Back to School
This semester my daughter has an interesting class called Philosophy of the History of Religion. It sounds quite fancy and deep, but the two words that caught my attention were "history" and "religion." I love history in just about any form, and I've always been interested in the different belief systems man has held since he began to wonder about the world.
My daughter said there would be no problem with my attending the class as an observer, especially since the professor is relaxed and approachable. So yesterday at twelve thirty saw me sitting outside the classroom, waiting for my daughter and ready for my return to a formal classroom in almost thirty years.
There were very few students. Empty seats gaped here and there and from the middle of the classroom to the back was a sea of emptiness. Not many people rush to study Philosophy; it doesn't generate money in the real world. The professor had his notes in book form, and referred to them copiously. The discussion recapped the meaning of the phoenix (renovation of the Cosmos and nature) and then went on to discuss one of the basic foundations of man's beliefs, purity and impurity.
Since I have read The Golden Bough, and am familiar with Greek and Roman mythology and gods, I understood everything he explained, and remembered a few things I had forgotten. I also discovered certain threads, not discussed in class, that I could continue searching out information on. The main discussion was purity and impurity, with emphasis on ritual, and the separation of the profane from the sacred. To me, it was an extremely interesting class. My daughter, however, prefers a class she has on metaphysics; she's not into analytical philosophy.
Perhaps because I already knew something about the subject, it also seemed an easy class. Yet, it's a senior year class. Much of what the professor discussed deserves to be gone into in detail. But, perhaps because it's simply an offshoot of a direction philosophy can go in, it's merely skimmed over. The class meets twice a week until December, but the exposition part ends at the end of October. I believe after that they have to do research and prepare papers before exams in January. To me, it seems too little time to really learn much about the subject. While their object is not to study anthropology nor history, this type of thinking has a large influence on human thought through the ages, including the philosophers, both ancient and modern.
If I had time and money, I would see about returning to the classroom. History and the belief systems that work upon shaping history are simply fascinating subjects.
My daughter said there would be no problem with my attending the class as an observer, especially since the professor is relaxed and approachable. So yesterday at twelve thirty saw me sitting outside the classroom, waiting for my daughter and ready for my return to a formal classroom in almost thirty years.
There were very few students. Empty seats gaped here and there and from the middle of the classroom to the back was a sea of emptiness. Not many people rush to study Philosophy; it doesn't generate money in the real world. The professor had his notes in book form, and referred to them copiously. The discussion recapped the meaning of the phoenix (renovation of the Cosmos and nature) and then went on to discuss one of the basic foundations of man's beliefs, purity and impurity.
Since I have read The Golden Bough, and am familiar with Greek and Roman mythology and gods, I understood everything he explained, and remembered a few things I had forgotten. I also discovered certain threads, not discussed in class, that I could continue searching out information on. The main discussion was purity and impurity, with emphasis on ritual, and the separation of the profane from the sacred. To me, it was an extremely interesting class. My daughter, however, prefers a class she has on metaphysics; she's not into analytical philosophy.
Perhaps because I already knew something about the subject, it also seemed an easy class. Yet, it's a senior year class. Much of what the professor discussed deserves to be gone into in detail. But, perhaps because it's simply an offshoot of a direction philosophy can go in, it's merely skimmed over. The class meets twice a week until December, but the exposition part ends at the end of October. I believe after that they have to do research and prepare papers before exams in January. To me, it seems too little time to really learn much about the subject. While their object is not to study anthropology nor history, this type of thinking has a large influence on human thought through the ages, including the philosophers, both ancient and modern.
If I had time and money, I would see about returning to the classroom. History and the belief systems that work upon shaping history are simply fascinating subjects.
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