Philosophy

Donte' Stallworth rides with the philosophers of life in his quiet moments, but he runs with the cornerbacks for a living in the raucous world of the NFL. The Ravens veteran wide receiver is as conversant on Carl Jung or William Shakespeare as he is on Vontae Davis, Jason Allen or Sean Smith, the trio of Miami Dolphins' cornerbacks that he'll likely run up against Sunday in M&T Bank Stadium. The former psychology major at Tennessee has taken to tweeting inspirational messages from philosophers and famous authors, including Jung ("Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.

UMBC (3-4) snapped a two-game losing skid with a 16-12 victory over America East rival Hartford Saturday and is 1-1 on the road this season. Towson (6-3) has strung together four consecutive wins and is 3-1 at home. The host Tigers own a 27-15 advantage in the all-time series, but the Retrievers have claimed four of the last five meetings. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson on Wednesday night. 1) Towson's shot selection.

It is good to see a Democrat - Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot - who does not pay homage to the tax and spend (as much as they can get away with) economic philosophy of the left ("Franchot drifts right," Dec. 26). Hopefully, he is keeping our alabaster nanny, Gov. Martin O'Malley, awake at nights. Common sense (and not political vote buying) has to prevail at some point. Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville

The first round of the 2012 NFL draft is three weeks away, and the Ravens have a similar list of needs as they did when free agency began four weeks ago. In some cases, like with the offensive line, their holes have become even more pronounced. The Ravens don't have an experienced left guard or long-term answers at center or left tackle. They also haven't added an impact pass rusher, another wide receiver or an explosive kick returner. And they haven't addressed depth concerns at running back, linebacker, defensive line and safety.

EACH OF us lives with a sword over his head. Martin O'Malley is Robert Ehrlich's. The mayor of Baltimore stepped into the swarming crowd on the main floor of the State House the other day, and drew an endless line of reporters and television cameras. The governor of Maryland, meanwhile, descended a wide staircase with a sizable entourage bundled around him, and barely a head turned. This is a snapshot, not an exact popular measurement. Both men have star quality. But the moment tells us, as the General Assembly begins to get serious this week, that there is more than one person with a voice waiting to be heard - and more than one point of view.

There was good news and bad news last week following the report that on any given day well over half of the city's young black men are either in jail, in court, on parole or being sought by police.The heartening aspect of this dismal finding was that the city's fathers proved themselves to be intelligent and sensitive men.They didn't deny the findings, they didn't quibble over numbers, they didn't rage about some conspiracy to make them look bad. Instead, the mayor, the chief of police and the city state's attorney joined in our lamentations.

About a month ago, the Ravens revealed a new philosophy at the end-of-the-season news conference in which they stated they wouldn't mortgage the future for the present. Yesterday, they stayed with that approach, basically allowing Pro Bowl outside linebacker Adalius Thomas to become an unrestricted free agent. The Ravens had until 4 p.m. yesterday to put the franchise tag on Thomas or allow him to begin negotiating with other teams next Friday, and they chose to let Thomas test his value.

"FOR THE Love of Wisdom," a philosophy telecourse taught by Howard Community College philosophy Professor Helen B. Mitchell, will be available nationally this spring.Cable Eight, the Howard Community College station that produced the course, is completing details on a distribution agreement with the Public Broadcasting System Adult Learning Satellite Service.The telecourse, introduced locally last fall, is based on Mitchell's textbook, "Roots of Wisdom," and an accompanying reader, "Roots of World Wisdom."

Arthur G. Madden, 90, philosophy professor Arthur G. Madden, a retired philosophy professor at Towson University and in Loyola College's evening division, died of renal failure Friday at his home in Sea Girt, N.J. He was 90. Born in New York City, Dr. Madden earned his master's degree from Columbia University and his doctorate from Fordham University and began his teaching career at St. Peter's Preparatory School in New Jersey. He moved to the Baltimore area after joining the faculty of Mount St. Agnes College as a philosophy professor in 1943.

Every Monday, in the bowels of the maximum-security Maryland Penitentiary, Drew Leder talks with inmates about power and drug tests, rehabilitation and stiff prison penalties, violence and forgiveness.For the prisoners, the class helps them learn how to be free, even within the prison's grim stone walls.For the Loyola College philosophy professor, these dialogues are a way to test what he has learned from great philosophers.Personal growth, intellectual pursuit and social reform are one and the same for Dr. Leder.

