Philosophy: Three Levels Of Useful Reference

Philosophy is human thought become self-conscious. Its topics are life, the universe and everything; it can include all the categories of religious, artistic, scientific, mathematical and logical thought.
Simon Blackburn, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Preface, p. vii

Seeing that it was such a slow news day, the Oracle of Ottawa thought he would share a few lessons gleaned from the ever ongoing "Thinking About Thinking Project". I have discovered that it is very useful to have a selection of philosophy guide books. I have found three of them becoming indispensable. Let us call the levels Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Allow the Oracle of Ottawa to share with you his impressions and descriptions of these handy reference works.

Simon Blackburn

Basic: My first choice in this category is called; The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, written and compiled single handedly (!) by Simon Blackburn. You can have it in paperback for around twenty Canadian dollars. It contains about 2,500 entries and the biographies of 500 philosophers. And since it was written completely by just one guy, it is a very straight ahead book that you could easily read right through. It is portable, cheap, quick and dirty for the main ideas and the basics about the main players. And I really like Simon Blackburn's writing style.

Ted Honderich

Intermediate: The Oxford Companion To Philosophy-New Edition, edited by Ted Honderich. ( A nice Canadian boy..) This is just a beautiful book to dip into any where. You can get the very posh hardcover edition in Canada, brand new for less than fifty dollars! It is illustrated, and printed on the posh creamy white clay paper. It contains 2,200 articles that are composed by a team of 249 contributors. (Only 1,056 pages...what!?) Some of whom will no doubt be the big names of tomorrow. The articles go into much deeper depth, very many are the size of a small book. Rigorous but yet mostly very readable. All in, you can't beat the value.

Advanced: Now by all rights, the Oracle of Ottawa does not feel worthy of having a personal mint copy of this fine reference work for my very own use. It is entitled The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Paul Edwards. This is considered as a monumental work of twentieth century philosophy and some swear the peak of the analytical school! (whatever that is...) All the Oracle of Ottawa can tell you is; You really really want this! Eight volumes, set into four large quarto volumes, containing over two thousand pages for a mere 1,500 articles with over 500 contributors, many of them who are today the highest and poshest names in Philosophy.
Now this is real important! You want the 1967 edition or the 1972 reprint! This work is a lot like having your own Oxford English Dictionary...(Compact Edition-1971), after a while it sort of becomes furniture, but when you need it, you really need it, it is invaluable. Now what I am telling you must be true since this work is still in print for a new price of over 600 dollars! I recently saw a very warmly worn copy in an Ottawa bookstore for a mere 250 dollars!! The Oracle of Ottawa got his copy for a mere eight dollars, and the suffering of the funny looks of the nice old lady in the thrift shop, who commented that I must have a lot of doors and windows that need stops. All the Oracle of Ottawa can say is that since I have started my Thinking About Thinking Project all this weird stuff has been continuing. I am beginning to ponder the possibility of Divine Intervention....

If all else fails...try this most excellent sight from Stanford University, and don't forget the philosophy portal at Wikipedia.

uniball VISION RT pen - Shop And Tell

Things that have a common quality ever quickly seek their kind. 
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IX, 9

There is nothing worse than trying to write with a poorly made Dollar Store pen from China. They are a real bargain, but they sure as hell are no deal. The Oracle of Ottawa doesn't just write this humble blog. He writes a journal every day, in the good old fashioned way, with a fine quality writing instrument. I have been doing this every day for decades without any gaps. The motivation has a lot to do with that old Greek guy that once said, about 2,500 years ago, that an unexamined life is not worth living. Obsessive compulsion should be practised by more of us.

uni ball - A lot of high technology for less than a dollar!

Recently my usual office supply store where I used to get my day pens started going out of retail business in Ottawa. Therefore I had to find a new supplier. Ironically quality showed up in a most unlikely place. While in a Dollarama waiting for the wife to complete her shopping I decided to scan the stationary  aisles and I came across uni ball pens! At first I thought that they were Chinese knock offs! But upon turning the package over I spotted the ACMI seal! And reading on in the very fine small print I discovered that the uni ball VISION RT pens, (three for two dollars, plus tax), conformed to ASTM D-4236! In other words this stuff is the ultimate in quality! And what it is made of won't kill you if you get it on your skin or your little kid or dog chews into it!

