Kyle's Blog

Reflections on Aristotle’s Poetics

April 28, 2021April 28, 2021Kyle

Aristotle’s Poetics is one of the earliest surviving works of literary criticism, and I read it over the past couple days. It’s pretty short (the Project Gutenberg version I got came to 60 pages, and that includes the legal notices), but it’s interesting to explore it as a thought exercise.

It’s one of very few surviving texts that is more than two thousand years old, and it’s interesting to see how well it equates to modernity even though many of the terms and concepts that it uses have developed in the time since its writing (though, to be fair, some of this likely also is a factor of translation).

You also don’t need as much information to go into it as I thought would be necessary. Being familiar with Homer is a must, since Aristotle references his work constantly. Other than a very basic knowledge of Greek myth or drama (e.g. to catch references to Oedipus or Medea or the more famous ancient playwrights), nothing more is needed.

Undertaking An Exploration of the Trivium

April 16, 2021April 16, 2021Kyle

I have decided that I am going to undertake an exploration of the trivium.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are relatively few great sources for people looking to self-teach the trivium.

I have acquired a copy of The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric (Amazon affiliate link), which should help with pursuing this goal.

Review: Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order

April 15, 2021Kyle

For the past month I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order and seeking to get as much out of it as I could.

Now that I’ve read the whole book, I’m writing this review to cover just the basics from high-altitude instead of delving in depth through each chapter as I go through, as I have done so far.

Let’s start with the verdict, then I’ll talk strengths, weaknesses, and who I think should read this book.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Be grateful in spite of your suffering. (Part 2)

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. Although Peterson did not intend for all the chapters in the book to build on each other, this final chapter seems like a summary of many of the previous elements in the book.

The core focus of this section, which is a reflection on the final part of the final body chapter, is on the reasons why striving for the good is so important despite the presence of truly horrible things in the world.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Be grateful in spite of your suffering. (Part 1)

April 13, 2021April 13, 2021Kyle

That isn’t to imply that there aren’t new ideas in here. There are, and it actually presents some images that are strong and either unexplored or only trivially pursued in earlier chapters or work by Peterson. It also relies on the exploration of past concepts while moving in a new direction.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant. (Part 4)

April 12, 2021April 12, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. I am splitting this chapter into ~~three~~ four parts because of its length, but also because I think this is such a significant topic that it deserves extra treatment.

Tonight I’m looking at the final portion of the chapter, in which Peterson talks about deceit in particular before getting into the solution to (as much as the reasons to avoid) resentment, deceit, and arrogance.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant. (Part 3)

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021Kyle

This particular section focuses on two things: the role of the individual (and the two orientations that they often fall into–the hero and the adversary), and the way to avoid resentment. While I am only looking at a very short length of the book (I am reading on Kindle, but it is probably less than ten pages worth of print), I think it might be the most important part.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant. (Part 2)

April 10, 2021April 10, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. I am splitting this chapter into three parts because of its length, but also because I think this is such a significant topic that it deserves extra treatment.

This section of the chapter relates to the premise only in an abstract sense, but deals with figuring out how to deal with the world in a way that prevents bitterness.

Against Surrender

April 9, 2021April 9, 2021Kyle

I’ve been pushing my writing too far back into my bedtime, and that makes things hard because I want to continue through my series of reflections on Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order but I also don’t want to miss things as I go through.

Although I think I’m still coherent enough to communicate my thoughts, I don’t think there’s enough time left in the day to touch on that, so instead I’m going to write down something that has been on my mind recently.

I hate compromise.

Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order: Do not allow yourself to become resentful, deceitful, or arrogant. (Part 1)

April 8, 2021April 8, 2021Kyle

I’ve been working through Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order (Amazon affiliate link), breaking down each chapter into halves so I can give each a fair treatment. I am splitting this chapter into three parts because of its length, but also because I think this is such a significant topic that it deserves extra treatment.

The reason this chapter is so important is that it brings the grand scheme into perspective. Everything in Peterson’s book so far leads up to this point and mastering this one principle gives a lot of power to a person.

And this is essentially the antidote to evil, at least in the sense that you can keep yourself from being worse than your natural proclivities.