No.1 Among Us

A post primarily to recommend a read I’ve not yet completed: Orientations, the autobiography of Sir Ronald Storrs, described by T E Lawrence as “The first of us …. always first, and the great man among us.” Conversely, Storrs a man with as good a handle on the flawed genius – “my little genius” – that … Continue reading “No.1 Among Us”

Psybertron’s Pirsig Pages

Robert M Pirsig (6 Sept 1928 – 24 Apr 2017) Author and creator of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” (ZMM-1974) “Lila – an Enquiry into Morals” (Lila-1991) The Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ – Timeless) Click Here for Latest Pirsig News Click for #ZMM50th Introduction [Introduction] [Timeline] [News] [More] [Links] [Top] [Blog] Since 2002, … Continue reading “Psybertron’s Pirsig Pages”

Reading Updates

Just a few sketchy holding points for now … Finished Hofstadter’s Godel, Escher, Bach. Excellent to the end. Skimmed the tougher mathematically and notationally detailed sections – seemed important to get the thrust on trust, which I think I did. I think his final dialogue, almost explicitly explaining the “fugue” underlying all the dialogues throughout … Continue reading “Reading Updates”

Barfield and Rorty

(Broad-band internet link from Aotou, China enables this post !) Finished Barfield’s History in English Words and started Rorty’s Contingency, Irony and Solidarity on the flight. Barfield uses etymology of English words to paint a picture of the history of thought through language, not just through the stems and origins of the individual words, but … Continue reading “Barfield and Rorty”

Aryans ?

Have Aryan’s been air-brushed from history ?(Apparently the term is no longer PC – Indo-European is preferred – but was this just a region containing a group of peoples, or a people consiting of a common culture and language ? – a key point blurred by the PC term – thanks to LanguageHat.) I’m reading … Continue reading “Aryans ?”

Northrop, Barfield and Rorty

I’m that close to finishing Northrop – 20 pages maybe (Post note – Completed Northrop BTW) – so I’ve got some more reading material lined-up, already despatched from Amazon. Richard Rorty – Philosophy and Social HopeRichard Rorty – Contingency, Irony, and SolidarityOwen Barfield – Poetic Diction: A Study in MeaningOwen Barfield – History in English … Continue reading “Northrop, Barfield and Rorty”

Owen Barfield

Owen Barfield – Note to self – must read some Owen Barfield – for starters …The Owen Barfield WebsiteOwen Barfield and C S Lewis [Quote] Most notable of his works are perhaps History in English Words, Poetic Diction, Saving the Appearances, Unancestral Voice, and Worlds Apart. Barfield also wrote a fairy tale, The Silver Trumpet, … Continue reading “Owen Barfield”

Foucault’s Semantic Web

Reading Michel Foucault’s “The Order of Things” (1966) first published in English in 1970, and came across his reference to “The Semantic Web”. Seems this is the origin of the expression ? A good read so far, about history and culture of language in classifying things. Interestingly in French the title is “Les Mots et … Continue reading “Foucault’s Semantic Web”