Jan Höglund's Blog

Category: Retrospectives

  • Retrospective 2024-41

    This is a retrospective of week 41, 2024 (2024-10-07–2024-10-13). I’ve taken issue with McGilchrist lately (see the related posts). Some would argue that my interpretations are too literalistic in relation to what McGilchrist really is trying to say. My observation, though, is that McGilchrist often seems to fall back on literalistic interpretations himself—questioning the exact…

  • Retrospective 2024-40

    This is a retrospective of week 40, 2024 (2024-09-30–2024-10-06). This is the fourth week I’ve immersed myself in the work if Iain McGilchrist. Again, some of what McGilchrist says resonates wonderfully with me, some of it doesn’t. I’ve also listen to a conversation with Christopher Bache on the philosophical implications of non-ordinary states of consciousness.…

  • Retrospective 2024-39

    This is a retrospective of week 39, 2024 (2024-09-23–2024-09-29). I’ve continued immersing myself in Iain McGilchrist’s work this week. I was also reminded by Christopher Alexander’s work in two articles by Bonnitta Roy and Or Ettinger, respectively. I will come back to that. I’ve reviewed what McGilchrist writes about lateralization during the week, but came,…

  • Retrospective 2024-38

    This is a retrospective of week 38, 2024 (2024-09-16–2024-09-22). This week I’ve read Rupert Read’s review of The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist. Rupert Read writes (italics in the original): For me, the great value of McGilchrist’s work consists in (i) critiquing the existing picture; especially, by way simply of showing that it is…

  • Retrospective 2024-37

    This is a retrospective of week 37, 2024 (2024-09-09–2024-09-15). This week I’ve viewed recordings and read transcripts from the Metaphysics and the Matter with Things: Thinking with Iain McGilchrist conference put on by the Center for Process Studies (CPS) and the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in March of 2024. I’ve read McGilchrist’s books…

  • Retrospective 2024-36

    This is a retrospective of week 36, 2024 (2024-09-02–2024-09-08). I’ve read Overcoming the Newtonian paradigm: The unfinished project of theoretical biology from a Schellingian perspective by Arran Gare this week. Arran Gare writes: “The concept of an atom did not emerge from any analysis offered by Newton; rather, he simply presupposed particles without structure and…

  • Retrospective 2024-35

    This is a retrospective of week 35, 2024 (2024-08-20–2024-09-01). This week, I’ve spent a couple of days in the northern part of Sweden. I visited Umeå and Skellefteå. Bonnitta Roy has written an interesting essay about Christopher Alexander on Generating a Living World (part 1 & part 2). Roy is one of few who sees…

  • Retrospective 2024-34

    This is a retrospective of week 34, 2024 (2024-08-19–2024-08-25). I finished reading Karin Bojs’ book last week and have continued reflecting on its content. The question I’m struggling with is: Why is the left hemispere of the brain taking over again and again? We are so easily are caught up in the left hemisphere’s re-presentation…

  • Retrospective 2024-33

    This is a retrospective of week 33, 2024 (2024-08-12–2024-08-18). This week, I have read Min europiska familj: de senaste 54000 åren by Karin Bojs. The book is in Swedish and is about Bojs’ family for the past 54,000 years. The first part of the book is more interesting than the last part. The last part…

  • Retrospective 2024-32

    This is a retrospective of week 32, 2024 (2024-08-05–2024-08-11). I’ve started reading two books this week: Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment by Charles Taylor, and Christ Way, Buddha Way: Jesus as Wisdom Teacher and a Zen Perspective on His Teachings by Tim Langdell. Charles Taylor writes the following about his book Cosmic…