Respondeo Blog

Michael W. Grenke’s “Another Euclid”

Euclid presents the reader with proofs about eyes and what they see.  He gives us proofs about the height of trees and the depth of ditches.  Some of the parts of the proofs are sunlight and shadows and mirrors and chariot wheels.  Euclid offers comments about natural...

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Grant Franks’s “Second Thoughts About Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT”

As You Like It is my favorite among Shakespeare’s plays, but lately it has occurred to me that I have liked it for the wrong reasons. Or, to put the matter more accurately, there are many reasons and ways to enjoy this play and while I have long recognized some of them, I have only lately noticed others. The features of the play that I have always enjoyed are still there but there are others that I only recently began to appreciate. Those are the ones I want to talk about.

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Philip LeCuyer’s “The Concept of Truth in the Book of Genesis”

What is the structure of the event in which this word emes—‘truth’—enters the world of the Torah? Who utters it? And to whom? And most important, what does it mean? What does its novelty add to the world? And possibly to our own world? Why did it happen? This is the question (these are the questions) I am going to address in the remarks that follow. I will start with the last question: why did it happen?

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Philip LeCuyer’s “Reading the Book of Esther”

This essay presents two concepts, ‘angular unconformity’ from geology, and ‘assymetrical repetition’ from astronomy, to use in approaching the Book of Esther. Esther, the final book added to the Hebrew Bible, is the only biblical book written by a woman. If it is a revelation, it is the final revelation in that tradition. The name of God does not occur in its text.  Reading the Book of Esther points to a major scribal unconformity and pervasive assymetrical repetions on every level in interpreting the text’s theological silence.

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Philip LeCuyer’s “Intellectual Sin”

This lecture is an examination of key passages in core texts by Descartes (TheMeditations), Kant (The Critique of Pure Reason), and Heidegger (Basic Concepts).Three intellectual sins are defined: desire for certitude (Descartes), enthusiasm (Kant), and authenticity...

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Travels in Africa

A Travelogue by Fred Abramowitz

“shot through with vivid portraits”