Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
It’s an admirable virtue. As with many virtues, use it in moderation. In excess, loyalty could become unquestioning obedience. Without it, though, social ties crumble. Mutual respect, patience, and tolerance help loyalty blossom organically.
Tall order! Start local: be an examplar of how to live with minimal harm, with respect for others. (And when that fails, at least patience & tolerance.) Do more asking and listening than making yourself heard. Make room for voices that aren’t often heard. Grant those around you dignity and agency. When you encounter injustice, say so, and do what you can to correct it, because peace is unlikely without justice. When you make mistakes, apologize and make amends. There are many courses at BC in political science, philosophy, sociology, and theology that address issues of peace and justice.
Given the number, longevity, and ubiquity of religions, I doubt any generalization about all of them could be true or meaningful. However, it’s quite likely power has played a role in some parts of at least some religions, and some aspects of power are gendered. If you’re interested in that subject, I recommend James Laine’s Meta-religion: Religion and Power in World History (E-book link: bit.ly/BC-meta-religion) as a starting point.
Borrowing an answer from 2017 because it was so good: The answer would depend on your interpretation of the word “sound.” If by sound you mean the vibration that propagates as an audible wave of pressure through air, water, or other transmission medium, then the tree does make a sound when it falls. However, if by sound you mean the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing, then the falling tree does not make a sound because no one is there to hear it. (Following this rationale, this answer will only exist once you read it.)
![What is [Louimas?] talking about re: self and the other??](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/aw030519-1.jpg)
I’m having trouble with your handwriting, which I have to read backwards. If you’re talking about the philosopher Levinas you’re talking about ethics, but not necessarily ethics the way other philosophers talk about it. Bernasconi in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a good description of his major works and how the Other has claims on the Self which are impossible to meet. The bibliography has some suggested reading which looks promising. Let me know if you’d like more, or if I’m totally misreading your question. bit.ly/bc-levinas
I’m so glad you recommended the arts as a way of understanding a concept! In my perennial enthusiasm for information, I sometimes forget that the way to really grasp something might be through literature, visual arts, or music. Jóhann Jóhannsson and Ludovico Einaudi have answers, too.
You could easily spend a hundred lifetimes answering this question. Departments and graduate programs at thousands of universities (including BC) are devoted to helping people learn how different arts & artists have grappled with it. If you’re interested in the psychology/neuroscience perspective, this book might get you started: Deeper than reason: emotion and its role in literature, music, and art, by J. Robinson. (O’Neill Library BF698.9 .C74 R63 2005) A search in the PsycInfo database with the subject terms “emotions” and “music” yields 1,768 relevant articles. There are whole scholarly journals devoted to this subject just in Psychology, such as The Psychology of Music and Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Many other disciplines (art history, history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology) have also brought their perspectives to it as well. Enjoy your hunt for answers!
The Wall is with Robert Frost on this. bit.ly/bc-eschatology
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
–Robert Frost
According to Robert Frost, yes, at least for New Englanders. The thing is, he was actually from San Francisco… No, but seriously, he got it turned around. Good neighbors make good fences.
In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the philosopher Roy Sorensen says, sensibly, “No experiment could support the hypothesis ‘There is nothing’ because any observation obviously implies the existence of an observer.” (For less empirical arguments,
Humans aren’t really designed to do that. There is research going on, some of it quite dark and scary. (bit.ly/bc-thanatos). And if you meet a genie and make a wish, remember to wish for immortality AND eternal youth. bit.ly/bc-youth.
As both a source of pain (when it’s rebuffed or withheld) and pleasure (when it’s reciprocated) it certainly contains multitudes & conflicts. If it weren’t a paradox, then Pascal Bruckner’s bestseller in France, Paradoxe Amoureux, or Paradox of Love (bit.ly/BC-paradox – click Books at JSTOR for English version), might not have been a bestseller. It’s also paradoxical in that the more you give,
Affirmations are good wherever they come from. It’s powerful to create your own affirmations, but sometimes folks are so down that affirmations from outside help to jump-start the supply from within. And sometimes it’s just nice to know and hear that others think well of you.
You ask a question with many, many answers. C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Four Loves (O’Neill Library BV4639 .L45 1988), drawing on the Greek notions of love in the Bible: Storge (empathy) Philia (friend) Eros (erotic) and Agape (unconditional “God” love). Here’s Shakespeare’s take on it in sonnet 116: bit.ly/shake-love. (Maybe that’s Eros.) One might also note familial love, unrequited love, the love of knowledge (philosophy)… it’s a long list. Which is “real”? I think all of them are. What do they share? The object of love is the focus of total trust & devotion.
Adulting involves some seriously hard stuff. But shying away from the adult role doesn’t lead to as fulfilling a life as tackling it and learning that you are strong enough to succeed (with failure/learning along the way.) It’s normal to be apprehensive, but I have faith that you can meet the challenge. Help from YouTube: bit.ly/AdultingHelp
Maybe. There are many health benefits to owning a dog, including improved mental and physical health. Therapy dogs can provide similar de-stressing opportunities and the chance to focus on something other than yourself, however briefly. If you’re asking if they can absolve you of sin and cleanse your soul of that weight….it might better to talk to a member of the clergy.
The Catholic Church is committed to traditions. This is both a strength and a weakness. However, any institution as old as the Church that places such a high importance on tradition is going to have some vestiges of old (and unfair) power structures in place. It was (and to a large extent remains) the case that men held most positions of power in all areas of life throughout history – whether that was the church, politics (ignoring the inseparability of the two for a second), on down to the individual household.
Walls have many choices when it comes to careers. We can separate areas; protect people and things from the elements (in a team with roofs and floors); we can go into marketing and provide space for posters and fliers to promote events; and some walls have a sacred duty to stand as memorials. When I started answering questions here, I could tell I had found my passion; it just felt right.
I mean, great character and all, but there’s a listicle you should look at: bit.ly/bc-ten
Ultimately, you get to decide that, but there are lots of people you can talk to for advice – your academic advisor, University Counseling Services (bit.ly/BC-counseling) or the Career Center (bit.ly/BC-career). It’s great you’re thinking about it, and I trust you can find a balance between experiencing the now and working towards the future.
