2020-12-22 >The YA novelist Maggie Stiefvater says that mood is more foundational to a story than the idea or the plot. The reader engages with the novel because she wants to feel something. >A Kant scholar once told me how she was totally disgusted by Kant as an undergrad, when she took a course on the Critiques, and could not make head or tail of it, but then she read the [[Ref. Immanuel Kant 1788 - The Critique of Practical Reason (Gregor-Reath 2015 translation)#^zw8w0b5s9om|conclusion of the Second Critique]] (about how the starry skies above him and the moral law within him fill Kant's mind with admiration and awe). She said to herself "Someone who can write something so moving must have interesting things to say. I must try again". This is how her journey with Kant's work began. >The moods and emotions evoked by these and many other philosophical writings are essential to their enduring appeal and also play a role in how we appraise them. They are what makes reading philosophy a delight. > — https://philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog/2020/12/in-the-mood-for-philosophy-on-the-importance-of-setting-the-mood-for-philosophical-thinking.html (edited) [[Related notes]] ([[Ref. Immanuel Kant 1788 - The Critique of Practical Reason (Gregor-Reath 2015 translation)]], [[Kant's 3 three critiques]]) # [[Journal section]] ### 2020-12-22 I think the "mood" on my team at work is a little frantic, and it doesn't need to be. What are some examples of a mood a leader might cultivate? - [I chose to come here]. An essay for my team at FB. To set the mood. An essay of pride and optimism Build spirit. I chose to come here because I care, and I think this is the best place in the world to care. Another way to put it might be something like: 'we're here with a purpose'. - [We can actually do this] Another mood that a good leader could create, when appropriate.