Let’s Try This Again
I’m Jack, and I teach what is essentially a high school philosophy class, Great Ideas, at one of the coolest public schools there is - the Liberal Arts & Science Academy in Austin, TX. About a year ago, I started a blog called Great Ideas Reflections. The purpose was to write about interesting conversations in class and projects that my students were creating, while reflecting on the curriculum along the way. It included some thoughts about my decision last year to donate a kidney, as well as the way that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected our school, and my class in particular. I also started blogging my way through Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy.
As all good things must, the project came to an end (more with a whimper than a bang). Until now! I’ve moved to Substack, rebranded as Ordinary Events, and commit to 2+ posts per week (a vast improvement!). I’ve moved all my posts from Wordpress over here so my public thoughts can be all in one place.
This time, my scope will be broader. My niche is very much still the perspective granted by my job - teaching philosophy to high schoolers is both rare and revealing, and I think(/hope!) it leads me to more completely synthesize the world around me than I otherwise could. But, as a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant is unlikely to prepare for herself the same meals she cooks on the job, so too do I want to write about more than what happens in my class - which I already spend plenty of time thinking about! In particular, I hope to use the lens of my class to write about the broader world of politics, economics, and philosophy.
Why “Ordinary Events”?
The name comes from David Hume, who wrote: “To philosopher and historian the madness and imbecile wickedness of mankind ought to appear ordinary events.” For Hume, this line describes an insight into human nature; those who study and contemplate humanity know its wickedness and imbecility as standard. As is, of course, often the case.
However, the ordinary events of history and philosophy are sometimes quite extraordinary. We turn the aircraft carrier of state a couple degrees, to borrow former President Obama’s expression, and end up incrementally better in the long run. We practice politics, the “slow boring of hard boards” in Max Weber’s phrasing, in order to counteract the worst aspects of human nature. Wickedness and imbecility are self-oriented; philosophy and history, while full of compelling counterexamples, also tell of the power of the public good over the individual good.
My goal in Ordinary Events is to look more closely into the ordinary events of the moment. Beyond the initial impulse to see each day’s news as a confirmation of the worst of our kind, I want to turn Hume’s line on its head: to acknowledge humankind’s wickedness and imbecility, yes, but mostly to emphasize its resilience and cooperative nature. Because both are true. And these days, the ordinary course of events is to ignore the promise of humanity in favor of decrying its peril.
So…What Now?
You should subscribe, of course! Most posts will be free, but occasionally I’ll publish a subscriber-only post - these will have more to do with the inner workings of my class, I think. Your subscription mostly subsidizes my writing, out of the kindness of your heart, recognizing that a teacher’s salary is…well, you know.
Next week I’ll have a couple posts about Plato, both because I’ve been teaching him in my class and because that’s the phase of Russell’s History that I have made it to. His political philosophy, while erratic, has interesting applicability to the current moment in US politics - his skepticism of democratic institutions echoes today’s critiques, both legitimate and illegitimate, of the way the US functions.
Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess. I hope to have you along for the ride!