The human-canine social contract

… Human beings have been looking affectionately at dogs for thousands of years — and dogs have been looking back with the same devotion. That’s the subject of a handsome work of scholarship by Thomas W. Laqueur called The Dog’s Gaze: A Visual History (forthcoming June 2, just before Father’s Day). In this lavishly illustrated book, filled with color reproductions of paintings and photographs, Laqueur explores how dogs sit, stay, and roll over in Western art — from paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, and Winslow Homer to images from the modern era. Of course, these animals are often symbols of loyalty or faithfulness, but further examination shows their iconography to be as rich and varied as the genealogy of a Schnoodle-Pomski-Chuggle-Malshipoo. “Dogs appear in art as part of a social contract,” Laqueur writes. “They see us, and we see them; and we engage with the world together.” … Ron Charles https://open.substack.com/pub/roncharles/p/what-dogs-see-what-we-see-in-them?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios

A “great” moment in Fantasyland

https://substack.com/@kurtbandersen/note/c-244368359?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

If only…

“Planet Earth: you are a crew.” https://www.threads.com/@amullen010/post/DXAZsdVCJ_I?xmt=AQF0hawIfoJLxxxeV1KEnbll8-U7XsbdVhVnOffS6gaPo2L1IuXgp4xP27mi58rj7Jdr2uE&slof=1

Artemis launch from the air

https://www.threads.com/@mollymagee011/post/DWq3H9QDnfo?xmt=AQF0a6zRiaPDaGgsNVLixGSo5Rq36d5B-xDxaocA6aocTSak8hdLWG6zOj_kAThQ8BldfNhS&slof=

Opening Day!

https://www.threads.com/@horns98/post/DWVUmaIk6ZG?xmt=AQF0xSem_VY0I5I5hyJvAgWdPiL-IeRtxVP4R5hBa6DPJHAE9BUq7zivgOxV68-FW12NCijM&slof=1

I Am An American Philosopher: Phil Oliver – Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy

https://american-philosophy.org/i-am-an-american-philosopher-interview-series/i-am-an-american-philosopher-phil-oliver/

Librarians on the front lines defending 1st amendment

RCLS library director refuses to comply with board's book restrictions; faces disciplinary action or termination on March 30

Rutherford County Library System (RCLS) director Luanne James emailed members of the RCLS board on Wednesday, March 18, stating her refusal to comply with the board's March 16 vote to restrict access to more than 100 children's books. A copy of that email was obtained through an open records request by the library advocacy group Rutherford County Library Alliance. It is included below as a PDF.

Luanne James's email to RCLS Board - 18 March 2026

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RCLS chair Cody York has scheduled a special board meeting for March 30 to discuss disciplinary action for Ms. James. The Daily News Journal reports that York said, "As chair, I believe this matter warrants serious disciplinary consideration, up to and including termination." The special-called meeting will take place at 5 p.m. at the Rutherford County Historic Courthouse. It will be open to the public.

https://open.substack.com/pub/indecentlibraries/p/rcls-library-director-refuses-to?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

“don’t die of philosophy”

"What we can be certain of in science is not its metaphysical assumptions but its physical achievements; the steamship, the airplane, and public sanitation are a little more real than this effervescence of test tubes into philosophy. Take a night flight over New York, and feel the reckless courage and power of these machines called men; accept without apology the thrill of peril and speed; rejoice over the realities of science, and smile at its transcendental theories.

There is no knowable limit to what this trousered ape will do with his multiplying discoveries; doubtless he will some day throw his engines around the stars, and deport his criminals to Betelgeuse. If you insist upon dying, undertake tasks of some danger and use in adding to these discoveries; risk yourself in medical or mechanical experiment, and give some significance to your life and death. But whatever you do, don't die of philosophy."

— On the Meaning of Life by Will Durant (1931)
https://a.co/08F4flqL

(The author was writing to a man who'd threatened suicide after reading Herbert Spencer's " mechanical philosophy… a relic of his mid-Victorian simplicity")

Santayana’s joy

"It was Spring. The warm sunshine and soft breezes were trying to lure students away from their classes. Santayana was seated at his desk reading to his students. His listeners were sitting, or reclining, in various attitudes of inattention. Santayana's voice trailed off, his eyes traveled over his students, and fixed themselves on a tree which grew outside the window. Its leaves were small and tender, and of the green green of new leaves. Santayana closed the book. A short silence elapsed. He rose, and said: "Gentlemen, it is Spring!" He took his hat and never returned.

I hope this story is true. I hope he went away, got on his one track, and has been going along happily ever since. He is (I imagine) in his restlessness seeking something, something which will explain beauty and perfection. He derives his joy (I imagine) from the ceaseless activity which goes with the quest."

— On the Meaning of Life by Will Durant
https://a.co/07VcOEJq

Peripatetic in every sense of the word

"I love to travel. I love to see new places, to discover the history, the artefacts, the culture, the back story behind so much of our world. I've often said that my favourite place in the world is the departure lounge, because then I know I'm on my way somewhere. Although equally my favourite means of transport are still my own two feet or a bicycle." — Tony Wheeler

— The Meaning of Life: Answers to Life's Biggest Questions from the World's Most Extraordinary People by James Bailey
https://a.co/03PNWchh