Scotland: June

My last month in Scotland was a month of travelling, visits and finishing things. First two weeks I was occupied with editing stuff for a forthcoming niin & näin Leibniz-package which - as always with editing jobs - takes much more time than one can imagine beforehand.
For this purpose I also interviewed Pauline Phemister, my hostess in the University of Edinburgh.

Another work-related thing in June was participating to Locke-workshop in the University of St. Andrews. I commented a paper on freedom by Juliet Walsh and as this was the first Locke-workshop for some time, I was lucky to be around.

 Present was also my colleague from Jyväskylä and now in Humboldt Universität Berlin Vili Lähteenmäki who gave a paper on Locke's views on consciousness. Before that there were visits by Tuomas Tiainen from Turku and Juhana Lemetti from Helsinki, not to forget our friends Ykä and Päivi, so in June I spoke a lot of Finnish and showed people around.

In the middle of the month we finally managed to travel up north. We visited Inverness for three days and took a day-trip to Loch Ness and isle of Skye. Lots of mountains and sheep, I can tell you! Great views and sunny and warm for a change. In Scotland the rule is: the more north you go, the better the weather!

 Every nice thing has to come to an end and reluctantly we packed our incredibly heavy suitcases and travelled to Helsinki (both weighed exactly the maximum but not more!).  The nice thing though is the fact that in Helsinki there is summer, sunny and warm while in Scotland it poured for days and the place is now flooding. I hope we did not leave the tap on when we left...

The joys of systematic music listening

I have to admit, I am a sucker for different projects. Be they some stupid list of best of this and that in a crappy magazine, do this and that before you die, you name it. But my current project is the least reasonable and ambitious of them all: I am listening my entire music collection in an alphabetical order. This includes everything: lp's, cd's, singles, compilations, even my cd-r:s (which include five shoeboxes faithfully copied from library cd's).

The project has now lasted around 1,5 years and currently I am in Coldplay. Yes, Coldplay. Which brings me to the exhibitionist part of the project. I am posting to Facebook the picture of the cover of each record or more often, a Spotify-link to the album, so my FB-friends can see where I am going. As only part of my FB-friends are interested in music, this must be a drag for them. Then again, every now and then there are interesting discussions related to these postings (say, the entire output of the Cure - which is best, which is worst, which is the best cover etc.) and as many of my "friends" are much younger and more hipster than me, I grin when I think of the schock some of my records cause to them (this concerns especially my colleagues in the rock magazine I write for).

This is the external part. But the internal part is much more rewarding. I think it is interesting to hear the entire output of an artist or a band in a fairly short time. It brings out the development or decline (of course I listen only to the albums I own and I usually do not own the ones I consider flops, but there are exceptions to this) of the artist and gets you into the world of the artist. Perhaps one can compare this to systematic reading of the texts of say, some thinker, when you are trying to get inside someone's head.

While this works sometimes, it does not work always. First, I cannot work when I am listening to music which reduces my album listening to 1-2 albums per day. Second, this is so huge a project (estimated time 5 years) that I would be an idiot to listen only these albums. So I listen new stuff (I am writing reviews, so there are "compulsory" listening periods of new albums) and when I buy records, I listen then right after shopping. So when the list of releases from an artists such as Dylan is long, listening to it might take a month or more and it can be too much in one go.

But on the whole, I am satisfied I am doing this. It gives you perspective on your record collection which, if it consists more than few dozens of records, is not always well-remembered. My collection consists of around 3500 records, so there is stuff which I have almost forgotten. So in a sense this project is a revelation. At the same time it works as an inventory - last week I listened 461 Ocean Boulevard by Eric Clapton and I had forgotten how slow and boring it was - Slowhand, indeed! So off to shop it goes. Of course sometimes the project gets a bit tedious, but I can always put it to halt for a few weeks and start again where I left off. As I am very stubborn, I intend to see this thing through. But I will return to the topic in a few years, let us see at what state I am in then.

Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee & Glasgow, May 2012

Professionally, May was the most important part of the stay. I gave a paper on Leibniz and Spinoza on affects in Scottish Seminar of EarlyModern Philosophy in Aberdeen. I had only one month to learn Spinoza and write the paper, but judging by response it went down well. The paper needs more Spinoza-reading an rewriting, but I am confident it will turn out to be an article. Met some interesting people too as well as meeting again some old acquaintances. Aberdeen on the whole was not my dream town, bleak, cold and grey although the university campus was nice.