The Oracle of Ottawa loaded up! I got two three packs of the black VISION RT's and the multi color pack containing one blue, red and green pen, again for two dollars! But the test is in the writing and the comfort and the quality of the line. And most of all the the durability. You will not be disappointed! These sixty six cent pens write as nice as an expensive luxury pen. I was quite simply astounded at the quality of the line. And the line seems to be very long indeed! The pen will not run in your pocket or on an airplane. And they are certified for secure document signing that can't be altered. These pens are imported from Japan by Sanford! A Rubbermaid company, that has made the list of America's most loved companies more than once. Gee, I wonder why? 

Here is another review buy another contented camper. Real quality is not marketed, it is discovered! Good durable stuff does not always have to be expensive. You just have to be a good shopper.

Love And Capital - Best Book of 2011

The traditions of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.
Karl Marx, MECW, Volume 11, 103-104, 106

The Oracle of Ottawa reads at least a hundred books a year. No Tom Clancy, no John Grisham. Only non-fiction works of science, economics, history and philosophy. He is also very careful of the text he chooses. Only complete unabridged texts will do. He has even been known to do extensive research on the text before he acquires it. The Oracle of Ottawa is on a mission from God. The search for enlightenment is not to be taken lightly.

Karl Marx and daughter Jenny Marx

It is seldom that I come across a real page turner in the non-fiction genre. And even rarer is one that is written by a woman. The year past has been very good to the Oracle of Ottawa indeed. I first saw Love and Capital by Mary Gabriel in a local Chapters retail store. As all my dear readers know the Oracle of Ottawa has developed in to real little Marxian scholar in the last few years. And anything new about Karl Marx is looked into deeply, immediately. Open Love and Capital anywhere and start to read, and it is riveting. The style is like oil, smooth and viscous. And it flows for ever. Bet you can't read just one page!

I have read a few Karl Marx biographies and I have a few more standing by to be read. But I am sure that Mary Gabriel's book will become the modern standard. It is based on the familial level, which I do not believe has ever been attempted before. And it contains some real new revelations which I will not give away here. Having access to the secret Stalin files was surely a help. And it was put to very good use by the author.

There were two theories that I had developed  from my reading of the text of various works of Marx. First the Communist Manifesto was written in bars by a couple of wild young lads with the world by the tail, with unlimited tomorrows. I was right on that one partly. The final editing of the work was done at the kitchen table with the wife Jenny. I did not know that. The second theory that I have developed was the that the turning point of the "young" Marx into the "raging" Marx occurred with the death of his son Edgar on April 6, 1855. This event more than any other in Karl Marx's life started the gestation of Das Kapital. And only a woman could have caught all the nuances and the importance as well as it is related in Love and Capital. Mary Gabriel gave this book years of her life and I am predicting it will surely be one that will live forever.

Another thing I noticed from the text; Jenny Marx, the daughter always is wearing a crucifix! And even when photographed with her "atheist" father Karl Marx! Perhaps another myth bites the dust? And another shocker, Karl Marx and his family celebrated Christmas and New Years just like you and I. That fact wasn't in my high school history book....

Houston We Have HD

It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico - Philosophicus, 6.44

It isn't that the Oracle of Ottawa is a total Luddite. But I can get stubbornly attached to traditional devices. Such was the case with my Toshiba 31" picture tube flat screen type television. Cable box? Hell no! I'll just run the damn cable right into the back of the TV and I got near 100 channels. Who needs more than that? You can only watch one at a time. Mean while the wife, was, and I mean constantly, nagging me to get a flat screen HD television with the Blue Ray DVD player and that damn HD box. I kept putting her off, by saying I would seriously consider her desire when the Toshiba gave up the ghost. A previous Toshiba lasted over 15 years. The one I presently had was about 5 years old. I thought I had a lot of time...  

