Hobnobbing with the Philosophers: Ronna, Quetta, Ronto, Quecto

Detail from “The School of Athens”
a fresco by Raphael (1483 – 1520)
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By Maik Strosahl

[Note: Last week I trucked my final load—for the foreseeable future anyway—and yesterday I began working in the Dollar General office as a Fleet Supervisor, basically managing about 20 drivers, most of whom I have trained over the last three months. So, having pulled off the highways and byways for now, I’m adopting a new title for my column, a phrase I’ve been partial to ever since I used it in my poem “When It All Came Falling Down” (May 5, 2021), which was inspired by a quote from Albert Camus.]

Highways and Byways: When It All Came Falling Down

By Maik Strosahl

I am no philosopher, but I do enjoy a good think.
    I recently enjoyed a post by Valeria Idakieva where she shared her distain for winter along with her autumn photos and a quote from the philosopher Albert Camus: “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” I too, as I have mentioned before, resist winter.
    The quote led me to chase after information on Albert Camus, who was associated with the philosophy of Absurdism. He believed that life does not have any meaning, or if it does, mankind is incapable of understanding what it is. Yet, in spite of having no meaning, he could not justify suicide as a solution, rather he felt it was our responsibility to rebel against whatever oppressed the human condition, and in this attempt to resist, we must strike a balance between the evil of the world and the evil that many revolts also devolve into, so as not to contribute to any additional suffering on the part of those around us.
    In my own rebellion, my creative endeavors keep me moving forward, even when it all comes falling down. In this piece, I also found a place to use a phrase I mentioned to Moristotle a couple of months ago, one that I think would be a good title for a future chapbook of poetry: “Hobnobbing with the Philosophers.” We shall see how the future unfolds.

In the midst of Winter, I found there was,
within me, an invincible summer.             —Albert Camus

Adventures from Bulgaria: Autumn Memories

By Valeria Idakieva

A lot of people had been waiting for the winter, not only to go skiing, but also to enjoy the mountains covered in snow – white, clean, serene…. Undoubtedly they are beautiful, especially when the sun rays make the snow sparkle and the blue sky seems bluer than ever.

Book Review: Poetic Philosophy / Philosophical Poetry

A review of Allegory in Early Greek Philosophy, by Jennifer Lobo Meeks

By Moristotle

From her opening pages, Professor Meeks, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Perimeter College of Georgia State University, manifests writing mastery and loving expertise on the technicalities and history of her subject. I recognized a book I wanted to savor; anyone interested in the roots of philosophy in Homeric and Hesiodic myths would.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Camus

For MLK Jr Day...

By Moristotle

...we could read Bob Boldt’s April 4, 2018 column, “Boldt Words & Images: Martin Luther King Jr. & Me.”

Boldt Words & Images: Martin Luther King Jr. & Me

By Bob Boldt

[I covered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as an electronic journalist for WFLD-TV in Chicago. Behind the scenes, I saw many things that most people weren’t aware of. Dr. King is arguably the greatest man of peace of this or any other age; his inspiration strongly influenced my radicalization and social and political activism.
    I will deliver the reflections below at a meeting later this month of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Jefferson City, Missouri, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the King of Love’s killing (on April 4, 1968).]