Right after SSEMP I attended The annual conference of British Association for the History of Philosophy in Dundee, entitled Spinoza: the infinite, the eternal with a special emphasis on the book V of the Ethics. Most interesting conference, although my limited knowledge of Spinoza hindered a bit my efforts to take in everything. Got to read the Ethics again ASAP. Dundee was a more likeable town, much like Edinburgh in fact.

During these conferences I discussed with many about career opportunities and though I try not to worry too much about it, it is clear that I should try to learn more about contemporary philosophy. Finland is a small country and in order to get a job in philosophy, one has to know something about everything. So I have bought some books about contemporary philosophy of mind, epistemology and metaphysics here - one can get textbooks second hand with some hunting. Also attended a two day congress on epistemology in the University of Edinburgh. It was interesting stuff, but I find it a bit difficult to orientate thinking through things, not thinkers. Lot of reading to do, I am afraid. And have to attend conferences whenever there are those in Helsinki.

After the conferences in early May I have been mostly working on an article manuscript on Leibniz, Sophie and disinterested love which was given as a paper in March this year in Budapest and which will be published in a Hungarian journal. I am pretty happy with the paper so far. Other thing is that there is going to be a package of Leibniz-stuff fortcoming in niin & näin and I will edit the whole thing with Tuomo Aho. So I have been reading the texts and going through translations. I also interviewed Dr. Pauline Phemister for the magazine. The whole thing should be ready by end of June.

Outside of work, business of usual with my beloved wife. Charity shops, museums, pubs and movies. The highlight - literally - of the month was climbing to Arthur's Seat, the small mountain besides Edinburgh, and Salisbury crags, too which is beside it. Was not that hard to do, after all, although my Vertigo was a bit of a problem. We also went to the zoo which included a lot of climbing! Loved the penguins and the sea eagle was really impressive. I also loved the Forth Bridge boat ride - the railway bridge is fabulous and also visited an island and saw some wildlife seals busking in the sun on a great May day. Unforgettable.

 

Socially I've met some Finnish philosophers here who came to visit Edinburgh or live here - temporarily, at least. Besides this, there are the gatherings of the researchers of the IASH on fridays, pubs and discussions from all kinds of topics.

Pubs - that is something I am going to miss. And real ales - sigh. Having a lot of fish and chips, too. We finally got around to visit Glasgow with Susanna in the first weekend of June. Glasgow is not a pretty town, it is dirty, often ugly and noisy place. The west end, especially the university area is nice, though, with lots of cafes and second hand book stores etc. And the Kelvingrove art gallery was a nice place, although bit messy. With a Spitfire hanging from the ceiling!

Bought a lot of books there and had to carry them all the way to Edinburgh! The posting of all this stuff will cost a fortune, but most of it is included in my budget plan.

Coming up in June: Highlands, Locke Workshop in St. Andrews. Stay tuned!

April & Edinburgh

Ah, the first month in Edinburgh is almost passed. Time goes so fast when you're having fun. Well, not only that - I've been rather busy with my paper to the Scottish Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy III on the second week of May. The reason for that is the fact that the paper is partly on Spinoza who I do not know very well. Also, there are a number of texts I have to go through - some in Latin which is my other weak point. So I have been working hard on the paper, I only wish I had another month to do that. Anyway, I am pretty happy with the outcome so far - hopefully some rewriting and further study will transform the paper to a decent article.

My other life in Edinburgh has consisted mainly on pubs, shopping and museums. And I don't mean heavy drinking, more sort of one pint per pub goodlife. As this my first longer stay in UK, I naturally enjoy the pubs and beer very much. In addition, Tesco provides a nice beer for a decent price. My favourites are Tennet's Ale, Belhaven and Boddington's. John Smith is perhaps the only one I haven't enjoyed. Of course there are better beers in bottles - March of the Penguins, Deuchar's IPA and Red Kite - oh boy! Being the guy I am, here's a list of pubs I have visited so far: Conan Doyle, Black Cat, Meadow Bar (nice indie rock music, btw!), Bow bar (recommended! - new set of ales every week!, no music), Peartree (nice beergarten), Shakespeare (nice & rugged), Kenilworth (great haggis!), Blind poet (tit photos in men's room - pretty strange) and Waterline (in Leith).

Here in Scotland I also feel obligated to drink whisky. This is not caused not only by image and customs, but also by the fact that it has been really cold here and drinking whisky is a nice way to stay warm. Unfortunately, single malts are as expensive here as in Finland, so can't afford too much of them, a bit on weekends. Laphroaig 10 years is a divine drink. Of blended we have tasted Whyte and Mackay, Bell's and Teacher's. Of these, Bell's is the least good and Whyte & Mackay easily the best. Fortunately, it is also one of the chepeast, around £14 in Tesco. Tea and whisky is a nice combination on cold evenings.

