I too took Paul Desjardin's Origins of Philosophy class, during 1980-81. It was exactly as you describe -- an entire semester devoted to Book I of the Iliad plus a little Hesiod thrown in, and then another semester for more or less the rest of the Iliad. I think there were four of us meeting in Paul's living room Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We sipped tea and listened to the gurgling fountain. At one point he brought the class up to his home in the Adirondack's for a focused retreat. I recently came across my note book from that year and am in the process of typing up my notes. It put me in mind of googling Paul to see who else might have been influenced by him, which has led me to your wonderful blog. Looking forward to reading more of your writings.
I (Haverford Philosophy major, '76) have come to this page after reading about Dick Bernstein's death in a Haverford email. I was enamored with all of the Haverford philosophy professors, but Paul was the one I most loved. Here's a little anecdote that only I know (till now), since I was the only one there in Gest, second floor, at the time this occurred. Dick comes out of his office and sees Paul (I'm am sitting in a chair waiting to talk to Paul), and asks Paul how to prune a tree (Dick bought/built his Jay NY home with the encouragement of Paul, who had a remarkable home in the Lake Placid area that many Haverford philosophy majors visited, so one might think Dick was thinking about the forthcoming summer chores). I was about to respond, because I actually know the answer, but I bit my tongue to let Paul answer...and Paul started off on a meandering discussion about aesthetics, punctuated by his boisterous and disarming laughter, essentially bullshitting Dick, and Dick is listening raptly for about 45 seconds, at which point Dick sees that he is being played as an academic fool, and laughs and turns back into his office (dominated by the large Paul Weiss painting). I look at Paul and just shake my head, and Paul laughs even more rapturously. RIP Dick and Paul
I too took Paul Desjardin's Origins of Philosophy class, during 1980-81. It was exactly as you describe -- an entire semester devoted to Book I of the Iliad plus a little Hesiod thrown in, and then another semester for more or less the rest of the Iliad. I think there were four of us meeting in Paul's living room Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We sipped tea and listened to the gurgling fountain. At one point he brought the class up to his home in the Adirondack's for a focused retreat. I recently came across my note book from that year and am in the process of typing up my notes. It put me in mind of googling Paul to see who else might have been influenced by him, which has led me to your wonderful blog. Looking forward to reading more of your writings.
I (Haverford Philosophy major, '76) have come to this page after reading about Dick Bernstein's death in a Haverford email. I was enamored with all of the Haverford philosophy professors, but Paul was the one I most loved. Here's a little anecdote that only I know (till now), since I was the only one there in Gest, second floor, at the time this occurred. Dick comes out of his office and sees Paul (I'm am sitting in a chair waiting to talk to Paul), and asks Paul how to prune a tree (Dick bought/built his Jay NY home with the encouragement of Paul, who had a remarkable home in the Lake Placid area that many Haverford philosophy majors visited, so one might think Dick was thinking about the forthcoming summer chores). I was about to respond, because I actually know the answer, but I bit my tongue to let Paul answer...and Paul started off on a meandering discussion about aesthetics, punctuated by his boisterous and disarming laughter, essentially bullshitting Dick, and Dick is listening raptly for about 45 seconds, at which point Dick sees that he is being played as an academic fool, and laughs and turns back into his office (dominated by the large Paul Weiss painting). I look at Paul and just shake my head, and Paul laughs even more rapturously. RIP Dick and Paul
Paul was my dad. This was a wonderful read for me. Also the comment. Not sure why I googled Dad tonight. Thank you for remembering him