This venture has been exasperating. I had hoped to absorb and translate an honest, austere account of philosophy for the edification of the Chinese-speaking Catholics in Singapore. After seven chapters of Plato, Aristotlean metaphysics, Scholasticism and Leibniz, I have become less and less convinced of that lofty goal in the face of half-baked arguments for the lecturer's case and his unexamined biases; every proof or defense that he presented seemed to make his case less convincing. Consider me unlucky that it's this particular priest that teaches the course, and I only hope that the clumsy dialectics brings the class to an uproar and spur many lively debates, not dull their minds as I fear it would.
Upcoming tasks: Chapters 8 and 9 are in-depth readings of Summa Theologiae. Chapter 10 concerns the Classical-era Chinese philosophers, with emphasis on the Taoist school. Chapter 11 concerns Søren Kierkegaard and his melancholic pangs, and that seems to be the end of the course. I was first disappointed but then was relieved to learn that the worst asshats in modern philosophy in the ranks of Voltaire, Ayn Rand, de Sade, Nietzsche or Sartre have not been dredged from the depths. Exposure to these thinkers might turn the class upside-down. Still, being able to defend the faith against the fashionable ideas of the present might necessitate at least some knowledge of such minds that power them. Maybe the students should read up on them outside of the class if they feel up to it.
In other news, today is my birthday. I had clean forgotten about it until my sister's message popped in to congratulate me in the morning. At noontime I made two servings of pasta for myself to celebrate the occasion.
