Sgt. Marion Lester Lawson (Special Forces, Korean Conflict)

My dad was in the the military during the Korean Conflict. Today, he would be known as a Green Beret. Below is a coffee cup I thought I had lost that he bought for me me when I was 8 years old. I infrequently get manic and give away stuff that I actually love.

You can visit my dad's memorial online here. Veteran's Affairs has thoughtfully put his grave online, which is nice because I don't have to go all the way to Texas to put a daisy wreath on his grave. I've put some weird stuff on it, but I've also put some really great stories on it. 

Everyone who knew him has different stories to tell--some good, some bad. Above is a picture of my dad and my daughter on the day he cooked buffalo burgers and grilled corn on the cobb that he grew himself.

When I was older, my dad had the bracelet below engraved for me. I thought I had lost that, too. 

It says "Jennifer" on one side, and "Dad" on the other. My dad's song for me was "The Yellow Rose of Texas."

 

Writing Advice From Me: Stetson University Honors Convocations: First Prize in Poetry & Prose

Some philosophers, including me, think we should write better, and have more--and perhaps more descriptive--terms in philosophy, such as moral or character terms. 

I took an admissions entrance exam for placement at then-DBCC. I scored gifted in English and remedial in Mathematics. I was a savant. A lot of gifted people are "lopsided."

I took the remedial Math classes. I loved my Math professors. 

At Stetson, I entered writing competitions. I won First Prize in Poetry and/or Poetry and Prose from the years 2002-2004. I wasn't even an English major, and the competition was related to Women and Gender Studies.

In the Stetson Archives, I can only find 2 years of my awards, 2002 and 2004.

I graduated in 2004, but didn't walk. I only walked at my high school graduation. Contrary to popular belief, I don't love the limelight, and don't like to brag.

My tips for better writing? It's better than Stephen King's. He says in "On Writing" that he's born with it, so give up.

My Tips:

Listen to music.

Listen to poetry. I suggest the book/CD combo "Poetry Speaks."

Notice interesting words, sensations or images. Capture them for later.

It sounds cliché, but try to find your voice. It took me a long time to do that. I found my voice after hearing so many other voices in music, poetry, philosophy, politics, etc.

Learning is actual work. You CAN get better at things.

Now, buy my new memoir!

Exclusive! Photo (2003) and Undergraduate Philosophy Thesis (2004)

To read my entire philosophy undergraduate thesis, go to the Stetson University Archives. Stetson University and I hold all copyrights, and it may not be reproduced without permission.

The photo below is a picture of me when I was doing my research. I did field work in addition to reading hundreds of books. I am wearing a shirt I purchased from a Native American business. Photo Credit: Jason Michael Frazier.

Professional, Academic "About Me"

This is my profile on academia.edu. A lot of scholars and academics write theirs very differently. I wrote mine like this so upcoming students would know they are not alone.

-Jennifer

My name is Jennifer Lee Lawson. I was a teen mom. I began my academic career at a community college, Daytona Beach Community College, then transferred to Stetson University (04). I went there because it was the highest ranking school I could commute to. I studied philosophy and psychology.  I tried my best and began carrying a philosophy encyclopedia with me so I could look up terms to this new language. I also studied psychology there.

For some reason I had a dream of going to grad school. I took a year off after undergrad and thought, read books and got ready.

I attended UNF for grad school. I'm glad they gave me a chance. I decided I'd try to make A's. I did make A's. I didn’t care about grades as an undergraduate. I only cared about learning course content. I still cared about course content—and way more than basic course content—in grad school.

While at UNF, I co-edited an academic blog, The Florida Student Philosophy Blog That's how I really got opened up to the wide world of philosophy.  Thank you, Dr. Rico Vitz and fellow bloggers!

At UNF, they were kind enough to allow me to teach Intro to Philosophy. I really wanted to do it and loved it. I thought and read deeply and broadly on a variety of topics I taught.

I was also an RA for the book Reading Bernard Williams (Ed. Daniel Callcut). I don't know if I did well. It was really my first time with academic publications, but I was called a “superb research assistant” in the acknowledgments.

Later, I was the infamous "Reviewer Two"  for several years for an international journal on logic, metaphysics, and language. I edited Saul Kripke, among other great philosophers.

I had some health issues. I had to take time off before finally graduating with my MA (2023).

Adolf Hitler's Art vs. My Art

I invite you to think for a moment about artists and their art. I'm vulnerable doing this because I am an artist. However, I am also primarily a philosopher.

This talk by Dr. Daniel Callcut ends on a pertinent note: We don't want our artistic heroes to be evil.

Adolf Hitler was evil. He was also a painter. What I want to point out is that, contained in his artwork, are the ideas he implemented as the epitome of evil: The originator and, ultimately, commander of The Holocaust. Take a look at this painting by Adolf Hitler:

  Now, look at what I consider one of my best, recent photographs, "Lady in Waiting":

Adolf Hitler and I use a similar color scheme. We both use plant life as beautiful ideals. We both use alabaster--on the Lady's legs (which is me), and on Hitler's pathways and architecture. 

In art, one ideal of beauty is placing interest is in the upper, righthand side of the piece of art. Hitler uses this. Note the two spires on the right of his painting which do not appear on the left. Hitler's painting also gives off a sterile image of perfection, which my photo, with my dirty yet shapely feet and legs, randomly fallen leaves, and fuzzy light, reject. The mood of my photograph is romantic and sad, as if the Lady (me) longs for a lover. Yet, Hitler's sterile mood is applied to the whole of reality. It is as if his mind is shaping reality; whereas my photograph finds a woman in a setting that hasn't been touched by humans for a long time.

A viewer could imagine The Lady's sadness. To imagine any emotion viewing Hitler's painting, one must look at the small man in the bottom left corner, whom we can imagine is the author of Mein Kampf.

Can an evil person be a good artist? I do not know. But if they can, fuck 'em.

Frege, Merriam Webster, and "Trans Woman"

According to Frege's "Sense and Reference," reference is the proper name of an object. Sense is what the name expresses. An object's proper name--it's reference--is it's truth value. That is, in one way of understanding, the fact that it exists; it is true. A proper name refers to an object in reality. 

Over decades now, we have come to an actual dictionary definition of "trans woman." This definition, on Frege's terms, is its sense. What, then, is this definition people keep debating? It is this:

trans woman

noun

pluraltrans women

: a transgender woman : a woman who was identified as male at birth

What, then, shall we make of all of this? Trans women, obviously, exist in reality. Moreover, they are women who are identified as male at birth. This is the sense and reference of "trans woman" in English, possibly the most flexible, moving, and growing language in the year 2024.

 I believe in cyberprivacy. I do not use your data for anything.