The Spirit of Inspiration

 It is by no means to be denied that the man who subjects himself to studies too severe does violence to his nature; and, although he may sharpen his intellect on one point, yet whatever he does wants the grace and facility natural to those who, proceeding temperately, preserve the calmness of their intelligence, and the force of their judgment, keeping all things in their proper place, and avoiding those subtleties which rarely produce any better effect than that of imparting a laboured, dry, and ungraceful character to the production, whatever it may be, which is better calculated to move the spectator to pity than awaken his admiration. It is only when the spirit of inspiration is roused, when the intellect demands to be in action, that effectual labour is secured; then only are thoughts worthy of expression conceived, and things great, excellent, and sublime accomplished. 

[Giorgio Vasari, "Paolo Uccello" in The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, vol. 1, Lavin, ed., Heritage Press (New York: 1967) p. 107.]

Common Doctor

 Today is the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church. From his commentary on Ephesians (lect. 6, sect. 124)

A city possesses a political community whereas a household has a domestic one, and these differ in two respects. For those who belong to the domestic community share with one another private activities; but those belonging to the civil community have in common with one another public activities. Second, the head of the family governs the domestic community; while those in the civil community are ruled by a king. Hence, what the king is in the realm, this the father is in the home. 

 The community of the faithful contains within it something of the city and something of the home. If the ruler of the community is thought of, he is a father: our Father, who is in heaven (Matt 6:9); you will call me Father and will not turn from following me (Jer 3:19). In this perspective, the community is a home. But if you consider the subjects themselves, it is a city since they have in common with one another the particular acts of faith, hope and charity. In this way, if the faithful are considered in themselves, the community is a civil one; if, however, the ruler is thought of, it is a domestic community.

Mereological Fallacies of Distribution

Due to the analogy between categorical syllogisms and mereological inferences, fallacies of distribution have mereological analogues. Some examples:

Undistributed Middle

Categorical Syllogism:

All C is B
All A is B
Therefore All A is C.

Mereological Syllogism:

C is part of B
A is part of B
Therefore A is part of C.

Illicit Process of Major

Categorical Syllogism:

All C is B
No A is C
Therefore No A is B.

Mereological Syllogism:

C is part of B
A does not overlap C
Therefore A is not part of B.

Illicit Process of Minor

Categorical Syllogism:

All A is B
All A is C
Therefore All B is C.

Mereological Syllogism:

A is part of B
A is part of C
Therefore B is part of C.

The matter, of course, is quite general. For mereological propositions in the form 'A is part of B', A is distributed and B is undistributed; for the form 'A overlaps B', both are undistributed; in the form 'A is not part of B', both are distributed; in the form 'A does not overlap B', A is undistributed and B is distributed. In mereological syllogisms, the same rules for distribution apply: middle terms must be distributed, and what is distributed in the conclusion must be distributed in the premises.

None of this is particularly surprising, since historically the mereological syllogisms seem to have come first, and the concept of distribution for categorical syllogisms seems to derive from thinking about mereological syllogisms. But sometimes it's worthwhile to think about things explicitly.

Links of Note

 * Céline Leboeuf, Walking in Simone de Beauvoir's Footsteps, at "Why Philosophy?"

* Marco Montagnino, Gadamer's Return to Parmenides (PDF)

* Gregory B. Sadler, By the Content of Their Character: Christian Love and Virtue Ethics in Martin Luther King's Writings

* Andrea Roselli & Gauvain Leconte-Chevillard, What a Powerful World (PDF)

* Kelsey Hartley, Kristin Lavransdatter Resource Roundup, at "Reading Revisited"

* Susanna Schwartz, The Enchanted Windows of Jane Austen, at "The Enchanted Window"

* Sergiu Margan, The Structural Necessity of Valuation: Why Biological Explanation Requires More than Selection (PDF)

* William Lambert, On Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, at "Short Views"

* Virginia Weaver, critic as physician, at "Overlong Memories"

* Matthew Minerd, A Noetic Taxonomy of Discursive Wisdom, at "A Thomist"

* Luke Russell and Brandom Warmke, Forgiveness, at the SEP

* Laurenz Ramsauer, Kant's Casuistical Questions (PDF)

* Ian Gubbenet, Did Tolkien's Elves Have Pointed/Pointy Ears?, at "Arda Rediscovered"; it also along the way discusses why pointed ears are often associated with fairy creatures today.

* D. Luscinius, Ennead I.3: On Dialectic [The Upward Way], at "Nelle parole"

* C. S. Lewis and the Greatest Arthurian Epic, at "The Library of Lewis and Tolkien"

* Dimitra Fimi, Where (or What) is Neverland? Peter Pan and the Fantasy Tradition, at "A kind of elvish craft"

In Mystery Their Birth

 The Divine Law
by Sir Aubrey de Vere 

 The natural Law, howe'er remote, obscure
Of origin, lies patent to the eye
Of Reason; whence astute Philosophy
From shrewd induction points to issues sure:
The laws of men but for a time endure;
And vary, as their plastic frame we spy
Through shifting glasses of expediency--
The Laws of God, immaculately pure,
Unalterably firm, whose sanctions claim
Affinity with naught of Earth, these laws
Have their deep root in Faith, in Hope their aim,
In Mystery their birth, in Love their cause;
League Earth with Heaven; and, knowing how to bind
Angels with Power, have care for human kind.

The Gentleman Saint

 Today is the feast of St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church. From Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter XXII:

As daylight waxes, we, gazing into a mirror, see more plainly the soils and stains upon our face; and even so as the interior light of the Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience, we see more distinctly the sins, inclinations and imperfections which hinder our progress towards real devotion. And the selfsame light which shows us these blots and stains, kindles in us the desire to be cleansed and purged therefrom. You will find then, my child, that besides the mortal sins and their affections from which your soul has already been purged, you are beset by sundry inclinations and tendencies to venial sin; mind, I do not say you will find venial sins, but the inclination and tendency to them. Now, one is quite different from the other. We can never be altogether free from venial sin,—at least not until after a very long persistence in this purity; but we can be without any affection for venial sin. It is altogether one thing to have said something unimportant not strictly true, out of carelessness or liveliness, and quite a different matter to take pleasure in lying, and in the habitual practice thereof. But I tell you that you must purify your soul from all inclination to venial sin;—that is to say, you must not voluntarily retain any deliberate intention of permitting yourself to commit any venial sin whatever. It would be most unworthy consciously to admit anything so displeasing to God, as the will to offend Him in anywise.

An Icedrop at Thy Sharp Blue Nose

 Winter
by Robert Southey 

A wrinkled crabbed man they picture thee,
Old Winter, with a rugged beard as grey
As the long moss upon the apple-tree;
Blue-lipt, an icedrop at thy sharp blue nose,
Close muffled up, and on thy dreary way
Plodding alone through sleet and drifting snows.
They should have drawn thee by the high-heapt hearth,
Old Winter! seated in thy great armed chair,
Watching the children at their Christmas mirth;
Or circled by them as thy lips declare
Some merry jest, or tale of murder dire,
Or troubled spirit that disturbs the night,
Pausing at times to rouse the mouldering fire,
Or taste the old October brown and bright.

I'm juggling quite a few things at the moment -- beginning of term, getting some projects up and running -- and we have a winter storm coming in, so posting might be light for the next week and a half, depending on various things. (I'll only be at the edge of the winter storm, but nothing here is properly built for a serious winter, so there's a lot to prepare for.)