Robert Lane Greene (@lanegreene) tweeted plaintively yesterday: "Sitting here looking at an infinitive that I absolutely must split. But Econ style book, even though we know the rule is bogus, won't let me. " This is the rule, from The Economist 's style guide: "Happy the man who has never been told that it is wrong to split an infinitive: the ban is pointless. Unfortunately, to see it broken is so annoying to so many people that you should observe it. " Jonathon Owen (@ArrantPedantry)

As the only team in Division I to score at least 10 goals in each game this season, No. 7 Loyola (8-0) has garnered a lot of attention for its ability to score, tying No. 2 Virginia for fifth in the country in offense (13.0 goals per game). The group has been just as proficient sharing the ball, leading the nation in assists per game with 9.0. Those numbers have been aided by the presence of attackmen Mike Sawyer (29 goals) and Eric Lusby (24), but coach Charley Toomey said offensive coordinator Dan Chemotti has done much to refine the offense.

It is good to see a Democrat - Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot - who does not pay homage to the tax and spend (as much as they can get away with) economic philosophy of the left ("Franchot drifts right," Dec. 26). Hopefully, he is keeping our alabaster nanny, Gov. Martin O'Malley, awake at nights. Common sense (and not political vote buying) has to prevail at some point. Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville

Jimmy Patsos was in his first season at Loyola when Pat Kennedy, then entering his second year at Towson and coming off a 5-24 season, proclaimed the Tigers to be Baltimore's college basketball team. Other local coaches might have chuckled at Kennedy's remark, but Patsos, raised near the chips on the shoulders of Gary Williams, took it as a personal challenge. "The last I looked," Patsos said at the time, " we're in Baltimore. " But deep down, Patsos knew that Loyola could have been on Mars when it came to Baltimore players.

In the lexicon of Navy football, they are called "loafs" — as in loafing. On defense, they come when linemen don't converge on a quarterback whose pocket has broken down; or when linebackers stop their pursuit of a running back about to break through for a big gain; or when a cornerback or safety thinks the other is going to bring down a receiver who just made a catch in the middle of the field. Making tackles on those types of plays has typically been at the root of Navy's success defensively in recent years.

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 election, but have become increasingly disillusioned with his lack of strong leadership on the economy, jobs and Israel. However, the platform of the Republican leadership causes me even greater disappointment. Their entire reason for being seems to be opposing Mr. Obama, no matter what the issue is. This philosophy has developed a vitriol in our politics that is paralyzing our government. No one person or party is all wrong all the time. Consequently, the Republican stance will require me to support Mr. Obama again in 2012.

The shingle outside the Rev. Peter Bramble's office might read "church rector," but his influence goes far beyond the pulpit of St. Katherine of Alexandria Episcopal Church in West Baltimore. The 46-year-old native of Montserrat in the West Indies has left remnants of his community activism all over Baltimore since he became the first black pastor of the little church at Presstman and Division streets 15 years ago.Hard-working and visionary, Mr. Bramble has had a hand in everything from running grocery stores to building housing.

The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of a Universe Michael Frayn Metropolitan Books / 506 pages / $32.50 Michael Frayn is known as a playwright (Noises Off, Copenhagen) and novelist (Headlong, Spies). But this prolific British author is also a philosopher, having studied philosophy at Cambridge in the 1950s. The Human Touch is a profound, personal account of his work on a range of topics, beginning (and ending) with the philosophy of consciousness and passing through the nature of physical law, the problem of free will, the relationship of language and thought to reality and the origin of the universe.

Donald McColl was ready to start his PowerPoint presentation on the questionable origin of some early Christian artworks, but the equipment was acting up. A student asked, "Does anyone have a paper clip?" It was a joke. No one has a paper clip in prison. This summer, a caravan of scholars and students has been traveling 65 miles from the rustic Chestertown campus of Washington College to the barbed-wire fortress of Jessup Correctional Institution to teach ethics to prisoners.

Chances are that if you drank a cup of coffee recently at the Bean Hollow Cafe in Ellicott City you sipped that steaming brew from a mug made by Greenbridge Pottery in Dayton. It feels good to support a local business or two. What feels even better is knowing that every time a mug or a plate or a yarn bowl is purchased directly from Greenbridge Pottery, a portion of the sale helps others in our community and around the world. It's called social enterprise. “We were making pottery to make ourselves and our customers happy by trying to make something useful and beautiful.