Review of “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Masterclass on Writing, Reading, & Life” by George Saunders Saunders’ book contains seven short stories in addition to his commentary on each. Out of the seven stories, three are by Anton Chekov, two by Leo Tolstoy, and the others are by Ivan Turgenev and Nikolai Gogol. The book is based on a university course on nineteenth-century Russian short stories that…
In the most recent post, which began this series, I said that I would discussion of Thomas Teo’s (2017) article, “From psychological science to the psychological humanities: Building a general theory of subjectivity“. If you have not yet read that article, I’d encourage you to do so, because what I’ve written here is a response to Teo’s article. While thinking about that article, let us also remember our general plan: We want to know what…
Because I have already used the phrase, “psychological humanities”, and because I know I am going to use the phrase in the near future (both here and on my YouTube channel), I have decided to spend some time on introducing it. Trying to provide an introduction gives me a chance to reflect on psychological humanities. I also hope to improve my understanding with the help of your feedback. Let’s begin with Thomas Teo’s 2017 article,…
Andrew Taggart just wrote this post about the (non)purpose of religion, which is closely connected to a discussion about the (non)purpose of art, education, philosophy, and ultimately the (non)purpose of being human. When we question the purpose of something, we often don’t realize how much prejudice is conveyed in our question. Questioning the purpose of X, the utility of X, is a question about whether and how X fits within our existing purposes. “What is…
What makes a place familiar? What makes a visit feel like a return? Part of the familiarity is knowing what I can or cannot do in a place—the rights and duties the place affords me. In the place I am now writing about, one of my rights is the right to pray. I have the right to pray despite my uncertainties and despite my faults. Perhaps I have the right and duty to preserve this…