Spring Break Series II: London and the Established Church

There is more to London than it's fantastic art scene. And during spring break I'd like to think I experienced the city's other virtues.

Yes indeed, for several days it was Church-O-Rama for us all.

-First Stop: Westminster Abbey: The Abbey was something of a marvel for me. Never before had I seen such a profoundly constructed devotion to the life and cultivation of church life and death. The Abbey is home to a dizzying collection of burial sites. In "Poet's Corner" alone the following masters of verse have been laid to rest:

• Dame Peggy Ashcroft
• Robert Adam
• Robert Browning
• William Camden
• Thomas Campbell
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• William Congreve
• Abraham Cowley
• William Davenant
• John Denham
• Charles Dickens
• John Dryden
• Adam Fox
• David Garrick
• John Gay
• George Frederick Handel
• Thomas Hardy
• Sir Henry Irving
• Dr. Samuel Johnson
• Rudyard Kipling
• Thomas Macaulay
• John Masefield
• Lord Laurence Olivier
• Thomas Parr
• Richard Brinsley Sheridan
• Edmund Spenser
• Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

The Abbey is also the traditional burial site of English monarchs including:

• Henry V of England and his wife Catherine of Valois.

As is typical of most abbey's and cathedral's here in the UK, Westminster feels as though it now only fills a perfunctory role as a parish hub. I attended two Evensong services that happened to fall before lectures given by the Archbishop. They were well attended, yet only so (in my estimation) because of his presence. The plague of the "compulsory role" seems to be something of a big problem for most of the large former hubs of the Anglican Church here in the UK.


Don't believe me? Consider what the venerable Cambridge Philosopher Simon Blackburn has stated: "We are, after all, a pragmatic nation, and we buried the authority of God a long time ago and do not seem to miss it too much. But we feel little need to become extremists. Why would we want to choose between Marx and the Pope when we have the Church of England to relax in?" I sure hope this changes in the future. But, my hopes are not set high.


-Second Stop: St. Paul's Cathedral: A departure from Westminster and the Gothic tradition, St. Paul's is a decidedly different experience. St. Paul's feels (more than any of the Cathedrals I've visited--The Minster included) most like a tourist destination. The Cathedral is complete with a tourist shop paid admission to its claustrophobic yet fascinating rotunda and tower and wide eyed American's eager to discover the mystic behind where Princess Diana was wed. Don't get me wrong. It's a pretty impressive place. I just didn't get the feel that much else was happening there than the lunch rush at the Cathedrals lower level Café.

The bottom right Polaroid (above) is a shot of St Paul's exterior.

Sunday's post will cover the enchanting qualities of Paris.

Be well.

JS

Spring Break Series I: London and Its Finer Points

Spring Break started for us on the 17th of March.

The group trekked to London as this was a program excursion. Starting off break in this structured way was actually quite helpful. And as a result, I gained a pretty nuanced understanding of London's finer artistic points.

Our London excursion was packed with museum visits; both structured and independent. The National Gallery was our first artistic destination. Its uniquely Western European collections are not only grand and sometimes overwhelming; they are at the same time graceful and rich.

Artists that permanently grace the gallery's walls include masters van Gogh, da Vinci, Uccello, Raphael and Monet. Monet's Water Lilies remains a particularly fascinating piece in my mind. Although it doesn't amount to much online, in person the piece speaks quite loudly.

It was then off to the Tate Britain for us all. I'll point out that the Tate Britain and National Gallery differ in profound ways. The Tate, contra the National Gallery, is a larger gallery. As well, one will find that the Tate feels a bit more established despite the fact that the National Gallery is older. So too, the Tate features several well developed collections that aren't found elsewhere--collections that include work by Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais and Poet/Painter/Intellectual William Blake. Interspersed within the Tate Britain is a small collection of modern work that includes paintings from the Post-Impressionist Camden Town Group.

The Tate Modern, although not on the schedule for the group, became a central part on my London experience.

The Tate Modern is Britain's national museum of international modern art and is, with the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, and Tate Online, part of the collective now known simply as "Tate."



And it houses quite a fine collection of Modern work. Dadaist Duchamp is currently allotted a large gallery within the Modern as is Manray. Joan Miró is well represented as well (as his gorgeous Message From a Friend is prominently displayed within a section devoted to his work).

So much for the London art scene. Friday's post will cover London's religious climate and visits I made to several cathedrals.


Be well.


JS

Spring Break Series

Spring Break has ended and the final portion of the semester is here.

What will follow in the coming weeks is a bidaily reflection our spring travels with commentary on experiences and locales.

Enjoy.

JS

Come on Spring!

Spring Break is here and, as a result, posts will be at a premium until early April.

I will not have much access to computers throughout the following two weeks , however, when I return I plan on creating one of the most through and detailed post ever constructed.

Until then,

Be well.

JS

Spring Break and yes...an essay by Richard Rorty

Spring break is near. And Ryan and I have quite a trip coming up.

We'll depart with our group on this upcoming Monday for Cambridge Oxford and London whereupon we'll spend about 4 days seeing sights and visiting museums...mmhmm.

