Future, Present, & Past:



Speculative
~~ Giving itself latitude and leisure to take any premise or inquiry to its furthest associative conclusion.
Critical~~ Ready to apply, to itself and its object, the canons of reason, evidence, style, and ethics, up to their limits.
Traditional~~ At home and at large in the ecosystem of practice and memory that radically nourishes the whole person.

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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

What "We who are dying" need


I have read D.G. Myers' Commonplace Blog for years off and on, and always found it full of wise and sharp insight and incentive to read the books he was engaged with. Myers' posts, generous and enthusiastic, contentious and plain-spoken, appeared on my blogroll here, but for a few months he had not published; yesterday a final notice appeared, saying he had died last Friday.

Before that, Myers' own last post had stood at the top of the blog since last July. it is a courageous, honest account of gratitude for life, a life that is short. Instead of embarrassed or empty encouragement to "hope" or "fight," Myers admonishes,
We who are dying need from you what we should be demanding from ourselves — responsibility, honesty, the courage to face reality squarely.
We do well to remember that "we who are dying" does not just mean those who have received an official medical verdict. We have all already received a diagnosis, and we all require reminder and help to live in this light.

3 comments:

  1. Just wanted to say: I came across your blog looking for a sliver of extra knowledge concerning D. G. Leahy, and — having stayed to look around — I'm quite fascinated by what I read. On a sadder note, this post is the first I'd heard of Professor Myers' passing. Though I never had the pleasure of taking his classes, I did graduate from the university where until recently he taught, so I often heard from friends words of awe and admiration for his rigor and passion in the classroom.

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  2. Myers' voice will be sorely missed. His humanism was old fashioned and yet all his own.

    I have not blogged on Leahy -- yet. He's one of the most maddening stylists (if that is the word, which it probably isn't) I have ever tried to read. Makes the worst excesses of Derrida (who I actually have come to like) look like, oh I don't know, Quine or somebody. But I think he's onto something, at least a third of the time. I do intend to post something on him eventually.

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  3. Well, I was definitely intrigued by your placing Leahy alongside Abram and Harman. And I know what you mean about him being maddening. I feel like I can profitably read his essays (esp. "The Absolute Edge," which, for me, clarified his place in philosophy, if not his philosophical project), but, yeah, when I come to his books I falter. Anyway: will look forward to any future posts re. Leahy (oh! and Voegelin, too). Cheers!

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