Pre-reading commentary responds to the question posed by Kelly Duarte, who was within earshot of the recording of PPM25, with its musing on giving>lending>Lent. 'What is the meaning of Lent?' Understood etymologically, this question asks about the origin of the word, and what I discovered was remarkable, because it coincides with the musings that have been ongoing with respect to the "tidings of the thoughtful word"> the Tide. So, in following up on Kelly's question, I learned that "The word Lent itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words lencten, meaning "Spring," and lenctentid, which literally means not only "Springtide" but also the word for "March," the month in which the marjority of Lent falls. PPM26 stands out because it is the meditation where I cite what is perhaps the most important excerpt of philosophy for me, Plato's Phaedo (60e-61c). These are the famous lines at the beginning of the dialogue where Socrates recounts to Cebes the reason he has been writing lyrics, and tells him of the recurring dream he has been having his whole life that has been telling him, "Socrates, make music!" And it is this line, recounted by Socrates, that expresses the heartbeat of my project of originary thinking. One can almost here the two beat rhythm: Socrates, make music, Socrates, make music....repeated over and over, like the beating of a human heart. And of course we heart these lines in this way, for in light of the mediation from a few days ago, we know that Socrates entire practice of philosophy, "the greatest of all the arts," was inspired and always under the guidance of Diotima's teaching, the one and only one he ever received, the philosophy of love. In turn, the practice of philosophy, as an art form, as music-making, is always grounded, or guided, or grooved by the heartbeat, the philosophy of love. Hence, Arendt's assertion that Socrates practice was exactly that kind of conversation that happens naturally between friends, drawing them closer together and at the same time making more real the world they share together. And from this arises human community. Human community is made by friendship, and friendship is made by conversation, and conversation is made by philosophy, music-making, the heartbeat, love.
February 13, 2014 was the 10th anniversary of the original experiment that produced 363 phenomenological mediations, published as 'Being and Learning' (Brill: 2012). Each day between Feb 2014-15, I returned to the original meditations, and my commentary is documented here. And then, again, on February 15, 2024, on the 20th anniversary of the first days of the original experiment, I revisit and comment on a daily basis, once again.
this post discloses the movement towards work on resonant subjectivity, which I took up in the fall semester 2015; persona > per-sono; I beat therefore I am.
ReplyDelete(20/10 years later) - 3.0. First, from Salt Lake City (final day here), I have to share my impressions of the morning sessions I attended, along with the response to the panel I was on last night, and to my paper specifically: my poetic praxis project, including the Memphis PES 2015 experiment, and this Being and Learning ongoing work, seems to be circulating in the current PES. There were several moments last night and this morning when I heard folks talking about doing "experimentation" and finding a way of writing "contemplatively" or developing a language for "contemplative" education! I smiled to myself, and felt this project to be affirmed! I'm grateful to be hearing folks talk about the possible protocols and the dire need for this work, which, in my case, is now it's 20th year.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the content of the original meditation from this day, and the commentary above. Important to note how quickly the all important and central command from the muse arrived into the daily meditations on Being and Learning: "Socrates, make music and work at it!" This was, again, the fragment around which my paper was organized last night, and, for me, and actually a few of my colleagues, notably Frank, who read it just prior to my presenting it, the piece was one of the most lucid statements on the project that I've written. The irony is that I had half-heartedly written something, and when I read it on Friday evening I kind of panicked because it was...crappy. And because of that anxiety, I woke up at 3:45am (MT), so 5:45EST, and wrote an entirely new short presentation paper in about 3 hours! So there's something to be said about anxiety and pressure often times producing good work! In the end, the mantra for the project is: Socrates make music, and work at it!
Finally, I want to acknowledge Kelly questions, What is Lent?, as both a reminder that should try in this 3.0 recollection to focus on the words and ideas that were appearing each day, and perhaps less using this space as an account of the current state of the project, as important as that is. But I don't have much more to add in response to Kelly's question, other than to say I hear it in at least 2 different ways: What is meant by "Lent" on it's own and also in the context of your project?, and, What is Lent by Being, and by the teacher? How is teaching a "lending" both in the original sense of "springing forth," "renewal," "rebirth," "beginning again," which was an important theme in the Nancy panel last night, but also in the sense of "sharing" with the possible understanding that what is "lent" will be "returned," and thus teaching/learning dialogic event is infused with reciprocity.