Jacqueline
@notjack.space
874 followers 643 following 5.5K posts
rapid unscheduled torment nexus disassembly expert — nonbinary, she/they — works on CI platforms at Google — writes Racket elsewhere — admin of @claude.notjack.space a sunny day is worth more than all the wisdom of philosophy
![Another excerpt:
"I am giving my last lecture today, on Brecht. On Friday the members of Venceremos, the Spanish SDS, will speak in class, and a new experiment to test hidden variables in QM [quantum mechanics] will be discussed in my philosophy of science class. And then all is over, and I shall be able to devote myself to AM fully. Incidentally, let me tell you a typical Berkeley story: a lady I know who is married and has a child, decided that she might be a lesbian, and that she should find out by some practical tests. So she talked it over with her husband, got permission, and set out to find a companion. Soon, another lady all clad in leather caught her attention. She followed her around, spied on her, discovered her address and one fine day knocked on her door for some discussion and, perhaps, a little lesbian sex. Well, she was cordially welcomed but, as it turned out, the leather lady was a man, and she is now living happily together with the leather man. Her original problem, however, remains unsolved. Is she a lesbian? The answer might be yes, for she followed what looked like a girl. No, for she followed what was a man. Yes, for she followed a man who wanted to be a girl. No, because she followed a man who wanted to be a girl but who still was very good in bed as a man. What is your answer? (Or perhaps I should introduce you to the lady when you come here?) [ . . . ]
Paul"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreidf7yhqvdq7idiqvdvaswtmxqamfxvfltdq2c3ugubzqnc5zbpnee)
![Another excerpt, this time of a footnote:
"128. Feyerabend recalls: "Imre had bought the house for representational purposes. It contained a kitchen, bathrooms, a large sitting room, and Imre's library on the upper floor. Visitors were first shown the garden, then fed, and finally led upstairs for serious talk. I was often invited as an extra guest. I enjoyed the garden and the dinner but, anticipating the drift of the conversation [ . . . ] I remained in the kitchen and helped Gillian with the dishes. Some of the guests didn't know what to make of this. Men, especially scholars, were supposed to engage in debate, while dishes were the domain of women. `Don't worry,' said Imre; 'Paul's an anarchist"' (1995,129-30)."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreifqismgq2qyabsangksdcvh42w3sxzw3pr3w4f3jovml62kbopvoa)
![Another excerpt:
"January 1971
Dear Paul,
I smell a Sussex Chair in the air for you. After all, Roy Edgley may do some good. JWNW [Watkins] and I are telling everybody that you are the Greatest even though Roy thinks so too. Now: are you really interested?
I shall be in Los Angeles on Nov. 1st. Will Berkeley invite me to preach against Pope Paul?
I am so busy winding up my administrative affairs before leaving for Boston that I cannot prepare any arguments. But, unless my back gets very bad, you will get Lakatosian rhetoric in Topless Form. I wrote a song to Reason and I now need a girl to sing it. (A rhyme is still missing in the 7th line: what rhymes with "Paul Feyerabend"?)
John Watkins is ill. Latsis, the Rising Star, gives his lectures. Watch that man. Have you read his Situational Determinism (BJPS, Aug. 1972)? [ . . . ]
Love. Till soon,
Imre
I broke up with Gillian, and we are selling the house."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreicobzhwdexe6xqwug4zyff5323shhbpldyfx7waruucalji2mueq4)
![Another excerpt. This one is very racist.
"[ . . . ] Here in Berkeley we now have tear-gas almost every day, the national guard has been moved here, windows on office doors (some right next to my office) have been smashed, a policeman has been beaten up, bombs explode during lectures, another fire has started, this time in Dwinelle Hall, and Reagan's popularity is at an all time high (78% now believe he does a good job mainly on the basis of what he says, on TV, about the students). In my classes I now only talk about the strike and you should hear my criticism. I think we both agree completely in our criticism of this lumpenbourgeoisie, however I think that the university is lousy, too, and must be reformed by giving the children a voice in the administration."
"The Black problem (which is mixed up with all the mess here) gets worse every day. Four times now I have seen Black militants and members of the American Nazi Party agree on TV panel discussions. Here in Berkeley the Blacks have nothing but contempt for the white radi-cals and only make use of them where they absolutely need them. Crying girls with Mao buttons come to me: "They don't want us." Violence has long ago spread beyond campus. A school board meeting in SF dealing with the problem of busing school children turned into a war only a few days ago, for the Whites (trade unions etc.) now start fighting back. We shall see."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreicfkstlvk4upvxvouemyxyvvba4ovj2fq42khyslefgo7qots4f3u)
![Another excerpt:
"21 February 1969
London School of Economics
Dear Paul,
You are a very lucky man. We established that our agent, who was responsible for putting explosive charges in our last letter to you, sabotaged the act, and so now you are alive. In fact you are in no danger for a few weeks because we decided to execute the agent following the reference in your last letter to your forthcoming Thermidor.
As you may know, the LSE was closed for 25 days and now it is- [continued on next page]"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreig3udxx66sbyh4yyorydkis27fakdcyyiwsu2kzo54oyyhavzh46m)
![Another excerpt:
"Apropos lectures. I think I was a little impolite not to talk to the lady—the blond Helena—who was supposed to be my assistant. Can you point out to her that this was not due to rudeness but simply to the inconveniences caused by a very strong attraction (inconveniences: because she is married). And I would really like to know what she [continued on next page]"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreidz2poggtkpce2olav4q2i7ren6gv5u7ssj446gs6aqs77fp5e7wi)
![Another book excerpt:
[continued from previous page] "Hungary, Lakatos delivered an impassioned speech at the Petofi Circle pedagogy meeting, in which he dealt with the problem of the education of a new generation of scholars. He argued in favour of talent, curiosity, original thinking, autonomy, the right to doubt and the right to dissent, demand for proofs, and respect for facts (see this volume, appendix A). One of the main features of Lakatos's attitude towards teaching was his effort to force students to criticise his own ideas. This is why his lectures are so openly provocative and also why many of his remarks on academics, philosophers, scholars, intellectuals, and politicians are outrageous, and intentionally so. Ernst Gellner remembers that Lakatos's lectures were "intelligible, fascinating, dramatic, and above all conspicuously amusing even for non-specialists" (The Times, 8 February 1974). John Watkins recalls that when Lakatos lectured, "the room [was] crowded, the atmosphere electric, and from time to time there would be a gale of laughter" ("Lakatos Obituary," The Times, 6 February 1974)."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7oyzfpde4xg23u447zkp3b2i/bafkreihp4igwksk3d5oyg2csilbldmzg7tctqodmcj4akluttsoe2ymcme)