After the organized trip to London concludes, Ryan and I are off to three respective destinations: Paris for three days, the Fjords Norway for 5 days and then wholly idyllic Iceland for another 5 days.

We'll be visiting a friend of ours in Reykjavik and hopefully getting a healthy serving of local flora.



And here is an essay by Richard Rorty for those a bit skeptical of his sincerity. This piece was originally published in his Philosophy and Social Hope.


Enjoy and be well.

JS

Le Tour de...YouTube

Yes, indeed. It's that time again. Well, this is actually a precedent for this humble blog (but there will be more to come in future months...just willingly suspend belief for the time being).

Therefore, in dedication to Michel Foucault, Le Tour de YouTube is finally (?) here. And, as a result, you will find belo YouTube videos that have captured my attention most strongly in the past few weeks. Enjoy.

Justice Vs. Power - Chomsky Vs. Foucault, Part 1.

From the Earth to the Moon (Featurette).

Derrida on Love.

Arcade Fire (on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic).

Skepticism

Continuing my book list...

Stanley Cavell's The Claim of Reason is fascinating. Let me say this much, first.

I actually discovered the book through Rorty's essay titled Cavell on Skepticism which has, I am certain, formed my opinion of Cavell thus far. He is best known for this book as it form(ed/s) the centerpiece of his work, and which (apparently) has its origins in his doctoral dissertation.

I specifically find Cavell's statement on page 154 particularly interesting. States Cavell,

"I understand ordinary language philosophy not as an effort to reinstate vulgar beliefs, or common sense, to a pre-scientific position of eminence, but to reclaim the human self from its denial and neglect by modern philosophy."The above quoted, in some sense, is at the center of Cavell's vision (at least within the work presently in discussion). Interestingly, Cavell, in a recent interview, states of his book that

"...for the past 200 years, let's say, philosophers have been professors of philosophy. Kant is the philosopher that showed us that you can be a professor and produce great philosophy. It wasn't clear before. Descartes wasn't a professor of philosophy, Locke wasn't, Hume wasn't, Schopenhauer wasn't, Spinoza wasn't. But you could say of them and of their successors that they attempt to produce a system that answers the basic questions of existence. That system, or something of the sort, has since the 17th century converged on questions of knowledge, rather than on the questions of beauty or of goodness, though every philosopher has some view of all of these things. Or, philosophers can undertake to question all efforts to create a system of philosophy. But in my book, the compulsion to systematization and the compulsion to question systematization are equal human drives. And so I question both of them."

The Claim of reason is a fascinating read. And it is a book that, In Rorty's words, "helps us realize what Wittgenstein did for us." That is, it is a book that calls into question the moral worth of epistemology courses and of the discipline (that is philosophy) itself.

Want to know if your cut out to be a philosopher, Cavell has some interesting things to say in this respect, too.

"When I asked my philosophy teachers, I found myself doing this day and night, I said, "How do I know if I'm really doing this, if I'm really responding in a way that means anything to these texts or that means anything to anybody else but me?" And the awful and the wonderful thing is there really is no answer to this question. A famous story for some of us is that Wittgenstein, whom many of us do not doubt was an original and important philosopher, asked this question of Russell, "Am I a philosopher or am I a complete fool?" And Russell told him he wasn't a complete fool. But there's still a prior question, which is why Wittgenstein asked it of this person, and why this person was credible to him as an answerer. So, you pick your shots."


JS

Way Back in 84'

This past Friday a group of us found Theater Royal tickets to a local youth theater production of Orwell's 1984. To my surprise, however, I wasn't aware of the shows' status as a youth theater production until about a third of the way through. I began wondering where the adults had gone. I then expressed my concern to Ryan whereupon I was told that, indeed, I would not be seeing any adults the entire evening.

The production was quite enjoyable, nonetheless. I found myself engaging quite well with the cast. Their adaptation ended up following the book quite well as I left the theater feeling satisfied with what had transpired.

Then, Saturday morning, the entire group arose early and hopped on a chartered bus to perhaps the most glorious portion of English countryside I've yet experienced. Our destination was Fountains Abbey, Britain's largest monastic ruin, which was founded in 1132 by 13 Benedictine monks seeking, what they called, "a simpler life." The countryside and compound (in pristine condition thanks to the National Trust) was positively enchanting. Amidst the flocks of sheep (yes, real flocks!) and green rolling hills, lurk gorgeous Medieval ruins that hearken back to an entirely different era. Our tour guide, a History professor here at the University, led us around the now defunct abbey with rather confident determination. I'm glad a "professional" was with us. It helps when proficient people guide such outings as the day feels more productive as a result.

On another note, if anyone is interested, I am providing a link to a lecture Judith Jarvis Thomson gave at U.C. Berkeley on "Normativity." I watched it last night and concluded that it's a bit of a snoozer; but like I said, if you feel remotely interested, check it out. More importantly, the lecture addresses some pertinent issues in the Meta-Ethical field that Thomson articulates cogently.

Be well.

JS