Homer and Melville

It just struck me as I was thinking about "The Iliad" in particular, that there are some significant common threads between it and Melville's "Moby Dick". Both can be thought of in terms of an internal struggle. Both works describe an adventure in which the central character is searching for something (or some things) which represents his own "internal demon(s)". For Captain Ahab, the whale represented some ultimate monster that he was maniacal in overcoming. The same might be said for Ulysses as he faced all kinds of maladies. In the case of Ulysses, there he and his men are on a wonderful island where they have need of nothing. Yet, he goes to the land of the Cyclopes, risking himself and his men. To quote Nietzsche in "Schopenhaur as Educator" (p 191 "Unmodern Observations"), "Why does the hero so passionately desire the opposite, namely to feel life, which is the same thing as suffering from life?"

The path to philosophy is interesting at the very least; however, for the sake of brevity, I will state that the primary reason I am in Waco is to help my mother care for my father. Dad turned 91 in November and is under the care of Hospice. Realizing that I had not consumed all of my GI benefits (with a rapidly approaching deadline to use them) and not unlike many “baby boomers”, I decided to go back to school. The advantage for me this time around is that I have not factored in a need for follow-on employment. I am simply focused on the desire to learn something about which I have an intense interest.

My experience with this venture has, so far, been interesting and challenging. The courses Dr. Beaty and I chose should, upon completion, allow me to apply for graduate studies in philosophy. I have been made to feel welcome by virtually everyone I’ve been in contact with at Baylor, and for that I am more than grateful. For my fellow students, I hope that my life experience will add to their (your, as the case may be) classroom experience. My opinion is that thinking is probably the most important thing one can do. Until you take that last breath, never stop learning, and never stop thinking! Dr. Baird puts it quite well: “thinking about matters that matter”.