List, My good friend, Joseph Dauben, Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York/Lehman College, whose research interests include History of Science and History of Mathematics, wrote in response to my initial post in this thread:
Many thanks for your very insightful observations. When I read what you've written, I immediately thought of the graduation speech E.L. Doctorow gave at his own alma mater, the Bronx HS of Science, a few years ago. You may well already have seen this, but if not, I think you’ll find what he had to say of interest. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/nyregion/el-doctorow-graduation-speech-bronx-science.html While the entire piece is of interest (in a subsequent email, Joe remarked how he ". . . especially liked how Doctorow foiled the chemistry class experiment. He really wasn't so bad at chemistry after all!"), I've excerpted a quote from its conclusion as being of particular relevance to this thread. Doctorow writes: I’m thinking now of the principal at Science in my day, Dr. Morris Meister <https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/11/archives/dr-morris-meister-founder-of-high-school-of-science-dies.html>. I remember that he said about scientific knowledge that in the passage of time, it was like a searchlight beam expanding and lighting up more and more of the darkness. But as it did, he said, so did the circumference of darkness expand. That’s a pretty good line, don’t you think? As the light spreads out so does it discern more and more of the darkness. Actually this may have been said first by Albert Einstein, but no matter. The human quest for knowledge, for knowing everything there is to know, will always face that expanding circumference of darkness. That is what makes learning such an adventure. You will find that in the world great progress is made in some ways, like curing disease, like inventing robotic devices, going into space, while in other ways, as in our wars, our brutalization of others, our pollution of the natural world, we are faltering. It is possible that our great technical achievements notwithstanding, our moral natures are not keeping up, that we have the brains but not always the hearts to do the right thing. But there is always hope, and there is always the next generation coming along to make things better. So that the circumference of darkness, which turns out to be the questions for which science has no answer, can eventually be illuminated. So now I will tell you what nobody has told you before this; that we older folks are waiting for you. We’re waiting for you. Did you know that? It’s a fact. I look out from this stage and see a beautiful assembly of the American future. And I’ll tell you something else about which there is no question: Your parents are proud of you, your teachers are proud of you, and this alumnus of Bronx Science, ’48 — I’m proud of you, too. If I were a clergyman, I’d cast a blessing. But I’m a writer, so I say: Be brave. Be kind. Take good care of yourself. And carry it on. Best, Gary "Time is not a renewable resource." gnox *Gary Richmond* *Philosophy and Critical Thinking* *Communication Studies* *LaGuardia College of the City University of New York* <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free. www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#m_-4385949600264405032_m_6381616268129821234_m_-8273789706308745966_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Sat, Jun 13, 2020 at 4:03 PM Gary Richmond <gary.richm...@gmail.com> wrote: > List, > > In a recent op-ed piece titled "The End of College as We Knew It" ( > https://tinyurl.com/ybha8mhb), Frank Bruni reflects on something I've > been informally discussing with friends and colleagues now for years; > namely, that "A society without a grounding in ethics, self-reflection, > empathy and beauty is one that has lost its way” (Brian Rosenberg, recently > president > of Macalester College). It seems to me that this has happened in the > United States. > > It has long seemed to me that America today has largely abandoned what > might be called the normative trivium of aesthetics, ethics, and logic -- > Peirce's three Normative Sciences, *not* the classical trivium (for which > see Sister Miriam Joseph > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Miriam_Joseph>'s 2002 book, *The > Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric*) that he > generalized to serve as the three branches of Logic as Semeiotic. > > This philosophical trivium points to the possible *application *of > Peirce's three Normative Sciences -- not their theoretical forms, but > rather their ordinary and potentially pragmatic guises as they appear in > life practice, including reflection and action upon what is beautiful in > art and nature, what is ethical in our behavior in the world, and how we > can apply 'critical commonsenseism' in our quotidian lives. Bruni writes: > "We need writers, philosophers, historians. They’ll be the ones to chart > the social, cultural and political challenges of this pandemic -- and of > all the other dynamics that have pushed the United States so harrowingly > close to the edge. In terms of restoring faith in the American project and > reseeding common ground, they’re beyond essential." > > Bruni's op-ed reflection came in part in response to a recent article by > Rosenberg in *The Chronicle of Higher Education*; see "How Should > Colleges Prepare for a Post-Pandemic World" ( > https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Should-Colleges-Prepare/248507). > Rosenberg writes: “If one were to invent a crisis uniquely and > diabolically designed to undermine the foundations of traditional colleges > and universities, it might look very much like the current global > pandemic.” In a similar vein, Professor Andrew Belbanco, president of the > Teagle Foundation which gives as its purpose promoting the liberal arts, > writes: “This is not only a public health crisis and an economic crisis, > though Lord knows it’s both of those. It’s also a values crisis. It > raises all kinds of deep human questions: What are our responsibilities to > other people? Does representative democracy work? How do we get to a place > where something like bipartisanship could emerge again?” > > Commenting on the economic divide of the American university, Bruni notes > that "the already pronounced divide between richly endowed, largely > residential schools and more socioeconomically diverse ones that depend on > public funding grows wider as state and local governments face > unprecedented financial distress. A shrinking minority of students get a > boutique college experience. Then there’s everybody else." Gail Mellow, > former president of LaGuardia College of the City University of New York > (where I taught for decades before my retirement) is quoted as saying, “We > always knew that America was moving more and more toward very different > groups of people," to which Bruni adds, "that movement is only > accelerating." > > Confronting all this will undoubtedly be one of the great challenges that > America -- and for that matter, the world -- will have in the years and > decades to come. The question I pose is: Can Peirce's version of pragmatism > (or pragmaticism) -- which he also calls 'critical commonsenseism' -- > creatively contribute to these enormous challenges? And, if so, how? And > are there ways in which Peirce's philosophical trivium might help inform > the aesthetics, ethics, and critical thinking of the world as it emerges > from the coronavirus pandemic? If so, how? > > [Note: I have Bcc'd this post to several former members of this forum, a > few members who rarely if ever post but who have stayed in contact with me > offlist, and a few friends and colleagues who have not been members but who > may have an interest in this topic. Those who are not current members of > the forum may send your thoughts on the topic off-list to me letting me > know if I have your permission to post them.] > > Best, > > Gary > > "Time is not a renewable resource." gnox > > *Gary Richmond* > *Philosophy and Critical Thinking* > *Communication Studies* > *LaGuardia College of the City University of New York* > > > > > > > > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > <#m_-4385949600264405032_m_6381616268129821234_m_-8273789706308745966_m_-3202552683799067622_m_-6505866903895105155_m_-9081927209968332918_m_5630141949723053887_m_6790727069061782857_m_4445668067849967623_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> >
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