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On January 29th, 2024, Dr. White and I meandered our way toward Aquinas Hall in the crisp air of the New Year. We climbed the stairs and were promptly greeted by a friendly face eager to philosophize: Issac Krom. The three of us made our way to Dr. White's office, where I made the joke that Dr. White must be the Homer to the ideal city (the faculty offices) because his office is kind of away from everyone else, a bad Republic joke– it didn't really land.
We sat, and without inebriating beverages like the speakers of Plato's Symposium, or even coffee (I imagine this is what contemporary thinking men drink along with cigarettes in a modern-day Symposium), the speakers prepared for their speeches! After a bit of a pause, I pulled out my blue note cards. Dr. White interjected, asking how this all was going to work. I responded that I was going to ask some questions, then Issac and he were to discuss as I wrote things down– Dr. White made a joke that he and Issac would be the speakers in a dialogue, and I was Plato: watching, listening, and writing. I thought this was funny. Dr. White certainly, in some way, reminds everyone who knows him of Socrates, particularly due to his capability to string together exact and precise language, his profound humility, and his witty sense of humor. Isaac is also a philosopher/mathematician, so we can call him Theatetus…
~The First Question in Posed~
An Appeal to the Authority of Dr. White and Isaac Krom
How do your research interests and professional/educational background relate to the intersectionality of writing and philosophy?
Dr. White begins his speech with the phrase, "Okay, philosophy and writing– you mean any kind of writing?". The ball is rolling. We decided to discuss essay writing for the sake of directionality. Even though we both love poetry, we will try not to deviate (spoiler alert: we are talented deviators). Dr. White quickly turns to Isaac, allowing him to make the opening move.
Issac's rise to being beloved by English/Literary Populus and regarded as a figure of philosophical intrigue to the Phenomenological Community began in his quest to become an English tutor, for which he had to take an “English Tutoring” class last semester. While studying in this class, he also took Dr. Averchi's Human Nature. Combining these two approaches, English and Philosophy, he set out on a research inquiry: What would Alva Nöe say about the writing process? In this research, Isaac advocated for a step away from a formalized writing process and "more towards a teleological writing."
Dr. White responded to Isaacs's suggestion about the writing process with his own experiences as an (outstanding, although he is too modest to say so) philosophical author. These experiences anchored themselves in the ability to edit: cutting, adding, and clarifying. Although he finds that he must revise it tediously, he realizes that this is, in fact, its advantage. Dr. White notes we do not edit in any other form of communication, or rather, we cannot. "Writing makes this possible."
It is here that Dr. White made his own appeal to authority, that of the great poet T.S. Eliot. Dr. White recapitulates him, saying, "There is poetry, there is prose, and there is ordinary conversation," and "our ordinary conversation is full of fumbling for words, incomplete sentences, and approximations," "Whereas writing is the opposite you have the exact word, you have no hesitation, and the sentences are complete." Dr. White analogizes prose as "perhaps a speech" and poetry as "more like a song," but both of these are made by the powers of writing.
~The Second Question is Posed~
What do you believe are good reading and writing habits of a philosopher?
Dr. White begins after a short lull. He begins with reading. Perhaps this is significant; maybe reading is a precursor to any philosophizing. Dr. White hopes that the philosopher will concern himself with "only the greatest works" and "as much as possible slowly" while also trying to" as much as possible re-read." Dr. White looked at me and suggested reading a work like the Republic, one that I am reading right now for his class (it certainly challenges me), at least once yearly.
Dr. White then follows his reading suggestions about reading up with his advice for writing. He says, "As for writing, it is good to have a model to imitate." We return to the Republic a third time– there is something interesting about the number three. Dr. White calls to mind mimesis, insisting that we all learn from imitating– "children learn by imitating," and…
We both turn to Isaac, and with a glance and Dr. White's affirmation, "Isaac," he timidly begins. "In your question, you have the word habit," and "Even just having a habit, I think, is the first step." He notices that for most, reading is a "regular thing," and he thinks "writing should be too." If you are someone who aspires to be a writer, then that is exactly what you should do–write. He suggests "every day," even "when there are no papers due."
Isaac makes a very astute point: Any writing aids the process. While there are distinctions of "poetry" and "prose," or "Creative writing" and "research," he thinks "doing any of it aids the whole." He says this because "the goal is still just articulation"; all writing is just an idea and a profound love of "clear articulation."
