Jessica Orrell’s Reviews > History of Political Philosophy > Status Update

Read the essay on Plato. Extremely compelling and also understand better again why the straussians like democracy. I'm really interested in the Laws and wish someone would teach it to me. I am afraid I cannot read it on my own. This is a plea for help.

Read the essay on Farabi. I think I only now finally understand why the Straussians like democracy so much. Thanks Mahdi. I’m very interested in Farabi’s adaptation of Platonic philosophy to serve Islamic ends. My teacher seemed to really de-emphasize Farabi’s ties to Islam, but Mahdi seems to think his desire for the world state was tied to his Islamic sympathies, which makes sense to me.

Read the essay on Heidegger tonight. Made me feel very sad because Being won’t reveal itself to me because I am stuck in a metaphysical framework of language that I cannot escape— I.e my relationship to the world is dictated by language and it has veiled wonder and awe at Being from me :(. But awesome essay nonetheless although a little critically toned. Gillespie is awesome maybe someday I’ll study with him.