Jacob Tries to Raise His Genius

Lately, Jacob has started to take books off the living room bookshelves and flip through them. These books are Mommy and Daddy's collection, including many works from my days as a philosophy graduate student. I caught Jacob in the act with one particular volume:

What, where are the pictures?

The book in the photo is Aristotle: On Interpretation, Commentary by St. Thomas and Cajetan. Maybe he is looking for ways to interpret what we tell him in a more favorable light. Parent says, "Jacob, finish eating your vegetables." Jacob says, "If I don't eat any more, then I am finished." We better put that book on a higher shelf.

He has also pulled down several volumes from the Loeb Classical Library series. In case you don't know, this series is famous for having the original Latin or Greek text on the left-hand page and an English translation on the right-hand page. Since it is just as easy for Jacob to read Greek and Latin as he reads English, the books provide no additional challenge to him. Wanting to know about souls and breath sounds awfully Frankensteinian to me. Luckily, Aristotle doesn't mess around with the occult or mad science. Jacob will need to do more research. I'll keep a close eye on him next time we go to the library. Or when he is trying to get new videos on YouTube.