Things don't turn up in the world until somebody turns them up.
President James Garfield
**************************
Hello Frosty
**************************
James Garfield, Republican, was the 20th President of the United States. He had a long and active career in politics before narrowly defeating his Democratic rival for the Presidency. Unfortunately he was the victim of assassination shortly after taking office.
Garfield once said that the best university is a log, with you on one end and your professor on the other. These days it would probably be a park bench, but the image still holds true.
I once read a book in which a professor gave a final exam to his graduate student while the two of them were riding in an elevator. If both professor and student know the subject thoroughly the right questions will bring the answers and once the answers are known the questions become unimportant. As Susan Sontag wrote "The only interesting answers are those which destroy the questions."
I loved to read philosophy, which calls itself a search for truth. In many ways however it is the search for questions. The right questions may provide the right answers. Socrates' persistent dialogues with his friends uncovered, turned up, many profound questions. But did they provide all the answers? I would say evidently not because philosophy didn't stop with Socrates or Plato.
Philosophy continued through the Roman, Greek and Arab civilizations, the Jews and Catholics of the Middle Ages in Europe on into the Age of Enlightenment, and on into the Modern World where there are philosophers in every country pondering the same old questions and turning up new ones.
Long may they dig.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
No. 1,896
Never Give Up
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Up The Mountain
The best use of philosophy is to open the door and invite a walk in the garden of thought.
Dana Bate
****************
Hello Diane
****************
"Watchman, tell us of the night."
When you stop thinking, night falls.
-------------------------------------
I enjoy reading philosophy (as I have said ad tedium). And I particularly like it when the philosophers don't agree with each other. There would be no point to philosophy or any form of original thought if they did.
Many philosophers through out the years of recorded history have started out on the journey as mathematicians, measuring the length, breadth and depth of human experience. And then a day comes when they reach the foot of the magic mountain of enlightenment or what they believe or hope is enlightenment and the climb begins. There may be only one summit but the choices of how to reach it are many. And that poses a problem for some people.
I know of a Museum of Philosophy that has a lot on interesting displays and biographical material about the world's philosophers But there is also a computer with a program that lets you answer a whole string of questions, and at the end will suggest a philosopher or two that best agree with your answers. It's a Find Your Own Philosopher game. The temptation is to then read that philosopher's works and none others. One thinks one has found his master and enlightenment is inevitable. But is it?
It's practically impossible to know at the beginning if that philosopher's trail up the magic mountain is a right one. Does it reach the summit or does it lead you into an intellectual gully? You won't know till you get there. The danger is to concentrate on your master's words and ideas to the exclusion of any conflicting thoughts. To follow in the footsteps of one only guru may lead to the green pastures of peace and knowledge. But by not challenging those footsteps as you go you may end up in the shadows.
Most of the inspired philosophers I have read, from Plato to recent times, all say, in one way or another, that the purpose of philosophy is not to tell you what to think or how to think but to get you to think for yourself. In other words there is a general acknowledgment that we are capable of exploring our own thinking, forming our own opinions and testing them out, making up our own minds. Original thought is the birthright of the human being,
That leads to another and even greater opportunity and obligation for the thinking person, the one who has accepted the responsibility of his own mentality. Somewhere along the pathway in that garden of thought are philosophers who know and warn that the issues of our lives are so much rooted in our thoughts that we ought to be careful about what we think. Hence the challenge to every aroma in the garden and every thought that passes through the air like a dandelion seed. And thus the discipline of looking ahead, deciding what you want and what you don't want and tracing them back to the thoughts which produce them.
The same watchman who guards the entrance to the garden is also the guide who can steer us to our right paths if we are awake, alert and thinking.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
***********************
Dana Bate
****************
Hello Diane
****************
"Watchman, tell us of the night."
When you stop thinking, night falls.
-------------------------------------
I enjoy reading philosophy (as I have said ad tedium). And I particularly like it when the philosophers don't agree with each other. There would be no point to philosophy or any form of original thought if they did.
Many philosophers through out the years of recorded history have started out on the journey as mathematicians, measuring the length, breadth and depth of human experience. And then a day comes when they reach the foot of the magic mountain of enlightenment or what they believe or hope is enlightenment and the climb begins. There may be only one summit but the choices of how to reach it are many. And that poses a problem for some people.
