Foggy Thoughts:
Notes From My Studies In London
The following is a journal I kept for my four week long study program in London. The focus was on the philosophy of ethics and also literature (notably of Jane Austen). As we were required to keep a journal a few of the notes refer to class discussions so please excuse them if they seem out of context.
May 17th: Arrived in London after a 24 hour journey from San Sebastian, Spain.
May 18th: Intrinsic and extrinsic value discussion in apartment. Evan argued that there must be some originating object that has intrinsic value against which all other objects are extrinsically judged, otherwise with no standard it implies that all values are arbitrary and an infinite regress is created. I at first argued against this on the basis that objects cannot have intrinsic value unless there is a subject to extrinsically assign that value to it, but later changed positions to his side when I decided that the one object that does have the intrinsic value to it could be metaphysical in nature, such as the intrinsic value of human consciousness.
The conversation shifted to King Crimson afterwards.
May 19th: After class, a group of five of us went out exploring and after deciding the London Zoo was too pricy, ended up at Abbey Road Studios, where we had to narrowly dodge traffic in our attempts to recreate the cover of the Beatles album.
May 20th: Me: So what if you had no sight, no hearing, no touch, just no sense perceptions whatsoever. Would you still be able to claim that you exist?
Evan: Well, that would still allow for ideas which are innate within us, correct?
Me: Maybe. But, I mean, to have an idea you need to be able
to think about it with language, right?
Evan: Hmm… yeah, I guess so.
Me: And you get that language through leaning it with your sense perceptions.
Evan: Yeah, I get that.
Me: So I guess what I was trying to get at with my question is that you wouldn’t be able to claim that you wouldn’t be able to claim that you exist without external objects to impress sense impressions on you. Your mind would just be the same thing as a rock.
Evan: I don’t know. That is interesting to think about. I’m not sure how to answer that.
Me: Yeah, I’m not sure if I really do either, but I was thinking it might be a sort of antithesis to your argument.
Evan: Uh, which one?
Me: Um, the one about how you were saying I can’t really know that anything exists because all perceptions are created within the subject rather than because of any external objects.
Evan: Oh, yes, that’s right. I dunno, I’ll think about it more.
Me: I’m not too sure what I’m talking about anyway, I’ve sort of exhausted my philosophy quotient for the day.
Evan: Haha, yeah, that’s fair.
Me: By the way, is this building at all important?
Evan: That is a good question. Mark, any idea what building this is?
Mark: (checking the map) I’m not too sure… but I’m going to guess it’s Buckingham Palace because I saw some signs for it back there.
Me: Oh, okay. (pause) Probably should take some pictures, then.
May 21st: Saw Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at Wembley Stadium. I knew nothing about Clapton or his status, and before the concert asked the others in attendance to explain his style to me so that I could best appreciate what I was about to hear. This presented some difficulties for them in finding the right words, especially in describing it to me as I’ve approached music ‘backwards’. That is, I didn’t voluntarily listen for most of my life, finally got into it a couple years ago after discovering the experimental, progressive styles, and have since been trying to work my way back into popular
genres although not with always the most success; I was able to rattle off the names of countless obscure Italian bands that even my Italian professor who lived through the era listening to that sort of music had never heard of (Premiata Forneria Marconi being far and away my favorite), and yet as I already mentioned I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what Eric Clapton was famous for before two days ago. In the end it was decided I should listen for the emotion conveyed through the guitar playing. In the end I greatly enjoyed the concert, although I still couldn’t help but feel that if the same musicians had played some of my favorite King Crimson tracks instead it would have been stratospherically phenomenal. Perhaps I have a prejudice against anything involving constant 4/4 time signatures and AABA song structures that there’s no helping me at all.
May 22nd: Visit to the British Museum left me in awe of the fact that a single nation could steal so many valuable artifacts from other nations and still get away with it. I can’t imagine the Greek embassy hasn’t gotten in contact with the British government asking when they can have their bust of Socrates back (which, by the way, was very cool to see in person).
May 23rd: Went to Windsor Castle and Legoland Windsor with Dan and Mark. The topic of ethics was raised after I noted to my companions that several of our queues were made longer by the fact that the park was selling devices that allowed other guests to jump to the front of the line whenever they felt like it. Dan seemed to think that it was ethical, although Mark was less convinced, and I played devil’s advocate in that it was not ethical to keep the conversation going. It appears as though Dan’s utilitarian perspective would justify the sale of these devices: everyone has an equal opportunity to buy, and those that choose to buy clearly have greater utility for cutting to the front of the queue than what is lost by those that want to hold onto their money and wait a bit longer. However, from the Kantian perspective,
this practice fails to satisfy the requirement of universality for several reasons. First of all, while the park gains the benefits of profits from this service, they do not give up anything in return as it is park guests that carry the burden of expense of the service in the form of longer wait times. Secondly, although every guest has an equal opportunity to buy the device, it is impossible for all to do this because by its very nature it requires a minority of the guests to jump ahead of the majority, if all were to do this then the service wouldn’t work. The principle of universality fails because the park uses the laws of supply and demand to set the price for the service at a level that restricts its use to the percentage of guests it wants. However, in the park’s defense, I will say that having used an identical device at Six Flags last fall, they are completely awesome and the utility
experienced by the satisfaction of one person skipping over an entire queue in seconds greatly outweighs the minor annoyance of the few others standing in line that notice this and comment to themselves that it doesn’t seem Kantian to them.
