We here at MH Blog would like to extend a hearty welcome to Patrick S. O'Donnell, who will be joining us as a guest-blogger. Patrick has led a fascinating life, to say the least. After earning a M.A. in religious studies, he worked in construction, and then for over a decade as a finish carpenter. One of his former instructors at University of California Santa Barbara, Nandini Iyer, wife of the late Raghavan Iyer, and mother of the travel writer, novelist, and Time essayist, Pico Iyer, asked him to fill in for her while she went on sabbatical.
Soon enough, Santa Barbara City College realized what it had on its hands, and asked Patrick to hang up his toolbelt and teach classes in Comparative World Religions and Critical Thinking. He has also taught courses in Political Thinking and in Animal Ethics. He names as mentors two scholars whose work I am well acquainted with, in Dennis Patterson and Oliver Leaman. His current interests include ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, and he is also cultivating interests in philosophy of mind, and, of course, medical humanities.
Like Jeff Lipshaw, I've had the pleasure of "meeting" Patrick in the comments of various blogs I haunt, and a more knowledgeable, insightful, well-read, and decorous interlocutor I have yet to find. Welcome, Patrick!
Thanks Daniel for the very generous and gracious introduction. I hope to have something up by the end of the weekend (PST!).
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | August 04, 2007 at 08:40 AM