Begin

 We didn't do it on Opening Day, too much else was going on.

But on most days I like to begin class with a glance at history (especially literary history, the history of the best that's been thought and written) and maybe a poem; and then at the front page of our national "paper of record"-the New York Times. (As an MTSU student you are eligible for a free digital subscription to the Times. You should activate it. And read it.)

That's because philosophy, like everything else, has a context and a history. We need to be aware of where we've been and what's happening now, if we want to get something useful out of the old dead philosophers who only live on through our dialogue with them. In this course, of course, we're looking always for the environmental angle on news and history. But as we were saying, "environment" signifies not just "nature" in the abstract everywhere and every way we live. The social and media environment are obviously included in that.

For the history, a good source is On This Day. For the literary history and poetry, I like The Writers Almanac.

So please remind me, if I forget.

Also don't let me forget to put that recording microphone around my neck.