May 24th: I would like to revise an opinion I made during our discussion about the Omelas scenario (note: text here). I said that I couldn’t still believe that even science fiction could account for the creation of genuine, deep happiness in the town depending on the suffering of one child, because it originates from the individuals themselves and their own intellectual understanding of real things. It is an absurdity to even imagine any sort of fantasy device which could cause and take it away on whim while preserving the 
fundamental character of that type of happiness. However, after thinking about it a bit more, I realized that an analogy for armchair philosophers who feel that their deep understanding of the world comes only from themselves and nowhere else: who suffers and toils to make their armchair? While most people would like to think that sort of deep happiness is beyond materialism, there is a certain level of affluence needed in order to escape the pressures of basic subsistence which we depend on a lot of the impoverished world to support us. Especially because the principle of sufficient reason ensures that not even philosophizing is without some sort of materialist causation which could, theoretically, be this fantasy force described in Omelas.
May 25th: Went to the National Portrait Gallery and saw both Jane Austin and John Stuart Mill’s portrait, although Jeremy Bentham was conspicuously missing. Searching the computer databases for other British notables worth seeing revealed that most of the gallery’s collection was not for public viewing, which struck me as a little strange considering that the walls weren’t all packed with portraits to begin with. The frozen self-portrait sculpture made with the artist’s own blood was a little weird.
May 26th: Visited Parliament and got to watch a speech by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, which included several yields to members of different political persuasions who were not so reticent in calling out accusations of dishonesty and wrong-headedness. Whomever decided to set up the Commons Chamber with each party facing each other would have likely made a good television programmer as it ensured there was always a lively and entertaining debate going on: “May I respectfully put forth that the Right Honourable Foreign Secretary is a complete sod?” Surprisingly the public viewing area was lightly attended, which surprised me considering how
popular a landmark the Parliament Building is, the fact that what goes on inside is kind of important to a lot of people, and the fact that it’s basically the only free entertainment in all of London.
May 27th: Saw Henry VIII at the Globe Theater. I would classify this as more of a cultural than artistic experience; to leave being able to say I’ve seen Shakespeare at the Globe was more interesting than actually seeing Shakespeare at the Globe, although much of that is probably because Henry VIII lacks the great drama found in other works by the Bard. Also, I’m terrible at deciphering Shakespearean dialogue without Sparknotes or watching it with subtitles in an Akira Kurosawa adaptation set in feudal Japan.
May 28th: Traveled with Courtney, Mark, Dan and Evan to Galway, Ireland, via rail to Holyhead, Wales, then ferry to Dublin, Ireland, and then rail again to Galway. Upon arrival, we had a very friendly welcome to Ireland from a blind man who needed help disembarking the train, and he recommended we visit the Connemara region which was very beautiful.
The travel took the greater part of our day, although we did have enough time that evening to get a pizza and then Mark, Dan, Evan and I went out to get a beer in a local pub. Evan once again became the center of another philosophical discussion, in which I countered his solipsistic argument by noting he was confusing epistemology with ontology. The discussion broke up after some nearby pub-goers wanted to figure out where our accents were from.
May 29th: A bus tour through an area known as the Burren yielded spectacular results, including a hike up the side of a mountain, castles, all sorts of eerie, stony landscapes, and best of all was a stop at the cliffs of Mohar, which a break in a wall containing tourists from the unprotected restricted section meant Dan and I (as well as every other tourist that came across the wall) were peering over the edge of a 600 foot drop with nothing to protect us from the Atlantic ocean save for the small amount of sanity we didn’t leave on the bus.
May 30th: Second bus tour through the Connemara region,
with stops at Kylemore Abbey and a raised bog we could jump on top of. Also learned much more about what jerks the British were to the Irish, why the potato famine was so devastating to Ireland when it occurred all throughout Europe, why there are walls randomly built over the sides of mountains (only job the British gave the Irish to do because they wanted them to accomplish useless tasks so they wouldn’t become an economic power themselves), etc.
May 31st: Historical walking tour of Dublin, ended up being rather dull with a lot of endless monologing and talking points in different buildings. Did get to see enough of Dublin to say we’ve been there. Dinner was good, if a bit expensive, I had a Beef and Guinness Stew Pie. Not much philosophizing today,
I think everyone was too exhausted. Had to stay overnight in the Holyhead ferry/train station. Little did I know this would be the first of two times I’d sleep in a Welsh rail station before returning home.
June 1st: I don’t even remember what happened; I think we were too exhausted. I may have done laundry and also planned out my post-class solo trip more. Only other item of note was that this was the sixth (and final) calendar month I’d be seeing consecutively while in Europe.
