Professor profile for Alexander Mourelatos
Student reviews of Alexander Mourelatos
Review from a student who took none
Dear Sirs and Madams, My first mentor was Dr. Robert Elliott Allinson who now teaches at SOKA University in southern California, but who taught Oriental Philosophy in Hong Kong from 1977 until about 2005. He was a student of Dr. Alexander Mourelatos while he was a Phd candidate at the University of Texas from 1964 to 1971. Dr. Allinson's first mentor was Dr. James Allyn "Pete" Diefenbeck (1917-2005)(Harvard Phd 1950) who taught the History of Western Philosophy, The Philosophy of History and (R. G. Collingwood/Benedetto Croce's)Aesthetics at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Diefenbeck was an impeccably honest philosopher, a first rate mind, and probably the best western philosopher America ever produced. As regards Dr. Mourelatos, both Drs. Allinson and Diefenbeck used to talk about Parmenides and Heracleitus, and I recall a book by Dr. Mourelatos on Heracleitus. I see he also has books on Parmenides. From Dr. Allinson I heard him say once, that "All of western philosophy is descended from two pre-Socratic philosophers: Parmenides and Heracleitus." From Dr. Diefenbeck, "Parmenides thought that the Truth was One, Absolute, Eternal, Transcendent, Transpersonal, and Spherical." "Parmenides is the grandfather of modern rationalism." From Allinson, "Heracleitus said that we cannot step twice into the same river." Basically, for Parmenides, Truth is Permanent. For Heracleitus, Nothing is Permanent. Everything flows. Dr. Allinson teaches Buddhism where nothing is permanent, some things are temporary, but basically, there is no permanent soul, no permanent ego, and all that exists is a process in the present moment consisting of flashes of energy which are inconceivably rapid, like lightning flashes, called fulgurations. Everything is changing, differing only in the rate of change, not the fact of change. Thus, it is a Heracleitan world. I would say, in all fairness, that Dr. Mourelatos is a very great scholar, a very great teacher, and that Dr. Allinson used to tell me I should call him about attending U-Texas at Austin. Since the APA did not recommend pursuing a Phd in Philosophy I must confess I never did make that call. I have since regretted that decision, since I would love nothing better than to teach philosophy for a living. Alas, Dr. Diefenbeck told me in 1980 that there were no new teaching jobs for the next ten years, and that it was not worth borrowing the money to finish a MA in Philosophy. I would like to think that Dr. Mourelatos would have helped me overcome that problem, and that today I would be employed as a philosophy professor. Since to be a success in this life we must love our jobs, and make our work like play, as well as have a passion for what we like, I suspect that I could do no better than to spend the rest of my life studying under Dr. Mourelatos in Austin. I trust the reader will check my professors out on Amazon.com or Google their names. I have a review there for them, as D.A. Russo. All hail Dr. Mourelatos!
Dear Sirs and Madams, My first mentor was Dr. Robert Elliott Allinson who now teaches at SOKA University in southern California, but who taught Oriental Philosophy in Hong Kong from 1977 until about 2005. He was a student of Dr. Alexander Mourelatos while he was a Phd candidate at the University of Texas from 1964 to 1971. Dr. Allinson's first mentor was Dr. James Allyn "Pete" Diefenbeck (1917-2005)(Harvard Phd 1950) who taught the History of Western Philosophy, The Philosophy of History and (R. G. Collingwood/Benedetto Croce's)Aesthetics at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Diefenbeck was an impeccably honest philosopher, a first rate mind, and probably the best western philosopher America ever produced. As regards Dr. Mourelatos, both Drs. Allinson and Diefenbeck used to talk about Parmenides and Heracleitus, and I recall a book by Dr. Mourelatos on Heracleitus. I see he also has books on Parmenides. From Dr. Allinson I heard him say once, that "All of western philosophy is descended from two pre-Socratic philosophers: Parmenides and Heracleitus." From Dr. Diefenbeck, "Parmenides thought that the Truth was One, Absolute, Eternal, Transcendent, Transpersonal, and Spherical." "Parmenides is the grandfather of modern rationalism." From Allinson, "Heracleitus said that we cannot step twice into the same river." Basically, for Parmenides, Truth is Permanent. For Heracleitus, Nothing is Permanent. Everything flows. Dr. Allinson teaches Buddhism where nothing is permanent, some things are temporary, but basically, there is no permanent soul, no permanent ego, and all that exists is a process in the present moment consisting of flashes of energy which are inconceivably rapid, like lightning flashes, called fulgurations. Everything is changing, differing only in the rate of change, not the fact of change. Thus, it is a Heracleitan world. I would say, in all fairness, that Dr. Mourelatos is a very great scholar, a very great teacher, and that Dr. Allinson used to tell me I should call him about attending U-Texas at Austin. Since the APA did not recommend pursuing a Phd in Philosophy I must confess I never did make that call. I have since regretted that decision, since I would love nothing better than to teach philosophy for a living. Alas, Dr. Diefenbeck told me in 1980 that there were no new teaching jobs for the next ten years, and that it was not worth borrowing the money to finish a MA in Philosophy. I would like to think that Dr. Mourelatos would have helped me overcome that problem, and that today I would be employed as a philosophy professor. Since to be a success in this life we must love our jobs, and make our work like play, as well as have a passion for what we like, I suspect that I could do no better than to spend the rest of my life studying under Dr. Mourelatos in Austin. I trust the reader will check my professors out on Amazon.com or Google their names. I have a review there for them, as D.A. Russo. All hail Dr. Mourelatos!