance to smell it, at least once in their life. But right now, right now I don’t want the phenomenal experience of the desert. I don’t want the browns and reds and oranges, the ever-present light blue of the sky without clouds. I don’t want palm trees and cacti, the oleander and palo verde trees. I want green. I want leaves and grass and soft plants. I want trees so tall that you can almost get vertigo by standing at their base and looking up at them. I want bodies of running water that don’t come and go with the latest rain storm. I want the smell of wet grass and the crunch of dried leaves.

But, well, I find myself in the desert for a while more yet. And so while I can’t get my dried leaves and rich beds of grass, I suppose that I can still look forward to stopping at that intersection at night and savor the smell of the freshly watered grass at the golf course. And that, at least, is something.

I just got back from doing laundry. Though, um, I had to be escorted back to my house BY THE COPS since my street is currently blocked off because of a shooting two doors down and across the street.

Sweet Jesus almighty.

Have I mentioned, by the way, that my father should be getting here within the hour?

I’ve been sewing lots lately. It’s a nice way to shut off the brain for a bit and make something. After spending so much of my day putting words onto a computer screen, I just want to make something that I can hold in my hands, that I can touch and feel. Here’s the latest:

They’re basically the same pattern but with different fabrics. I actually made them about a week and a half ago, but one of them was a gift to a friend and I wanted her to be surprised about just what sort of bag she was getting. But now that she’s gotten it, I can post the pictures. At the moment I’m just making things that I think can teach me new skills. With these bags I was playing around with types of closures and was trying my hand at sewing zippered pockets in the bag. Still lots to learn, but the learning is fun! Maybe one day I’ll try to figure out if people would actually buy them or something.

Things in my world are really good this week! I’m not entirely sure why, actually…but I’ve been all energetic and happy and such for the last several days. The beginning of this summer was really stressful and hard, for a variety of reasons…and I think I may actually be getting out of my funk and into a much better place. So yay! to that!

And, lest you think that with all this talk of sewing and funks and such that I haven’t been making progress with the dissertation, think again! I am now one section (albeit one huge and hard section) away from being pretty much done with the second chapter of the dissertation. So things are looking good for actually getting the two chapters and paper done this summer. And that’s a LOT of progress for a summer, people!

So lots of good progress being made on all sorts of fronts, I’m happy and such, and I’m making pretty things. It’s a good time right now. Woohoo! :)

I had these two songs on repeat as I was working at the coffee shop tonight.

I’m kinda in love with this song right now:

I mean, I think I could listen to it on repeat for about two days straight, at least. Not too sure what it is about the song. And that music video? LOVE. I want to go to a hockey game now. Please? Surely some team somewhere is playing hockey right now? Right?

And the next:

This is on my workout mix for the mornings and it’s just such a lovely, upbeat song. Yay Blues Traveler!

Some of the blogs that I read have been talking about the Bechdel Rule.

Basically, the rule states that movies should have in them:
(1) At least two women
(2) Who talk to each other
(3) About something other than a man

Seems easy to name movies that pass this rule, right? Um. Try it. A friend and I sat for a while today trying to come up with a list of said movies. We came up with two: Juno and Serenity. Now, had we tried a bit harder, I’m sure we could have come up with more. But it’s harder than it might initially seem.

And that points to a very sad state of affairs regarding the portrayal of women in movies.

I’ve been bugged about posting a picture of the bike. So I shall comply.

Here it is:

It’s just your regular old bike (with the HUGEST AND MOST GARGANTUAN seat ever. but it’s comfortable, so stop making fun of me, yo.) but the blue is a very pretty color and, well, it gets me places faster than just walking does. So there’s that.

Best commercial ever?

If not the best, then pretty damned close to it. (And, as an added bonus: the XKCD tribute to it.)

I was on the bike at the rec center today (is it absurd that I ride my bike TO the rec center only to go and ride the bike IN the rec center?) and noticed that it was a few minutes past seven and I cursed at myself for getting such a slow start of it this morning.¹

It’s Monday. And I need to set myself a goal for the week. So the goal for the week is going to be to finish the first section of the second chapter (it’s muchly (though not mostly and definitely not entirely) written. But the hardest part (the ‘OK, so just what IS the knowledge like?’ written in a way that doesn’t seem too repetitive from the previous sections) still needs to be written. So that’s the goal.

