Tag Archives: David Bessis

Organ Recital

February 14, 2026 – 7:59 am

Trigger warnings for this post:

  1. Suffering and pain.
  2. Cessation of life.
  3. Mathematics.

After the post of December 9, for some reason I wanted to record here a surgical operation in 2019. Then I became preoccupied with mathematics.

Against a concave white wall, a line of rough masks, two eye-holes each, made of tree bark
Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, “Dendrologia,” 2023; part of an exhibit called Phantom Quartet at Arter Istanbul, visited Wednesday, February 4, 2026. The bark of the masks is said to be taken from dead trees on the Isle of Vassivière in the artificial Lac de Vassivière, Limousin, France

On the subject of mathematics, let me take the opportunity to recommend “The Tool/Weapon Duality of Mathematics,” by Alexandre Borovik, recently published in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (volume 16, number 1, January 2026; pages 365–392). Continue reading →

By David Pierce | Posted in Istanbul, Plato, Principles of Art, Turkey | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Homicide

December 9, 2025 – 9:11 am

I understand homicide to be the killing of a human being, be it in murder, warfare, punishment, accident, euthanasia, or suicide.

Sculpture of seated female nude, from the front, head turned left, arms draped over raised left knee, right leg crossing underneath

Sculpture by Iraida Barry (born 1899, Sevastopol; died 1981, Istanbul) at the Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture, connected with Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (where I have been working); visited December 2, 2025

Some jurisdictions have recognized, or may recognize, a freedom

  • to kill oneself,
  • to get somebody else’s help in this, or
  • to have that person do the job completely.

Freedom is good, but can be misunderstood and abused. For one thing, freedom of choice is not freedom of will. Some choices are made with an impaired will – as Plato has Socrates point out to Cephalus in Book I of the Republic.

Continue reading →

By David Pierce | Posted in Poetry | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)