Phillip > Recent Status Updates

Very engaging book. I found his reference to Tocqueville's 'The Social Condition o the Anglo-Americans' - concerning Religion - to be an interesting highlight. I was also impressed with the care he takes in pointing out important parts of the Federalist papers. Namely how the ancient thinkers, and the founders conception of law is very Republican. I need to read Arendt's 'On Revolution' with the quickness!!

The first chapter is fairly difficult in the later-mid section but Strauss is basically wrestling with the problems of historicism and how it denies the possibility of philosophy. Namely if philosophy is the pursuit of the knowledge of the whole, historicism asserts that philosophy presupposes its questions and its horizon of understanding. Like all highly nuanced writings, has to be read numerous times. Great book!

Carey's books is pretty non-ideological; its goal is primarily to articulate the basic founding ideals in a manner that sets the student up for study. Its pretty clear by my own observation that Republicanism vs. Pluralism is the paradigm that divides American liberals and conservatives virtue vs. interest. I am more deferent towards a 'radical democratic pluralism myself, but virtue ethics have some purchase...

Completed Book Alpha

Very interesting section in that Aristotle reviews the pre-established schools of philosophers including Plato's own school of thinking.

Of particular interest in this book was his comparative analysis of the Pythagoreans and Plato's own principles in how they conceive the world (the classic set theory of Pythagoras and Plato's Theory of Forms). This is a rather stimulating book...