prior probability

One of the most mesmerizing qualities of The Iliad are the many vivid similes and captivating asides on each page of this great epic. By way of example, below is one featuring the tragic Trojan warrior Hector:

As when a horse confined to a stall, fed on barley at the manger,

breaking his tether runs with pounding feet across the plain,

to immerse himself in the fair-flowing waters of his accustomed river,

triumphant, and he holds his head high, his mane

streaming about his shoulders …

so did Hector lightly move his feet and knees, urging on the horsemen, since he heeded the gods’ voice.

The Iliad, ch. 15, lines 264-272 (Caroline Alexander translation)

For a complete listing of Homeric similes, see here. (Bonus link: “Similes in the Iliad: The Horrors of War“.)

I was tempted to post this song, but I already did so back on January 1st.

I mentioned in a previous post that I am using my sabbatical to pursue a graduate degree in “Liberal Studies” at Rollins College. This semester, I am enrolled in three classes: a 15-week seminar on ancient Greek and Roman literature led by Dr Scott Rubarth and two mini-courses (seven weeks each), including one on religion taught by Dr Todd French. Among the first batch of readings for Professor French’s class, which is titled “Saints and Sinners”, three passages grabbed my attention:

1. “It is not difficult to notice from the history of asceticism that it involves the performance of certain acts: fasting, withdrawal from society, silence, physical prayer, and manual labor, to name just a few.” (Richard Valantasis 1995, p. 548, emphasis added)
2. “… even a woman, a saint, or a street beggar could be a saint.” (Susan Ashbrook Harvey 2008, p. 615)
3. “People do what they want to believe.” (David Morgan 2010, p. 11)

I have to get back to The Iliad for my other seminar (my first discussion post is due on Sunday night), but I hope to expand on the ideas contained in these three passages in the next day or two: saints as artists, the democratisation of sainthood, and what it means to believe in something or in someone.

As part of my course of graduate studies at Rollins College, I was assigned all 24 chapters of Caroline Alexander’s new translation of the ancient Greek epic poem The Iliad, so I will be spending most of the upcoming holiday weekend reading this great work, and I have to say, it is riveting! (To get the full sensory experience, I am listening to the audiobook version of Homer’s epic via Audible and following along with the text.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_(Augustine)

Time out! Today (28 August) is the Feast Day of Saint Augustine or the “Solemnity of Saint Augustine”. To commemorate Augustine’s life and work, here is his Wikipedia page as well as his Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) page. Among other things, Augustine, who lived during the 4th century A.D., is famous for his autobiography, the Confessions, where he recounts his conversion to Christianity after hearing the command, Tolle lege, tolle lege: “Take up and read, take up and read”! (For future reference, below is a free “audiobook” of Augustine’s Confessions.)

Last week, I mentioned that attorney Derrick Valkenburg and I would be exploring the natural law origins of affirmative defenses. We also posted some introductory materials to get the ball rolling, including the Wikipedia entry for “affirmative defense” (see here) as well as a laundry list of such legal defenses (here).

First off, however, we want to make a preliminary observation. Some legal defenses are universal — i.e., applicable to any type of claim — such as laches (unreasonable delay in bringing a claim), failure to state a claim, and res judicata, just to name a few. Other defenses, by contrast, are “subject matter specific”, i.e. specifically connected to certain types of law claims or theories of liability. By way of example, the common law defenses of assumption of risk, consent, and waiver are relevant to tort claims (i.e. cases alleging the commission of a wrongful act resulting in an injury to one’s person or property), while the defenses of duress, mistake, and promissory estoppel are relevant to claims alleging a breach of contract.

So, what should we make of this particular distinction? Why are some defenses subject matter specific, while others are universal? Do all defenses nevertheless share the same logical structure, or are there deep differences between specific versus universal defenses? We will take a closer look at these questions in the days ahead …

I “shazamed” this song earlier this summer, while I was dining at a steakhouse on Calle Thames in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, La Carniceria.

Last Saturday (8/17), I featured two college courses as well as a law school seminar: (1) Taylor Swift and Her World, (2) Forbidden Courses, and (3) Jurisprudence. Via Twitter, below are two more syllabi that have caught my attention:

Moral and Political Economy (John Hopkins):

Statutory Interpretation (Pepperdine):