We (the members of the analytic philosophy class, and other philosophy students) are going to Tufts today to hear Douglas Hofstadter speak. On what? you ask… well I think he’ll touch on stuff from The Mind’s I, I’m almost certain, but I don’t know from what angle or what else he’ll incorporate. It should be quite interesting, since I rather enjoy his writing and the topic is right up my alley. I love language and demonstrating how we use it, and how meaning is demonstrated as well. Fascinating. And yet not so geeky as to be over anyone’s head. I think everyone should be able to have philosophical discussions, even ones about language, without feeling as if they’re “out of their league” or something. If people are turned off by jargon, then (assuming you want them in your discussion in the first place) you’ve got to speak in a way that they understand… I’m not saying one should “dumb down” the conversation, but discussions of these sorts should always begin with ordinary language. And then, if the need arises, philosophy-specific language can be used. I think many people are alienated from conversations that they might find interesting if they could just get over the jargon aspect.

Most philosophy classes are taught from, what I consider to be, an historical approach. We learn what one guy said, and then another guy’s response, and so forth. There are critical responses from the students, surely, but the students aren’t actually doing philosophy. Instead, they’re reading about how others did philosophy. That has value, but I find philosophers like those in the analytical tradition more concerned with the how-to aspect. By figuring out how we use language, and the confusions and mistakes that are caused when we use language improperly, we better learn how to articulate our ideas. Philosophy is the vehicle by which we can learn to communicate more effectively.

In other news, I finished decorating my long apron today. The one with the blue gingham pockets is now fashioned with glitter paint, be-dazzles, and safety pins. It’s looking much snazzier. I also have to jazz up the short, purple apron soon. Melissa came over last night for super clothes crafty night. We watched Red Dwarf and had fun making our clothes way cool. I couldn’t come up with many good ideas, so I just worked on my apron. Oh, I sewed some buttons on it. I had planned to sew a bunch of buttons on it, but lost my motivation when it took me forever to just sew on four. But the four that I did manage to sew on spell out “girl” in purple and pink letters– quite amusing. I have no idea what posessed (how many “s”es are supposed to be in that word, anyway?) me to ever purchase such buttons, but that’s beside the point now. Fun, fun.