http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/ Ideas, Intuitions, and Images en-us 2009-08-09T15:45:20-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/187685.html This new project is a series of video clips exploring the ways that various activities promote thought and life-long learning.... shea0017 2009-08-09T15:45:20-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/187684.html This new project is a series of video clips exploring the ways that various activities promote thought and life-long learning.... shea0017 2009-08-09T15:45:20-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/184640.html The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick (New York: Scholastic Press, 2007) The orphan boy Hugo endures a lonely and secret life, sleeping in a hidden room in the Paris train station,... shea0017 2009-06-27T17:39:27-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/173757.html Right now, lots of people are thinking about flooding in North Dakota. It is the perfect time to look at the dynamics of water on flat land, the efforts over the last twenty years to prevent flooding through construction of... shea0017 2009-03-29T14:24:08-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/170602.html The Obama administration faces several challenges all at once. I don’t know what it should do about any of them. I think I know what devices are needed, to move forward. They don’t have a good common name; let’s call... shea0017 2009-03-10T11:43:31-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/168835.html When I hear the scornful response of some conservatives to Barack Obama's very risky proposals for fixing everything at once, I have two thoughts. One of them is funny. My old friend Wolfgang was once asked to talk a friend... shea0017 2009-02-28T11:17:27-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/160783.html I admire very much a blog piece by David Quigg, “What Would Obama Do If Obama Were Mad at Obama About Rick Warren?� Talk about defusing an issue by asking a good, weird question! He shows what thoughtful commentary... shea0017 2008-12-28T13:53:51-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/160772.html I am voting for these, for 2008, all from Youtube: 1. Warren Buffett did a talk to an MBA class a while back. The whole thing is up on Youtube in 10 minute segments. Segment 1, about his general... shea0017 2008-12-27T11:34:42-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/160758.html I did an interview this week with Wendy Rahn, a U of MN political science professor who founded Survivors’ Studio, an exercise studio for women with cancer. This was a real challenge for her, on top of professional responsibilities and... shea0017 2008-12-26T10:26:33-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/160678.html Intelligence is only occasionally about screaming. Mostly, it is about saying, “This is pretty much what a reasonable person would expect.� The newspaper I read seems to me not to be setting a high enough standard for intelligence. It uses... shea0017 2008-12-23T14:37:57-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/160484.html Governor Blagojevich of Illinois is quoted in the Star Tribune (12/20/08, A-10) saying, “Afford me the same rights that you and your children have: the presumption of innocence.� The context: he wants to remain in office until he is tried... shea0017 2008-12-21T09:32:37-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/160372.html Two examples: 1.On Monday, December 15, TPT in Minnesota aired “Torturing Democracy,� an account of the use of torture by the United States government. The producer, and critics of U.S. policy, had hoped that this documentary would air before the... shea0017 2008-12-19T11:54:20-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/131473.html I did a paper for the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum, discussing possible new directions for their organization and for independent scholarship. Here is that paper: Download file... shea0017 2008-06-14T21:36:56-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/082118.html The Strib and the New York Times reported, in a two day period, alarming declines in common birds, hunters and anglers, and arts critics. We have already heard about an alarming decrease in bees. A letter to the editor lamented... shea0017 2007-06-20T10:16:44-06:00 http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shea0017/philosophy/070750.html Reading McCullough’s long biography of Harry Truman, I remember Sally Field on “Inside the Actor’s Studio� saying that, when she has to play an emotionally demanding role, she begins to hurt herself, early on, in ways that would seem perverse... shea0017 2007-03-02T10:31:18-06:00