Philosophy, again

Knee-deep in words right now.  Research papers at night and speeches all day.  It's extraordinary to see the suspension of disbelief which some students have, jarringly contrasted to the iron-clad prison of ideology to which other students chain themselves.

My favorite moment of the day came after a student presented his speech on Nietzsche, and another student said, "wow, he was pretty hopeful, huh?"  Now THAT is what I'm talking about.  Nietzsche was hopeful?  Yes!  He was!  He was an idealist!  He saw the potential of humankind and held out hope for anyone to be enlightened at any time (even though he recognized that most people are stupid and greedy and don't want to think and move like herd animals).  BUT ... this presenter didn't approach Nietzsche as a god-hating misanthrope.  He talked almost exclusively about The Birth of Tragedy and how art and music transcend the dreary bullshit in life and elevate people to something ... beyond.  He talked about the intoxication (which no one but me seemed to notice) that music and art can induce.  And while this kid was speaking ... he believed in it.  And even though I was already a believer in Nietzsche on every level, he made me love this profound German, syphilitic, church-bashing, misunderstood thinker even more for a while.

All I want to do is induce reciprocal learning.  I realize that notion may sound naive or nerdy or whatever, but I don't really care.  Teaching should be transcendent every single day.  No joke.  Even if that transcendency (a word?) is only for a little while (55 minutes to be exact), it's worth my time and effort.  Always.

As a side note, even though a handful of the papers I've read tried to tell me that their philosopher was a hypocrite or failed or sucked in general, I know the incredible impact these philosophers have made on society.  If the works speak to people, who cares if the writer achieved his or her goals?  (Except for Ben Franklin who I increasingly hate every time I hear anything about his life - so he's off the list in the future.)  Their brilliance is in identifying the fundamental struggles we all face.  And those of us who live in the intellectual realm every day understand the importance of expressing our ideology, even if we can't reach our own ideological bar.

I can still try.   I can still contemplate.  I can still live out my version of the struggle.  Life is good.