Friday, February 02, 2007

Not letting school interfere with my education!!

This semester I decided to take a logic class because it takes care of my math credit and it sounded very intersting. It is symbolic logic, sort of like math using symbols and doing proofs using these symbols etc. So I opened my book to start my homework when I read the first quote of the book:
"At present wives, just as much as prosititutes, live by the sale of their sexual charms; and even in temporary free relations the man is usually expected to bear all the joint expenses. The result is that there is a sordid entanglement of money with sex, and that women's motives not infrequently have a mercenary element. Sex, even when blessed by the Church, ought not to be a profession...." Betrand Russell (so called founder of symbolic logic)
Now imagine my surprise when I thought I would be taking a MATH like class and instead am taking Feminazi's 101! It get's even worse as the text goes on. He (yes the writer of this books is a man) wants to show what a logical argument might look like:
A) Getting married is something, that someday, I would like to do.
B) I hope you enjoy being abused! Whenever you consider marriage I think you should go to a crowded shopping center on a Friday night, and notice all the snarling.
B is obviously making inferences from shopping- center experiences to marriage in general, and then to A's intended involvement. A rather compelte (but by no meands the only possible) expansion of reasoning follows.... and he goes on to mock marriage even more.
To put this in perspective for you so you understand why this is so frustrating, it would be like opening your geology book and the first quote being a pro-choice rant. It has nothing to do with what we are learning. It is a constant, obnoxious theme throughout the ENTIRE book from beginning to end.
I really don't know how I am going to handle this year... pray for my sanity and self control!

3 comments:

Geometricus said...

Erin,

As your former Geometry teacher, I can tell you that even though B. Russell was an important figure in symbolic logic, his views on religion were really strange and largely rejected by those in his time. He was an atheist at a time when to be one was truly difficult and closed a lot of doors for you. But those were the days when atheists were generally decent folks, whereas today they are as coarse and crass as the author of your feminazi textbook. I just said an "Ave" for you that you can make it through the class or get into a better one.

BTY, I'm going to the world premiere of Grapes of Wrath tonight. 3 hours and 45 minutes with 5th grader sitting next to me! Someone else might have to tell me how it ends.

Anonymous said...

Erin! We're "studying" B. Russell right now in Philosophy too.

And by studying I mean we're sort of laughing and snickering about a lot of his views and philosophical arguments. Yea seminarians yea. Either way, I almost feel your pain ;)

Abecedarius Rex said...

A logical argument:

1. all men are mortal
2. the author of your logic book is a man
3. the author of your logic book will die a miserable, lonely death choking on his snot.

Q.E.F.