Pandemic Philosophy Philip Palios
“The future is in your head, the past is in your
reality, even if the ivory tower manifested
head, the only thing that’s real is the present.” Someone probably had a better, more poetic assemblage of words for this not so novel idea, but Bradley didn’t take the time to find them while preparing for his lecture.
itself as a dilapidated concrete structure that resembled a re-purposed public toilet in the rural Scottish lowlands.
“So you didn’t say what you just said because it’s in the past now, not the present, right?” Isabelle tilted her chin with genuine curiosity.
“You might be right.” Bradley relished opportunities to trot out his go-to nonresponse. “So tell me Isaac, why are you here?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Because I lost my job and ain’t gonna find no job while covid keeps shutting shit down in this shithole town.”
“Right.”
“Oh, better in London is it?”
Bradley knew that he had unintentionally affirmed his student’s flawed point, but he didn’t care.
Isaac fell silent, Bradley grinned.
Isaac from the back of the classroom raised his hand and began speaking without being called upon. “This is bullshit! A bunch of mental masturbation if you ask me…” Bradley grinned, reflecting on when Isaac’s sentiment was brought up in his first philosophy course as an undergraduate student himself – he agreed with Isaac, the ivory tower was a pointless mental circle jerk to a large extent, but at the same time he was enchanted with the opportunity to escape
As the clock struck three, the classroom erupted in a collective sigh of relief. Everyone hastily made their way out of the building and eagerly removed their masks after scattering in their various directions. When the room was empty, Bradley removed his own mask, switched off the light and laid down on the classroom floor, staring up at the ceiling while pursuing some sort of meditative or prayerful state. “Dear God, please help me to believe my own bullshit. Don’t lead me into an existential crisis, because if teaching isn’t my life then I really don’t know what is. Just lull me into
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