Philosophy Between the Lines

"Philosophy Between the Lines: The Lost History of Esoteric Writing" by Arthur Melzer is a new book on Leo Strauss and his theory about the great philosophical texts predating the mid-19th century, the theory that there is more in those texts than what meets the eye. As Melzer puts it, "virtually all philosophers up until the early 19th century wrote their books 'esoterically' — that is, using a rhetoric of concealment, with a surface teaching meant for general readers and a hidden teaching for those who were intelligent, clever, and tenacious enough to uncover it." It is an enticing thought, that there are even deeper levels of meaning than we have believed - a kind of 'Da Vinci code' kind of thing, to put it hyper-dramatically, meanings within labyrinthine meanings. Of course, even the surface-meanings tended to elude me, but I can still love the sense of mystery.

[Source: Damon Linker, "What If Leo Strauss Was Right?" in The Week]

Le Guin on Literature and Freedom

Ursula K. Le Guin won the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the National Book Awards, and she gave a remarkable speech about the need to appreciate fantasy and science-fictions books, instead of effectively denigrating such works as being second-class in relation to the 'realists'.

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I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries—the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings. … Power can be resisted and changed by human beings; resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art—the art of words. I’ve had a long career and a good one, in good company, and here, at the end of it, I really don’t want to watch American literature get sold down the river. … The name of our beautiful reward is not profit. Its name is freedom.

-- Ursula K. Le Guin

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More Rain

More rain. It sounds like a good little storm brewing too. I was really hoping to let the cats out tomorrow, but a long night's rain could ruin that, and they are restless and loud now. Last night was a bit rough.

At least Kay is no longer here. In fact, she left early. They caught me off guard when they got up at 8:30 and made a big breakfast. I decided it was best for me just to skip breakfast. I was happy to pay that cost for her early departure.