Paying Attention to Attention

It’s time to pay attention to attention. Or as Simone Weil defined it: “Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer.” She also added: “Attention is the purest form of generosity.” While philosophy has focused mainly on mind, it has tended to dismiss attention as too allied with the body. However, Aristotle, attending to both mind and body, said: “Man is the most intelligent of the animals because he has hands.” Just try to imagine a rich and active human life devoid of the ability either to feel or touch others or be felt or touched. Class sessions will involve discussions based on the assignments.

Required Readings:

Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft, ISBN 978-1594202230; Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, ISBN 978- 0143036531.

Raymond Boisvert grew up in Lewiston and taught college philosophy for 30 years.