It’s also been stormy lately. Woohoo! to that.

OK. To work I go! :)

1. Dan helpfully offered ‘Going 0 to 60 in five years’ as a useful idiom to use for being perhaps a bit slow. While I have obviously not opted to use it, I still feel the need to record it for posterity’s sake.↩

You like Joss Whedon? You miss Joss Whedon? You like sing-a-longs? How about super-villain sing-a-longs? How about super-villain sing-a-longs that star Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion (captain of Serenity, yo’s.), and Felicia Day?

Then, um, click that banner and have fun for the next 30 minutes of your life. But do it soon, because the videos disappear into the aether tomorrow (Sunday!) night.

I was sorta thinking of posting lots and lots of small entries today. Because I have one-thought entries. So instead of writing about 5 different blog posts, I’ll just include them all in one post!

Progress!
I finished the draft of my paper last night! So now I just need to turn to my second chapter and get that whipped into shape before the semester begins. I have about a month to do this. It’ll be pushing it, but I have high hopes!

(Further) Proof that I’m a Complete Dork
I saw Batman today. Very, very good. Highly recommended. But I’m sure you already knew that. And simply watching a great action flick doesn’t really give evidence for dorkiness. What’s the proof that I’m a dork? I was at the theater at 9 IN THE MORNING to watch Batman. Yes, yes I was. (It was a 10 am showing and we wanted to have good seats.)

Tonight’s Tasty Dinner
Doesn’t this look utterly delicious?!

It’s tonight’s dinner. It’s basically eggs with half an onion, some garlic, a small potato, a small zucchini, and a handful of spinach. Tasty goodness!

And Don’t You Forget It!
A friend sent me an email saying this: “That’s why you’re a good friend. You wish chlamydia on all the right people.” Damn straight, yo. :)

I think There’s a Little Bit of Sleepy Toddler in All of Us
Last night, I was goofing off on the internet before bed. I had just finished up the draft of the paper, had emailed it to folks, and so was on a bit of a high. But as I was goofing off, I was getting so tired that I was starting to feel nauseous and, well, just extraordinarily sleepy. You’d think that I’d put away my computer and go to sleep already. But no. Instead I stayed up still reading more and other things, almost obstinately, until I realized how completely irrational I was being. But still, it reminded me of toddlers who are obviously tired but fight it So! Hard! until, finally, they just crash.

OK, that’s it for now. I think I’ll escape my very hot house for a bit and go do a few hours of work in an air conditioned building. Happy Friday!

Tonight’s dinner:

Baba Ghanouj with some pita, carrots, and cucumber. I know I wax rhapsodic about food often (part of my charm, right?!) and you know what? Well dammit, I’m going to do it again tonight. Because that unappetizing looking tannish blob o’ somethin’ is actually a smokey, complex, creamy bit of deliciousness. That’s baba ghanouj which is, basically, roasted eggplant pureed with some other stuff.

Now, baba ghanouj may not look like much:

But what it lacks in outward aesthetic beauty it makes up for in every single other way. It’s delicious, it’s healthy, it’s a fantastic summer dish, it keeps well for a few days (and improves the next day), and it’s quite fast and easy to make.

Here’s the recipe I used:
1 regular eggplant. I have a gas stove and so cook the eggplant directly over the open flame on my stove top. Cook it until it’s charred and wilted. (You can also roast it in the oven. But I’m not sure how much of the smokey flavor will come through.) Then put it in a bowl and let it cool a bit. With your fingers (or fingers and a fork) peel the eggplant. Also try to remove as much of the liquid as possible. Then throw that mass o’ eggplant into a food processor. To that, add a couple cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and three tablespoons of tahini. Add a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Then puree. As it’s pureeing, drizzle in a scant 1/4 cup (I actually used about 1/5 cup) into it. At this point stop and taste and adjust the seasonings. Then put it in the fridge for a bit to let it cool down and let the flavors mingle a bit.

Then try not to eat it all at once. Or, whatever, DO eat it all at once. It’s basically just a big ol’ eggplant with other tasty (and healthy!) stuff mixed in!