Weeknote 04/2024
Japanese philosophy, homicidal chefs, reflective magicians, and vinyl spinners.
Verbs
Listening: The Kyoto School, BBC Radio 3 Arts and Ideas
Despite having a keen interest, and some vague expertise, in some bits of Eastern philosophy, I don’t know anything much about the philosophical traditions of Japan. This particular episode of the always excellent Arts and Ideas podcast from BBC Radio 3 was all about the Kyoto School and was a great introduction to some of the major strands of Japanese philosophy. I was particularly interested to hear about some of the debate that was had as to how to translate philosophy into Japanese after Japan opened up to the world following the Meiji Restoration. For a little while some advocated a constructed term, in Japanese, that translates as “the search for clarity” which is an expression of philosophy I really like. I’ve got Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook on my shelf which I’m going to be dipping into and I definitely want to get a much richer understanding of Dogen, as a major figure in much earlier Japanese thought, and the broader impact of the Kyoto school through the 20th century.
Watching: The Menu, Disney+
I am not a horror fan. I’ve never been one, and I find myself often put off by anything overly grotesque or horrifying. There are a few exceptions here and there, usually when horror bleeds into another genre which is why I was happy to give The Menu a go. It is certainly a thriller of some kind, and a horror film of some kind, but it also seems to be something else as well. There are clear messages of social commentary put front and centre, for example, but somehow the film seems to weave all of this together into something that doesn’t fit neatly into any one category but very delicately treads between several. There are great performances from all of the big names, as you’d expect, but also some really lovely moments from all of the supporting cast, as well. The twist, if it really is a twist, is satisfying but you’re very much drawn into seeing where things are going way before the characters do which makes it all the more satisfying when all is revealed.
Thinking: Interview with Penn Jillette, Cracked
I’ve been a long-time fan of Penn and Teller, the double act that has come to redefine a great deal of what modern performance magic is in the last 20+ years. Teller generally keeps himself to himself but Penn Jillette has always been loud, outspoken, and keen to add his voice to the zeitgeist. I’ve had a lot of problems with reconciling the dazzling performer that he is with a lot of his political, social, and cultural views over the years - which span far-left socially open and inclusive stances right through to Ayn Randian libertarianism. It’s always tough when someone you creatively or artistically admire holds views that you find very problematic, but that’s a kind of ambiguity it’s important to come to navigate if we want to acknowledge that both art and people are complex things. Not that it’s in any way simple or easy to do so.
It seems like some of those views, though, are shifting and in this interview Jillette shares some of how that’s come about. It’s still frustrating to hear a rich, white, heterosexual, successful man take 70 years to realise that brute capitalism is toxic, societies must be built on empathy and compassion, and the political right is driven by greed, corruption, and self-interest, but I’d rather it happen later in life than not at all. All that said, I have always loved Jillette’s thinking on magic;
“What we do in live magic, it’s constantly dealing with that subject. Recreational epistemology is what stage magic is — we play around with that. And if you want to get heavy about it, you can say that every magic show is an exploration of how we determine what’s true.”
Seeing how magic is a powerful way of surfacing and reflecting upon our epistemic convictions, our understanding of reality as a shared and constructed space, and how we can obfuscate, manipulate, and play with that is why I sometimes incorporated magic into my philosophy teaching. Once upon a time I even did a lecture entitled “Luck, Magic and Superstition” which was all about how magic can reveal a great deal about our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Listening: My Analogue Journal, YouTube
I know incredibly little about music. It doesn’t occupy much of a space in my day-to-day life and most of the time, if I happen to have my AirPods in, I’m listening to a podcast, white noise, or just enjoying the noise cancellation as I go about my day. When I happen to feel in the mood for music, though, I like relying on people who do know what they’re on about so I use a lot of playlists in Apple Music, radio stations, or YouTube channels rather than finding music myself. One channel I like on YouTube is My Analogue Journal which describes itself as exploring “rare grooves from around the world on vinyl”. It’s got a nice global slant, with music spanning quite a range of genres, decades, and styles. The audio is great, but I also like having it on a second screen so I can see all the hipster vinyl folks spinning their tunes and having a great time.
Words
Most of the last week has been taken up with my trip out to Abu Dhabi to run a workshop for the International Baccalaureate. It was a pretty intense trip, in the end, with a fantastic workshop sat in the middle. Unfortunately, my journey out to Abu Dhabi ended up being a bit of a catastrophe thanks to missed connections, a night in a hotel on the industrial outskirts of Istanbul, and eventually arriving at my hotel in Abu Dhabi just 4 hours before I was due at the school I was holding the workshop at - crips 19 hours later than planned.
All that aside, we managed to have a fantastic workshop, working on the IB Theory of Knowledge specification and working on developing a really strong understanding of how best to deliver the course. Unlike my time in Berlin, where I was working with teachers from a whole range of schools, this workshop was just for one particular school which meant we could tailor the 2 days we had together to focus on the major interests and challenges that the participants had identified.
It was great to be back in Abu Dhabi, having not been there since October 2019 when I was speaking at the IB Global Conference. There’s been a lot of change with a brand new airport (maybe the nicest I’ve ever travelled through?) as well as lots of new building projects underway. Speaking with the participants I also heard about how there had been a good deal of social and cultural development as well - with a general liberalising of many of the more restrictive aspects of life in the Emirates. It was good, too, to get some warmth and sun whilst winter still rumbles along in Serbia. A few walks in Khalifa Park, near my hotel, after the workshops each day was a lovely way to unwind, relax, and boost the vitamin D.
I mean, with Voldemort as head chef I imagine death features quite heavily.