is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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advice is a strange thing to give.
I was asked to write some words of advice to the graduating women by the Women's Center here at Hford. I thought I had nothing to say until I starting to try some saying. Here's what I came up with:
I teach and do philosophy. I�m sure that being a woman has formed how I think in some ways, but I also know that most things about being a woman are not engraved in stone. There are many ways to be a woman, and my version of feminism finds fault with none of them.
If you decide to do something not traditionally female in a male-dominated society, whether that nontraditional thing means not being normatively feminine, being a professional athlete, being a philosopher or a scientist, or being a middle-aged woman without children, you will be misunderstood by some. You can combat that when you wish, but you�ll also find ways to live with it. In general, the surrounding world will always be moving to put you into categories, and that will at times be disappointing.
It is a fairly widespread belief that philosophy begins in wonder�at the world, and the things in it. My friend Simon Critchley has argued that philosophy begins in disappointment�it could be personal or political or ethical disappointment, all of which point to a world that is not as we would have it be.
I think disappointment sometimes may follow from approaching wonder in the wrong way. It is always possible to look at the world anew and find in our disappointments evidence of problems that need to be rethought. For instance: if I�m disappointed that politics requires so much compromise, it might mean that I need to rethink what it means to share a world with other human beings. Or if I�m disappointed that being in love with another human being turns out to be a lot of work, it might mean that I had unrealistic ideas about what love meant�that I thought love meant finding another self rather than finding someone else, with whom I�d have to learn to live better than I would alone.
Lessons like these can be of value even to those who are not interested in the study of philosophy. It is very human to want to find a right-answer machine for any problem that arises. That machine is, for the most part, not forthcoming. So, to my way of thinking, the best way to approach living well is simply to note that wonder, or even disappointment, can be evidence of an encounter with otherness that calls on each of us to think about the world. You will have learned from your time at Haverford that careful thought, consideration of others, and the action produced by that thought and consideration can make a difference. How that works gets more complicated outside of Haverford, but it still does work.
And don�t forget to hang on to your true friends!
5:01 p.m. - May 02, 2011
Angela - 2011-05-06 01:16:00
Great advice!
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