The Missing Writer Returns

Whoa, what a ride.

I guess I can't tell you about everything that has happened since my last post, since I stopped posting nearly 9 months ago.

But I can tell you where I am at right now, and hopefully start posting on Sophistical Subterfuges more regularly now.

Well, there are several areas of my life which have been developing as of late. There are three which are especially prominent: I have been making progress on my thesis, things are coming together with IPSA (International Philosophy Student's Association), of which I am now the President, and I am progressing in the culinary arts as well: last week was my first day as one of the main chefs at the restaurant I work at.

As for the thesis, I changed my topic a little bit and made it much more challenging for myself... yielding great results. Before I was basically explaining Ernst Cassirer's work on myth, essentially summarizing his second volume of the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. I did not get any writing accomplished while this was still my topic. Frankly, I wasn't interested or inspired to work on a summary... and rightly so, for what kind of original and substantial paper would my thesis be if it did nothing more than summarize someone else's book?? Instead, I am writing on Cassirer's methodology for the Cultural Sciences. Through an historical account I am situating his work among his contemporaries, primarily in terms of the Neo-Kantians of the Marburg and Southwest Schools, but also in terms of the pramatism of Dilthey and especially the phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger. I am now using Cassirer's work on myth as an example of how his methodology differs greatly from the other Neo-Kantians, and in many regards encounters a rapprochement with phenomenology. This, clearly, will require much more work on my behalf, and I am feeling eager to step up to the challenge.

As for IPSA, we held our first general meeting last week. We now have an executive and several coordinators. We are growing, and with this growth comes greater responsibility and commitment for me. I avoided legitimation of the group last year, mainly because I was new to the town/program and had few people to work with. This year, however, we hit the new students hard with an introductory tour after their welcome lecture by the faculty, as well as a great mustache party involving 8 cases of free beer.... kindly donated by an unidentified benefactor. This got people's attention. And now we have about 12 people who have committed themselves to planning events, increasing membership, and publicizing activities. We have drafted a constitution, a mission statement, and a list of events to be planned. My first order of business, however, is to attain funding from LOKO, which is the only EU subsidized international student's organization at K.U.Leuven. This will take some work on my behalf!

Finally, about my passion for cooking and the path this passion has set me on... well, for the last month I have been training in the kitchen of the restaurant I work at, doing mostly mis-en-place (preparation) for the week. This involves chopping a lot of vegetables, preparing sauces and soups, and so on. While I have been doing this, I have also been learning how to make various tapas dishes, desserts (like Sophie Lauren's tiramisu!), and so on. This past Friday was a milestone though... it was my first evening to work as one of the two main chefs in the front kitchen, which is open concept: i.e., the customers can watch you as you cook. Definitely an added element of pressure... it was a busy night, and we served about 40 plates in 3 hours. I kept my cool, went as fast as I could, and it was duly noted... now I will be working in the front more regularly. We come out with a new menu next week, and I will have to memorize the dishes so that I can prepare things without having to be told how. I've bought myself a high quality chef's knife (henckels) and I've grown to love using it! At one point last week while hanging out with friends I suddenly proclaimed, "I feel like cutting some onions." You can imagine the puzzled responses.

Well, that is enough updating for the time being, hopefully this post will be the first of many.

Check out Not Without The Sound of Infinite Splashing to see the progression of my work on Cassirer, the Neo-Kantians, and the cultural sciences.

Coming soon: Article 27, a blog about human rights, international relations, and philosophy concerning such matters.

Thanks for reading!