Library Fines

I'm closing out my account with the Regenstein Library, returning all my books and paying my fines. I just found the following letter I received from the library a couple of years ago:

"Hello - I have had the opportunity to look over your fine appeals;
let me say that they were articulate and humorous. My problem
is in September of 2005 you had $72 in fines waived; in January
of 2006, we waived $87 in fines. Now you want us to waive $102,
or $261 in roughly a year.

The purpose of a fines are to encourage, if that's the word, people
to comply with library regulations, especially as they pertain to
books other borrowers need. We occasionally waive fines because
we believe that the borrower will not get him/herself in a similar
situation. In fact, it seems that each time you appeal fines,
the amount is larger ($72 - $87 - $102).

So, I am not willing to waive these fines. If you wish to appeal
my decision, please contact [so and so], who is the Head of
Access Services.

Sincerely yours..."

I'm happy to pay the remaining fines--I agree completely with the "Dedicatory Epistle" in James Redfield's Nature and Culture in the Iliad:

The Regenstein Library is very large, very expensive, and it works. Probably no environment better adapted to the activity of scholarship has ever been created. In this library much that had been impossible becomes possible, and much that had been difficult becomes easy.

Regenstein Emergency

I wanted to check out Schneewind's Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant to get some readings for my Phil Perspectives class yesterday, but there was some emergency going on. All of the readers were assembled out in front and there were three fire engines and some police cars parked out front. I didn't stick around to see what was going on because PJ showed up and gave me a ride home in his new bassmobile.

Strawson and Evans

I'm watching a 25 minute video of Strawson and Evans talking about truth, made for the Open University in 1973. They debate the merits of understanding truth in deflationary terms. Evans defends the proposal, Strawson criticizes it. Unsurprisingly, the video ends without resolving the issue. Strawson is about to respond to a proposal that Evans makes for delimiting the range of sentences for which the question of truth can arise in terms of what can be believed, when he looks up at the moderator and says that he won't be able to show why his approach is correct because they don't have enough time.

Intention

Fifth floor, Regenstein Library.

Under Wraps

5th floor Regenstein Library, a couple weeks ago.

Summertime in Hyde Park

5th floor Regenstein Library.

The Reg

First floor stairs in the Regenstein Library. Or possibly a set from Cremaster 2.