To laugh, or to cry?
Heard at the reference desk from a student, evidently looking to fulfill a late-semester reading requirement for an undergraduate philosophy survey course:
"Aristotle is too complex." (Glances at class handout.) "Do you have anything by Kant?"
Fortunately the librarian on duty managed to explain the workings of author searching on the library's catalog, while making the seemingly casual comment that, if her professor hadn't specifically suggested certain books, a reference source like the Encyclopedia of Philosophy (located over there, miss, in the reference shelves at call number XYZ.... ) might help identify which of the various philosophers' works were best-known and most widely read and discussed. He felt moderately proud of having handled the situation tactfully. It's not as if he recommended Cliff's Notes to a lit major... is it?
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Trebor @ 12:36AM | 2003-12-16| permalink
In the matter of complexity, I'm sure she meant the spelling and not the philosophical complexity. She couldn't possibly have been concerned about philosophical complexity. That would make as much sense as an astronaut who, upon finding herself unexpectedly expelled into the vacuum of space without a pressure suit, expressing concern over the lack of fresh Parmesan cheese for her pasta. ~Trebor
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