It is worth the money....

Well God must have been on the wifes side. That damn Toshiba died last Monday, five years to the date of purchase! Son of a bitch! Was I pissed! All excuses just evaporated. The last two televisions I bought at Sears. As per earlier posts, Sears is not the place it used to be. I decided this time I would get served properly. Delivery, set-up and removal just like in the olden days, which Sears now simply refuses to do! I choose Bleeker's which is a very long lived quality operation that has been in Ottawa for as long as I can remember. So bright and early, on Tuesday morning, we paid them a visit. The first question I had for him was on the service issue. And the answer was; "We always do all that!" Most excellent...

This time we were determined to get quality. Sony Bravia and a 40" model, so my living room won't look like an arcade. We were in luck. They had a very handsome EX620 series in 40" on sale. Sold! Also took the "good" cables, the Sony Blueray DVD player and I bought that damn Cisco HD box, with installation, delivery and removal of the old set. Well it cost more than it would have at Sears no doubt, but the important thing is I got served! The delivery occurred on time and went really fast and smooth. Worth every freaking extra (?) cent!!

Now the wife is very happy and I am just amazed at the picture quality, and all those commercial free radio stations around channel 700. The traditional country music station is most excellent. And the Baroque station is also most excellent. I find that the on board sound system is quite enough for me. It is all going to take a while to adjust to, but I am now truly enjoying what I have been paying for. The first movie we watched was The Quick and the Dead starring Russell Crowe, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and that Leonardo DiCaprio guy. I see it as a very important movie, in that the old hands are handing off to the new hands. It is to me a cult classic that has many messages on many levels. And the wife and I enjoy it every time. But it is especially riveting on a proper wide screen. And the color and contrast... Worth every freaking cent....

And the design looks good in a traditional home in the 40" size...

Letter to Jeff Bezos

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Revelation 5; 3

Dear Jeff:

It all started so well! The first two book orders were perfect. The guys from UPS know where I live. The depot is very near where I reside. Once I wasn't in and they left a tag. I was able to make arrangements and no problem. After the second order though , the spamming really jumped up. How do you know I can afford a Cartier watch?

Sometime last fall I started to up my third order. I was told that I would get free shipping for spending only $25.00! What a bargain I thought. So I promptly checked my "wish list" and bought all the heavy books on said list. Jeff if you were me, what would you do? By the end of the order the box would have weighed about 10 -15 kilograms or 20 -30 lbs. thereabouts... I pushed the button and expected my order in about three days, just like before. I was really looking forward to Mathew Halley's Commentary and Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Heather Reisman of Chapters in Canada won't sell that book for some reason beyond my understanding. And you had every edition available listed in your catalog, I thought it would be a sure thing.

Well three days turned into ten days and no books and no miss tag from Uppy Duppy ! But I got the E-mail from you telling me that my order was undeliverable!!? And you promptly credited my credit card for the whole amount.  Little Jeff, the Oracleofottawa was not amused!! And the spamming still continued! I had two orders of hard to get Classics and you were spamming me for a Globe & Mail news paper subscription!
And every other kind of flaky books I never buy, no matter what the price. And your Wikipedia article stresses that you are " systems "  guy? I don't see it big guy, don't see it at all.

Well I got over it after deleting my "wish list " and canceling my account completely, which finally stopped the flaky spamming.  Then I made some New Years resolutions. No more corporate food, i.e McDonalds and no more corporate book sellers i.e. Amazon.com. I will go to Abe Books and develop a relationship with several friendly respectful local Book Sellers!

By the way, how did that Kindle thingy sell over the holiday's? Still no numbers eh? Hmmmm... There is a market for that stupid thing Jeff, try auto-mechanics, nurses, and lawyers, also snake-oil type salesman. So I figure you got yours already...
                                                                                                           Happy Trials;
                                                                                                         Oracleofottawa...

                                                         Another Happy Customer......