I know of a Museum of Philosophy that has a lot on interesting displays and biographical material about the world's philosophers But there is also a computer with a program that lets you answer a whole string of questions, and at the end will suggest a philosopher or two that best agree with your answers. It's a Find Your Own Philosopher game. The temptation is to then read that philosopher's works and none others. One thinks one has found his master and enlightenment is inevitable. But is it?
It's practically impossible to know at the beginning if that philosopher's trail up the magic mountain is a right one. Does it reach the summit or does it lead you into an intellectual gully? You won't know till you get there. The danger is to concentrate on your master's words and ideas to the exclusion of any conflicting thoughts. To follow in the footsteps of one only guru may lead to the green pastures of peace and knowledge. But by not challenging those footsteps as you go you may end up in the shadows.
Most of the inspired philosophers I have read, from Plato to recent times, all say, in one way or another, that the purpose of philosophy is not to tell you what to think or how to think but to get you to think for yourself. In other words there is a general acknowledgment that we are capable of exploring our own thinking, forming our own opinions and testing them out, making up our own minds. Original thought is the birthright of the human being,
That leads to another and even greater opportunity and obligation for the thinking person, the one who has accepted the responsibility of his own mentality. Somewhere along the pathway in that garden of thought are philosophers who know and warn that the issues of our lives are so much rooted in our thoughts that we ought to be careful about what we think. Hence the challenge to every aroma in the garden and every thought that passes through the air like a dandelion seed. And thus the discipline of looking ahead, deciding what you want and what you don't want and tracing them back to the thoughts which produce them.
The same watchman who guards the entrance to the garden is also the guide who can steer us to our right paths if we are awake, alert and thinking.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
***********************
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
By George
Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.
George Santayana
**********************
Hello Stuart
*********************
Philosophy is a deep pit which once you fall into it you might not get out. But it's walls are painted with fabulous and beautiful scenes. There are strange objects to discover, precious jewels and lights in a vast array of colors, some of them very bright. One of those who left his gems down in the pit was the Spanish philosopher Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás (George Santayana , 1863 - 1952).
As a philosopher Santayana was also a prophet. He was a naturalist before it was popular. He was a multiculturalist before it was popular. And he believed in philosophy as literature which eventually became the style of many American philosophers.
He wrote on art:
"An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world."
"Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humors."
"The degree in which a poet's imagination dominates reality is, in the end, the exact measure of his importance and dignity."
He wrote of knowledge:
"Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds."
"Knowledge is recognition of something absent, it is a salutation, not an embrace."
"I believe in general in a dualism between facts and the idea of those facts in the human head."
On living in general:
"Happiness is the only sanction of life; when happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment."
"Nothing can so pierce the soul as the uttermost sigh of the body."
"For gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity."
--------------------------------------------
I love philosophy and philosophers. If you want to know where I am, I'm down in the pit picking through more of Santayana's gems of wisdom.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
***************************
George Santayana
**********************
Hello Stuart
*********************
Philosophy is a deep pit which once you fall into it you might not get out. But it's walls are painted with fabulous and beautiful scenes. There are strange objects to discover, precious jewels and lights in a vast array of colors, some of them very bright. One of those who left his gems down in the pit was the Spanish philosopher Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás (George Santayana , 1863 - 1952).
As a philosopher Santayana was also a prophet. He was a naturalist before it was popular. He was a multiculturalist before it was popular. And he believed in philosophy as literature which eventually became the style of many American philosophers.
He wrote on art:
"An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world."
"Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humors."
"The degree in which a poet's imagination dominates reality is, in the end, the exact measure of his importance and dignity."
He wrote of knowledge:
"Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds."
"Knowledge is recognition of something absent, it is a salutation, not an embrace."
"I believe in general in a dualism between facts and the idea of those facts in the human head."
On living in general:
"Happiness is the only sanction of life; when happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment."
"Nothing can so pierce the soul as the uttermost sigh of the body."
"For gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity."
--------------------------------------------
I love philosophy and philosophers. If you want to know where I am, I'm down in the pit picking through more of Santayana's gems of wisdom.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
***************************
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Big Search
This is the 1,737th edition of Vagabond Journeys. You might think I'm making that up, but I'm not.
---------------------------------------
Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.
Blaise Pascal
***************
Hello Jon
***************
I don't read philosophy to discover truth. I read it to discover the ideas of some great thinkers who are also looking for it. I don't know what Pascal finds so restful about it. My search generally puts me in a mental turmoil. The universe of ideas is full of unanswered questions and some of them are vital.