A very nice thing in Edinburgh is the fact that many museum are free. So one can visit the National museum, the National gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the National gallery of Modern Art free of charge! This means that you can visit them many times whenever you like and check the Van Dycks, Rembrandts etc. closely. I have pinned some of the works I have liked to Pinterest. Today I finally visited the castle and although it was not too cheap, the view alone is worth the price. Interesting war museums, too and the Royal honours and apartment is great.

Finally, shopping. Being the collector that I am, I knew that lot of this is expected. What I did not know was the fact that from charity shops one can find books, dvds and records dirt cheap and in Edinburgh there are dozens of these shops. I am really glad I have reserved some money beforehand to send parcels to home as there is no way I can come back with all the stuff I have bought more or less cheap from here. As my friends know, when it comes to vinyl lp's, for me quantitity is quality. Edinburgh is also a heaven for vinyl single collectors and one can find great singles for 50p or less from the charity shops - sofar I have bought around 30 of them. Below are some of the findings.

 

Very nice bookshops, too. I have mostly acquired pop-books or philosophical ones. Some of them are project-related, some just general interest. In addition to few very nice cheap, second hand-stores (check Southside books & Armchair books), there are few high quality shops, like Bell's books. What a joy to find Curley's Behind the Geometrical Method's as a second hand book for a comfortable price.

 Oh, and some gigs, too! First was the Monochrome Set which was simply great, second Graham Coxon which was ok and third the Lemonheads which was - frankly - a bit boring. You can find my reviews of the first two gigs here. HMV Picturehouse is a nice place, although the acoustics are pretty bad and Voodoo Rooms is a great place to watch a gig, but it is pretty small.

I have also been a regular customer in Filmhouse which shows new and old movies. We saw a restored version of Jean Renoir's Grande illusion which is indeed grande and then Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Frederic March version) which was really scary.

Talking of which, Stevenson's classic was part of the Edinburgh Science Festival and we participated to a great tour, called Walking with scientists. It was hosted by a eccentric scot named Colin Brown who was at the same time a historian, scientist, actor and stand-up comedian. He also hosts Rebus tours with Ian Rankin-content. Recommended!

Well, there's more. But not all goodies at the same time. So long!

np The Charlatans: Melting Pot

Edinburgh: First Impressions

I am in love. This city is amazing: lots of high places and low places and lot of climbing inbetween. Breathtaking sights all around the city and you can easily walk everywhere. Edinburgh has that certain something - a character, whether one walks in the messy old town or in the mathematically structured Georgian New town, one is struck by the unique character that is Edinburgh. 

And I have even better news. I will be staying here until July! The reason for this is a status of a visiting research fellow in IASH, Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities of the University of Edinburgh. The institute is a multi-disciplinary institution of about 20-30 researchers at the same time from all around the world. There is a weekly fellow's lunch and a work-in-progress-seminar (I am on 1st of May) and many other events. The institute was recommended to me by the local Leibnizian Pauline Phemister who kindly agreed to recommend me to the Academy of Finland. The workroom there is something of a paradise. The cozy office used to be the workroom of T. L. Sprigge professor of Metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh who was also interested in Santanaya, among many other things. The room also contains his large library with a lot of stuff on Spinoza, so I am really lucky! From a table in the room I can see that very prominent Hume scholars Norton, Millican and Garrett have worked there before me, so I feel pretty humble to work in there. I was also greeted by a note of a former habitant who turned out to be a Finn, working on aesthetics!
 

I am staying in Edinburgh with my wife, Susanna and we have a very nice flat in New Town, the street is called Gayfield square. After a week I am very happy to think there are eleven weeks ahead still. Lots of pubs, museums and walks to look forward to. And lot of work, actually - I am supposed to present a paper on Spinoza and Leibniz in the Scottish Seminar on Early Modern Philosophy in the second week of May in addition to the work-in-progress-seminar. As I have not written a paper on Spinoza before, there is lots to do. Also there is some proofreading and working ahead of the two congresses in August plus finishing two papers promised before. I also try to find material for two forthcoming projects. And: read Hume's Enquiry as I finished his Treatise before. Below you can see my determination.

Also I intend to read Steven Nadler's Best of Possible Worlds as I promised to tell Simo Knuuttila my opinion about it. And buy a few records and book and go to concerts and movies. But perhaps I write another blog on those things. Farewell!