Ghosts are souls that are somehow stuck in their involvement in worldly things, and so are not in the best condition. From both the Dixboro Ghost and the ghost in Hamlet , we conclude that these are stuck regarding revenge, or the injustice of their murders and revenge toward their murderers. In the Dixboro story, one mark of authenticity- aside from the question of what ghosts are- is that Martha undergoes a Purgatory, as well as revealing one and preventing another a murder

This is said to be the first pop song to use the word “God” in the title, and Sir Paul McCartney- maybe the greatest song writer of all time- called it his favorite song. But on the surface, the lyric makes no sense: I may not always love you, but you need not doubt my love? If you should ever leave me, life would be pointless- yet I would continue? But that it makes no sense on the surface turns out to be helpful, as in a parable of Jesus: Fishers of men? But that it makes n

Law and Sin, the Adamic man and grace: how does the Pauline account fit with the Greek account of the soul? The cav'ed man, one could say, is man in Adam and under law. Paul did not read Plato or Aristotle. I don't get the central focus on "justification." Nous is the light that enlightens men. Republic 493- begotten. Because how to fit together Athens and Jerusalem- these are the common terms. Is there not only one nature of man? The law-formed man is artificial- but upright

In a previous blog, St. Martin is referenced regarding our recent corruption. This paper, the Birmingham Jail letter, is pulled out of materials once used in my Introduction to American Government class, taught for ten years at Oakland Community College. Martin is answering critics, since he has some time on his hands while sitting in jail, and he has just answered the argument that civil disobedience breaks the law.  King answered with the distinction we call natural right ,

People Pods Advertisement Interlocking insulated panels that make triangular beds that keep in body heat. Having just heard Dr. Oaken on Diane Rehm, I am thinking of people pods that could be set, like the storage pods are, where they are needed, designed for subsistence living. With a little help from the city, Porta-Johns could be emptied regularly, and perhaps electricity hooked up, for a George Foreman grill. Food storage bins could keep out the mice. I want a giant 3-D p

Class 1981/ 1983 GVSC [In progress:] Preface Using Bloom’s Republic and Shakespeare’s The Tempest , with brief modern contrasts at the conclusion, Wasserman furthered the project of Leo Strauss to recover ancient Socratic Political philosophy. The torch of philosophy is being transferred in this from Germany to America, having come to Germany through France, Britain and Italy, from the Petrarchan recovery of the texts of Byzantium. The Hebrew American immigrants, having s

Irving Wasserman on The Tempest: Class notes, from “Political Philosophy,” Grand Valley, 1981, 1983. In a course that included the attempt to read Plato’s Republic, Irving Wasserman paused to read with us The Tempest , with the essay of Barbara Tovey, then newly printed. This conjunction of intellect and imagination is surely a pinnacle of education in the twentieth century. The teaching of Professor Wasserman, even as preserved in class notes, is one of the best on the Te

In the context of a discussion of the reduction-ism of Freud in the relation of Psychology and poetry, Jung comments on the Allegory of the Cave as a symbol: The true symbol differs essentially from this (a sign or symptom) and should be understood as an expression of an intuitive idea that cannot yet be formulated in any other or better way. When Plato, for instance, puts the whole problem of the theory of knowledge in his parable of the cave, or when Christ expresses the id

Still on Wordpress! On the meaning of the lyrics: If I could afford it,* I would publish it as a book- and edit more, too! Jack White's book company did not want to print it! He has LOTS of better books on the meaning of lyrics! (not!. ~.). In the subpages of this section on music, above, in the menu, you will find the Rock Commentaries of the philosophic DJ, spinning the tunes semi-perennially for the reader at the rave outside of the weddings and nightclubs, where most o

The Revelation: A Reading of the Vision and Letter                            of John to the Churches                                                         Mark A. McDonald   Contents Preface                                                                                                                   iv-vi   Part One: The First Half of the  Revelation                                                    1 I. Author, Introduction and Blessing: That it is John the Apostle  

#12  All time lyrics, in Rock Commentaries , Chapter IX Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands  Bob Dylan I say: I get about 30% of this song, but that’s OK. No one else gets ANY of it!    Who is the sad eyed Lady of the lowlands where the sad eyed prophets say that no man comes? Many find the terminus of the meaning in the name of the wife of Dylan, and even consider this to be their favorite love song. And these should not fear the loss of such a hearing, if they remember that we sa

Preface : It is very difficult to focus on the plea of an abused individual. No one cares enough to follow what is being said- that is why we pay lawyers, in order to have an advocate. The lawyer-less have no public rights, and no access to the courts at all, but must wait until these things are done to one who has a lawyer- and then policies might be corrected. But as with the case nine or ten years ago, this must be written out for reference, the hope of helping others, and

My first impression of the Red Book was that I was disappointed with the Jung, but found myself learning from the Shamdasani introduction, going over the history of Psych material and connecting up with the biographical Memories, Dreams and Reflections . In a note on p. 149, Jung refers to the 4 kinds of divine madness, and the attempt (149-151) to distinguish between the two. Still reading the first section for the first time, my first impression of the Red Book was that i

Inventions II (I have ideas and inventions published on Wordpress at mmcdonald72014 Inventions). Published on Twitter: Introducing the Pod-blogs blogs read aloud by the authors coming soon on the new McDonald website to compete with Wordpress and Wix and such The idea is published- I want > 10% to buy me out. This will exist as soon as I am able to fund and set up a website business. Think the bank will like the idea?

Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall  One of the most perfect of all American folk songs, “Hard Rain” approaches the prophetic, calling our nation to repentance regarding race, wealth and poverty, and pollution. The song is set in the action of a parent, a mother, asking her troubadour son a series of questions about his travels in the world and in America. The ensuing dialogue fulfills the purpose of folk music that verged on socialism, aiming to make humanity and our nation more just r