Isaac makes an appeal to authority. He references the profound essayist and naturalist Annie Dillard (This was enough to get me to put down my pen momentarily and join in). He specifically wanted to call our attention to her essay The Death of a Moth and then her commentary on How I Wrote the Moth Essay. Isaac loves Annie Dillard because of her authenticity; this is someone who he may try or thinks maybe we all should try to imitate, as Dr. White said, in our essay pursuits. Isaac resonates with a tension Dillard identifies "not to fall into a performative aspect" but instead to try to come to a "pure articulation"
Dr. White interjects with one last comment related to the notebooks of Edgar Allen Poe, where he writes on writing itself. In these meditations, he comes to the point that the "mere act of writing" helps to "make it more logical." He followed this up: "The mere fact of writing down any thought that you have is a kind of transformative experience. You know, you see the thought on the page before you; you can show it to somebody else, and you can revise it".
Issac, in dialogue with this thought, cites Alva Nöe, certain that there is a similarity of thought. Upon his reading of Alva Nöe's book on art published last year, with specific regard to the chapter on writing, he portrays writing as "a graphical toolkit that you apply to language that you would not otherwise apply." Isaac, in accordance with Dr. White, Poe, and Alva Nöe, has come to understand that "the very act of writing can aid your logical thinking." Dr. White and I agree with Isaac and come to discuss our concordant surprise/dread when we write something that we actually end up writing something different or new than we had set out to because we have accumulated more new and strikingly different ideas along the way.
~I interject with what I have labeled the "Fun Questions." These arose while sitting in Dr. White's lecture on the Republic immediately prior to this symposium~
~The Third Question is Posed~
In the lecture that inspired this question, there was a series of inquiries related to the education of children, how we pick the "right" stories for them, and how they learn.
Suppose your theoretical "children" are the authors of Inventio. What are the "right" stories they should be filling their bookshelves with? Or rather, what should people who want to write good and philosophical essays be reading?
Immediately following my questioning, I had a giggle and announced I was “prepared for indoctrination.” Dr. White suggested that the essayists we’ve been discussing begin a solid foundation. However, he also proposed two additional authors he deems essential for anyone venturing into philosophical writing: Sokolowski and Leon Kass.
Isaac humbly declines to suggest books for my indoctrination, saying, “I am only a student looking for works to read.” Dr. White is jokingly troubled by this, saying,” All of a sudden, we are not having a dialogue.” But then, after my suggestion to lay his modesty aside and “indoctrinate Dr. White with his young and wonder-filled perspective,” he concedes. Dr. White admits he has already read his previous mentions, Dillard and Alva Nöe, but asks him for more.
Isaac recommends The Embers and the Stars and Mary Oliver’s Poetry. Dr. White wanted to add Alexander Pope and C.S Lewis. All of these people, according to White, are “clear, precise, and interesting.” Which seems to be agreed upon between the two men discussing the aim of writing.
Dr. White, with whom I share a supreme love of Eliot, cites the poet once more. Dr. White says that “the first quality of good writing is that it is interesting; it has to be interesting, and there is no formula for that.” Even if one has “clarity,” “precision,” or “is concerned with the truth or revealing something,” it must be interesting.
In an attempt to make a bad joke, I popped up from behind my notebook and pointed out that it was curious that in an attempt to design the bookshelf of a philosopher and to even talk about what good writing looks like, we have relied on poetry. I thought it was maybe due to the fact that all three of us are lovers of poetry, but I came to a hopeful hypothesis that maybe it is just the case that poetry is essential to human thought and the expression of words.
In the face of my musing, Isaac asks,” Is there something about writing a good essay that is similar to writing a good poem?” and “Is there some sort of poetry of Prose?” I attempted to answer, even though I am only a scribe. I suggested, “I think it’s like making an opera. Wagner, Homer, and Dillard are all trying to do the same thing; it’s like, with the artistic construction of their concepts through language”. Dr. White insists that they all have revision and self-criticism in common as well.
Dr. White takes up the concept of the poetry of prose, which he labels an “interesting idea,” Saying, “The word poetry is very uh slippery, and its exact meaning is not easy to pin down (insert Isaac chuckling).” Dr. White takes care to mention here that when we think about poetry, we most usually call to mind metered poetry, “which we call verse, as opposed to prose, which is free of that”. Dr. White stresses rhythms’ role across all languages; it seems to be more formal and fixed in prosaic work and freer in poetic work– he insists that there is some type of overall “rhythm of thought.” Isaac interjects and tells us about something he has been chewing on– a thought he is labeling: “approaching writing as a series of sounds,” insisting that there is an importance of the meaning of the words but then also another layer of “just how the words sound together,” “like alliteration, and stuff like that.”
