Meanwhile, I have to tell you how much fun I had channeling David Hume, le bon David, in class today (the other class, Theorizing Religion). Students had read the first two-thirds of Hume's magnificent and subversive Natural History of Religion and had not, of course, any idea what he was up to. (How should they? That was 1757 and this is 2008; explaining it is what I'm there for.) It's been a while since I had a chance to hold forth on the early eighteenth century context - something I used to do a lot, back in the day - and it was fun to do it again. And Hume is always fun: he puts the fear of God in students, or do I mean the fear for God? It's the first time many of them have seen a thoroughly naturalistic account of religion, not to mention one which doesn't think religion is a force for good in any way. And what does one do with his tongue-in-cheek demonstrations that polytheists are more virtuous, more valiant, more rational than monotheists? I had a ball. We have one more Hume session, then I get to channel the gushy but inspiring early Romantic response to religion's "cultured despisers" of Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Le bon David
Seems like I should say something about the widening financial crisis - one we're told is as bad as if not worse than the Great Depression, and yet nobody's using the word "Depression." Hope they know something I don't. While it is sad to see three of Wall Street's big investment banks fold, I suppose, I feel like the earliest mammals when the dinosaurs started to die off: whew. I know it's more complicated than that - predators are an indispensable part of the ecological niche of their prey, right? and investment banks help generate the wealth which, at least in NYC, trickles down occasionally to the rest of us - but it's the thousands and millions of others who will be affected by this meltdown I worry for.
Meanwhile, I have to tell you how much fun I had channeling David Hume, le bon David, in class today (the other class, Theorizing Religion). Students had read the first two-thirds of Hume's magnificent and subversive Natural History of Religion and had not, of course, any idea what he was up to. (How should they? That was 1757 and this is 2008; explaining it is what I'm there for.) It's been a while since I had a chance to hold forth on the early eighteenth century context - something I used to do a lot, back in the day - and it was fun to do it again. And Hume is always fun: he puts the fear of God in students, or do I mean the fear for God? It's the first time many of them have seen a thoroughly naturalistic account of religion, not to mention one which doesn't think religion is a force for good in any way. And what does one do with his tongue-in-cheek demonstrations that polytheists are more virtuous, more valiant, more rational than monotheists? I had a ball. We have one more Hume session, then I get to channel the gushy but inspiring early Romantic response to religion's "cultured despisers" of Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Meanwhile, I have to tell you how much fun I had channeling David Hume, le bon David, in class today (the other class, Theorizing Religion). Students had read the first two-thirds of Hume's magnificent and subversive Natural History of Religion and had not, of course, any idea what he was up to. (How should they? That was 1757 and this is 2008; explaining it is what I'm there for.) It's been a while since I had a chance to hold forth on the early eighteenth century context - something I used to do a lot, back in the day - and it was fun to do it again. And Hume is always fun: he puts the fear of God in students, or do I mean the fear for God? It's the first time many of them have seen a thoroughly naturalistic account of religion, not to mention one which doesn't think religion is a force for good in any way. And what does one do with his tongue-in-cheek demonstrations that polytheists are more virtuous, more valiant, more rational than monotheists? I had a ball. We have one more Hume session, then I get to channel the gushy but inspiring early Romantic response to religion's "cultured despisers" of Friedrich Schleiermacher.
