1. Why 'Maverick Philosopher'? Since I am a philosopher and what is done here is mainly philosophy, it is appropriate that 'philosopher' be in the title. As for 'maverick,' this word derives from the name of the Texas lawyer Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-1870) who for a time was a rancher who ran cattle that bore no brand. These unbranded animals of his came to be known as mavericks. The term was then extended to cover any unbranded stock and later any person who holds himself aloof from the herd, bears no 'brand,' resists classification, strives to be independent in his thinking or mode of living, is religiously or politically unaffiliated, and the like. (Cf. Robert Hendrickson, QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, p. 473.) Welcome to the latest incarnation of Maverick Philosopher. This post will remain at the top of the queue to give new and some old readers an idea of what this site is and isn't, what goes on here, and what is not permitted to go on here. Like the site itself, this introductory page is under permanent construction and reconstruction. It will take shape bit by bit over the coming weeks and months.
In my case, 'maverick' signifies several things in particular. I am academically unaffiliated by choice, having resigned a tenured position in a philosophy department at a good university when I was 41. Nor am I affiliated with any other institution, religious or political. I am neither narrowly analytic nor Continental in my approach to philosophy. You could say I straddle the 'Continental Divide' just as I straddle Athens and Jersualem with one foot in each.
2. Why the motto, "Study everything, join nothing"? Well, this quotation from Paul Brunton encapsulates rather nicely the maverick approach. It also provide a hint as to my psychological bias: I am not a 'joiner.' Myers-Briggs INTP's tend not to be joiners. Since there is truth in Nietzsche's observation that "Every philosophy is its author's self-cognition," the hint may be useful to the reader as he attempts to assess what I have to say. For more on the motto, see here.
3. What's with "footnotes to Plato" from your masthead? Are you a Platonist? Well, all of us who uphold the Western (Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman) tradition are Platonists if Alfred North Whitehead is right in his observation that:
The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them. [. . .] Thus in one sense by stating my belief that the train of thought in these lectures is Platonic, I am doing no more than expressing the hope that it falls within the European tradition. (Process and Reality, Corrected Edition, The Free Press, 1978, p. 39)
So in that general sense I am a Platonist. And I also like the modesty conveyed by "footnotes to Plato." Some say the whole of philosophy is a battle between Plato and Aristotle. That is not bad as simplifications go, and if you forced me to choose, I would throw in my lot with Plato and the Platonists. So that is a more specific sense in which I provide "footnotes to Plato."
Recent Comments