Dr. White believes that "you can never completely separate the two: the sound and the meaning.” This is because it is evident that the sound inherently affects what we take the word to mean, and the meaning informs our understanding of its sonic quality. I chimed in here because this love of sound that Isaac and Dr. White had been so clear and careful in articulating had moved me in a very real way.
~The Fourth Question is Posed~
All mediums of making are arts, but making an essay is very complex because it involves language. The concepts cannot simply be molded in the same way that clay can. They must first be shrunk into language and then try to be shaped. If you were Socrates (the midwife of ideas), how would you advise Inventio authors to effectively deliver their thought babies out of their heads and into their essays?
Dr. White makes an immediate response, saying: “The sculpture idea is interesting.” He takes care to draw out the comparison that in essay writing, there is lots of “chipping.” I note an “added piece.” Suppose you have had an experience with the Blessed Mother; if you have a block of marble and skilled hands, you can recreate it. With words, you have to “shrink universal to fit into not just words, but into the right words,” and “to shrink the phantasm in your head into words is an added level of accuracy and artistry that the writer must be good at.” The words must be beautiful and accurate. Dr. White notes that “every word must be the right word.”
This analogy also reminds him of something else. He spent some time in the studio of a real Roman sculptor while still a student of Aristotle’s form and matter in particular. The artist gives the marble form by “chipping away.” Dr. White calls upon an idea held by Renaissance artist Micheal Angelo that “the sculpture is already there in the marble, and that the sculptor has to find it and deduce it from the marble.” The writing process of good writers involves taking a lot out and extreme revision, which requires self-honest and a whole lot of humility.
Isaac surfaces with an example from Annie Dillard’s Essay on her Moth essay, which we jokingly label Essay^2. He says: “Her first step of revision is often just taking out the entire introduction that she had written.” Something that Issac has been implementing in the search for his own voice in writing is the idea of “drafting freely.” He asks himself, “Can I just sit down for three hours and write a way too long, loosely worded essay and then just use this as the marble?”. Dr. White responds to Isaac by urging him to read a novelist called Elmore Leonard, a “comic” writer about crime. Dr. White recounts a detail of an interview of him that he heard where someone asked him, “How do you get such good prose?” and Leanord responded, “I try to leave out the boring parts.” Dr. White echoes Issac’s sentiment and agrees with him in terms of method and adds that every writer should be able and willing to “leave out the boring parts.”
Almost everything I write in a scheduled time with a prompt and a clear delegated outline with no room to change my mind is always utter crap. It is only the junky and distracted stuff where I find any gold. I recall conversing with a friend who would always write on paper. He did this because he felt the looming presence of the backspace button on the first draft was limited. On the computer, there is a temptation to edit and control as you go, which seems to stifle the artistic process of essay writing. Dr. White notes that this is “the way people used to write.”
I address Issac’s earlier previous idea that the act of writing actually, in some way, aids in the understanding of the material. I have found that in tutorial-style classes where I have to produce research at length, I must write on a legal pad first. Particularly for philosophy, the improvement of not just my prose but of my logical system is significant on paper. Dr. White brings up an interesting point: “Writing by hand requires slowness.”
~The Fifth Question is Posed~
How does one write Philosophically? Or produce an original engagement with a classical text?
The first thing Dr. White recommends "to be modest in one's ambitions", "take one little passage and try to raise a question about it", then move to “two little passages” and draw out similarities and differences to start. Isaac agrees emphatically and adds the fact that “Inventio authors are young writers.” he notes an experience he had at an IHE lecture where the speaker said that he often keeps open a position for “young writers” because they have “new ideas”. Isaac feels daunted by a paper that is a topic everyone has written on. He says we have to kill this dread, noting, “We are unique human beings.” To produce something new, we have to try, which requires a belief that we can have something new to say.
~The Final Question is Posed~
How does one get these “young and new” ideas?
Dr. White says, "When you feel doubt," "looking at the blank white page," "you must overcome it, and be humble." "Writing is hard labor," "but if it is good to work, it is pleasurable, and you don't care if someone has said this before. There is no worry because you are so interested." Ideas come into our heads, and only people interested enough in the beautiful and brave enough to try can write them down into a block of marble. Then, the writer must switch his hat and be humble and critical to shape.
~The Speakers concluded their speeches with a profound evocation of the way of the child. Issac brings up the fact that when a child learns to speak, it is so celebrated. Even if they cannot speak well or clearly, so much more of them is revealed to us. Dr. White believes that this is the power of writing: “Writing is language made visible, and in a way, it is thought made visible.” To be a writer is to make “thought visible.” ~
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