Speaking of Victor...

From my paper for this quarter: "I assert that if we did not have language, the word “different” would not have multiple meanings. For example, in the case of Levi-Strauss, “primitive” could have a negative connotation, but he is clear in stating that the others are simply without the function of writing their language. In addition, it is careful use of language that has Levi-Strauss define that primitive simply means ‘without writing’. Only when man begins to understand that there are differences in things through communication, there is the issue of property, material possessions, and the importance that they play in the inequalities of life. We also see this in the Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein."

Just for the record....

I HAVE indeed noticed that all of the authors for my course this quarter are old white men with beards..... Nothing more for me to say about that right now! (Especially after reading two weeks of Freud.)

The meaning of life is on p. 131

I pulled my Viktor Frankl book off the shelf the other day after having lunch with the wise professor that led my course on the Holocaust two years ago. The line I love so much is on p. 131: "One should not search for an abstract meaning of life.
Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment." I think I might be starting to discover that for myself...

Oopsie Daisy

Claude Levi-Strauss is an anthropologist. We had two texts from him to read. I mistakenly thought it was two texts across two weeks. It was both texts for ONE week. That would bave been LAST Saturday. Uh-oh! I missed out on his trip to Brazil in Tristes Tropique. Bert went through it fairly well so I feel like I had a reading vacation last week. Next up: Sigmund Freud. (Two texts across two weeks...I asked!) If I were to miss one, I am guessing this was the one to miss. (I wonder if it was a Freudian slip?!?)

Week 4= Emile Durkheim

Meaning and Motive in Social Life is the name of this course. It is a blend of sociology, psychology and anthropology.

This week's book, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life is by Mr. French himself, Emile Durkheim. The canon of sociology is written by Marx, Weber and Durkheim. Durkheim and Marx, both collective in nature, are segregated from Weber, Mr. Individual-Religion-Man.

However, I was amazed to see the biblical book of Job come to life in Durkheim! Page 202 shares "the basis of religious thgouht. . . definite powers and anonymous forces". Emile continues that "Zeus is in each drop of rain that falls, just as Ceres is in each sheaf of the harvest". It always comes back to the Greeks, doesn't it?!

Next week is Levi-Strauss, so stay tuned. I must get back to looking up the big words for this week before class on Saturday! (Things like corroboree, protean, animist, Wakan, etc.)

This week....Max Weber!

I am in utter disbelief at the amount of reading I am doing this quarter. Max Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He is bringing me back to my Lutheran roots and helping me understand the impact that religion has on the economy, even in the early 1900s!
I love these early thinkers.....it makes me think larger.

BTW: Max is MUCH easier to digest than Karl!

Imposter syndrome

I am reading Karl Marx this week. After being in my first classroom session of my 2nd class at the University of Chicago, I am struggling with the "imposter syndrome" again, meaning that I doubt if I really belong in this program. I cannot make head or tails of Karl Marx. I am pushing myself to read the words and underline any phrases that might happen to resonate with me. There are very few. The words are so --well-- not sure how to describe them-- that I can barely push myself to read.

I guess I should take some satisfaction in that Bert C. even said that Marx needed an editor. He also said many struggle with Marx. I will trudge through, but I am looking forward to Emile Durkheim...