September 13, 2020, 3:03 a.m.


It's after 2am -- now after 3am as I finish typing, and I am sitting here wondering how people are going to keep telling stories.

I got a degree in philosophy (and history (double major)) in the 1980s from the University of Pittsburgh, which was at that time, and still is, as far as I know, a very prestigious school for philosophy.  One of my philosophy professors, Wilfrid Sellars, a minor (or maybe major?) star in 20th century philosophy said, "philosophy begins in metaphor and then doesn't stray very far from it."  Which I take to mean: people live for, and through, stories. Stories -- not logic or science, or anything else, ground us and give us a solid place from which to view and evaluate the world.

Sting says, "Poets priests and politicians / Have words to thank for their positions."

But priests and politicians, a lot of them, anyway, seem to have given up on stories in favor of invective and accusation.  Only the poets, and other artists, like theater artists, seem to be leaning on story-telling. 

 I don't know where I am going with this.  Again, it's late.  I just read online that yet another theater company is going under.  But I know that we have to find ways to keep telling each other our stories.  And we have to keep seeking out forums to hear each other's stories.  Or else we won't know each other, or by extension, ourselves anymore, and things will start to fall apart.

 If we don't conceive of ourselves as part of each other's stories, it's going to be very grim, I fear.

Photo: by Ken Alpern, Wilfrid in his office, 363 Cathedral of Learning, about 1980. 
http://www.ditext.com/sellars/memoriam/office.html 

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