June 2nd: Got to see Jeremy Bentham in person, or at least that’s what I believed under good faith, was hard to judge for myself because the body was completely dressed up with only the
wax head visible, Jeremy Bentham’s real head was away in a crypt somewhere. A question I would have asked is how Bentham could have expected to rationally quantify the utility of experiences which are fundamentally unquantifiable, such as the aesthetic experience of seeing infinite red, but as he pointed out, their jobs are as historians, not philosophers, so I abstained. It did strike me that many of Bentham’s ideas for social reforms took the utilitarian calculations rather shallowly, such as the constant surveillance or identification tattoos on everyone’s foreheads. Weigh in the negative psychological aspects of telling a population they are constantly being watched for criminal deviants prowling the streets, that’s not likely to lead to a happier society even if crime is reduced (I’d go on to have a couple negative encounters with this mentality later on my solo trip).
June 3rd: Saw Westminster Abbey with my aunt and uncle who were in town on vacation. They are also big Jane Austen fans, and were impressed to see her grave. I was mildly surprised by the presence of one Charles Darwin, whom I imagine hadn’t been there much earlier than the last 
fifty years or so. Did more sightseeing with my aunt and uncle, best of all was stopping in a used records store in Soho to pick up a barely used copy (second pressing, however) of In the Court of the Crimson King. The price was £43, I asked for an even £40, the storekeeper gave me £35. Deal. As I had been wearing my Roma shirt, at our restaurant the waitress (who was Italian) asked if I was as well. I told her no (at least not by citizenship), but upon revealing I studied there for four months we had a short conversation in Italian which was nice to be able to use, probably the last time I’ll get to use it as well until I return to Italy/Europe one day.
June 4th: Two words: Lunn. Bun. This journal entry is complete.
June 5th: Finally made it to my second UK park, Chessington World of Adventures. Like Legoland, this one was also aimed more at families, but had a much greater emphasis on rides and attractions, including three decently exciting roller coasters. Crowds were unfortunately a bit heavy. I’ve heard from some who feel parks should go to a pay-per-ride pricing strategy to manage excessive demand and thereby eliminate queues, but I always point out that the length of a queue is the most egalitarian way to ration limited ride capacity, as everyone comes to the park with an equal amount of time to spend during their day, and you ‘pay’ more for the higher demanded rides through longer queues. However, when the employees starts slacking off and sending out empty seats without checking if there are any single riders (i.e. me),
or taking five minutes to check and dispatch a train, I do believe we have what would be called a moral hazard on behalf of the park.
June 6th: Back-to-back park days, this one at Thorpe Park, the final London-area park for me to try. As all three are owned by the same company, this one was marketed more to the thrill ride niche, and as such featured several large coasters. Large is a relative term, as from my perspective the park was basically a tiny, pocket-sized version of Cedar Point, with many of the rides basically being miniature rip-offs of those found in Ohio. Most entertaining of all was watching my cellphone fly in a perfect arc formation from the top of a 200ft roller coaster hill, over a field and landing in a river rapids ride channel. Oops.
June 7th: Fourth day of travel in a row, this time to Chawton to visit Jane Austen’s home. It gave me a very strong sense of what life in Jane Austen’s time was like, although was a bit surprised to find that a home such as their classified them as poor. I’d still like to do more research into the economic structuring of this society because it seems to me as though nearly all of the wealth appears out of nowhere, when the majority of the population performs absolutely no work whatsoever. Where was the lowest working class, it appeared to be non-existent from the literature and simply from walking around Chawton (at least the part we saw, and assuming it’s still anything like it was 200 years ago.
June 8th: Visited the Tower of London with Kate and Courtney, got to see the royal jewels. Admission seemed a bit steep, I’m surprised so many of the public museums are free and yet other places such as the Tower of London don’t appear to have anywhere near the same level of government subsidization.
June 9th: Went to the Tate Museum and saw the surveillance/voyeurism exhibit. One of my favorite parts of the exhibit was the woman who hired a detective agency to follow her for the day (without their knowledge that it was their client they were also following), and then comparing the two sets of notes, one from her own diary of her accounts about the day (commenting how she hopes her follower is enjoying their ‘day together’),
the other from the notes taken by the detective.
June 10th: Second-to-last night together as a group in London, we made a group trip to the Absolut Ice Bar in London, a unique experience that was absolutly overpriced, but I didn’t want to be the only person to stay home for the night. My favorite part was eating the glasses our drinks came in.
June 11th: After our last day of classes, Dan, Mark and I went out to explore Hyde Park, taking only a couple thousand photos of flowers with our camera’s macro-focus feature, and then met up with several others to take a ride on the London Eye; we were in the very last coach to be loaded that night. It ended up being a good way to say goodbye to the city, although I would be back in a couple weeks.
After this began a two-and-a-half-week long solo trip by myself which covered nearly every major park in England as well as travels to Scotland and Wales, which will be covered in detail with individual reports on a later date. Movie reviews from my four days at the Edinburgh International Film Festival have already been posted: Day 1; Day 2; Day 3; Day 4.
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