Part 1: The Pre-Socratics
This week, like so many others, was a lesson in patience. The novel inches forward, the painting resists completion, and I am forced once again to confront the uncomfortable truth: creation takes longer than I want it to. Effort, energy, inspiration—these things cannot be summoned on command, no matter how much I wish otherwise.
But in the gaps between frustration, I found an unexpected source of joy: Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy.
This surprised me. My memories of Russell were tied to the dry, often absurd world of analytical philosophy—those interminable lectures where we dissected nonsensical sentences as if language were a mathematical proof waiting to be solved. (Wittgenstein, at least, eventually realized that words are not equations, but moves in a game.)
Yet here, Russell is something else entirely: witty, erudite, and deeply human. His History is vast, yes, but it’s also alive with anecdotes, sly judgments, and a profound grasp of not just ideas, but the people who carried them.
Full blog post: https://art4marax.substack.com/p/the-slow-grind-and-the-delight-of
(Published 12 Apr 2025)