The is the "Merry Month of May" and I am very sad today, not just because it's gray and gloomy, but also because, as one recent commenter wrote: someone stole something from me more valuable than money, and also because there are too many unanswered questions.
Normally facing the ironies and ambiguities of life gives me a chuckle. I haven't chuckled or had a good laugh in many days, make that months. I look forward to some joy in my life. Sophocles writes that there will come a time when we will never know joy again. I summarily reject that idea with a swift and sturdy kick in the ass. I believe we need to eliminate those things that rob us of our joy, and if it has to be done with a scalpel, a bull dozer or a moving van so be it.
The search for truth should be a vigorous activity. It involves, observation, study, investigation and reason, both inductive and deductive, and it's not for the squeamish.
I've heard it said that if you could understand a great work of art, a Michelangelo statue or a Dostoyevski novel, so thoroughly that you knew it better than the artist did, the experience would lead you to truth, because you would be getting in touch with the universal spirit of inspiration.
Another way is to assume there is a total, universal truth and then start looking for ways in which it expresses itself.
Neither of those ways sound restful to me. But maybe there's a third way Pascal knows about, which can be done sitting in a recliner, on the front porch, at the beach. I must read on.
As for that something someone stole from me that's more valuable than money? Money can be replaced, and so can that something. Joy is another thing that deserves a sincere search. I believe it.
Remember, there is nothing that can stop, block, obstruct, delay, deflate or divert the blessing that is yours today.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*************************
---------------------------------------
Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.
Blaise Pascal
***************
Hello Jon
***************
I don't read philosophy to discover truth. I read it to discover the ideas of some great thinkers who are also looking for it. I don't know what Pascal finds so restful about it. My search generally puts me in a mental turmoil. The universe of ideas is full of unanswered questions and some of them are vital.
The is the "Merry Month of May" and I am very sad today, not just because it's gray and gloomy, but also because, as one recent commenter wrote: someone stole something from me more valuable than money, and also because there are too many unanswered questions.
Normally facing the ironies and ambiguities of life gives me a chuckle. I haven't chuckled or had a good laugh in many days, make that months. I look forward to some joy in my life. Sophocles writes that there will come a time when we will never know joy again. I summarily reject that idea with a swift and sturdy kick in the ass. I believe we need to eliminate those things that rob us of our joy, and if it has to be done with a scalpel, a bull dozer or a moving van so be it.
The search for truth should be a vigorous activity. It involves, observation, study, investigation and reason, both inductive and deductive, and it's not for the squeamish.
I've heard it said that if you could understand a great work of art, a Michelangelo statue or a Dostoyevski novel, so thoroughly that you knew it better than the artist did, the experience would lead you to truth, because you would be getting in touch with the universal spirit of inspiration.
Another way is to assume there is a total, universal truth and then start looking for ways in which it expresses itself.
Neither of those ways sound restful to me. But maybe there's a third way Pascal knows about, which can be done sitting in a recliner, on the front porch, at the beach. I must read on.
As for that something someone stole from me that's more valuable than money? Money can be replaced, and so can that something. Joy is another thing that deserves a sincere search. I believe it.
Remember, there is nothing that can stop, block, obstruct, delay, deflate or divert the blessing that is yours today.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*************************
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Equation
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
Umberto Eco
********************
"Life's perhaps the only riddle that we shrink from giving up."
(W. S. Gilbert)
Umberto Eco is a great novelist in my opinion. I've read "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum" (twice). I don't read many novels. But I do read a lot of philosophy, history, psychology and science. Novelists can invent the universe to suit themselves. Philosophers and historians can't. They can only engage in the "mad attempt" to interpret the universe. It is those attempts that make life interesting for me.,
One philosopher attempts to describe the history of the human race through etymology, another through the growth and search for food, another from the perspective of religious beliefs. The future of mankind is perceived in the test tube, or the telescope. Destiny, tautology, or transfiguration. Is the next era defined by robotics or the development of nutrition, or both?
Hanging over the head of all this scholarship is a dilemma. Is there a final answer? Is there a universal law, a universal panacea, a universal equation that explains everything and makes it go away?
It may be a futile search for that "underlying truth" but it is also a "riddle that we shrink from giving up." As long as the search goes on there will be those who write about it, and they are the ones who keep me up at night.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*********************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
The new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for mine.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain.
Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish or associate with this new year.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 12 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Umberto Eco
********************
"Life's perhaps the only riddle that we shrink from giving up."
(W. S. Gilbert)
Umberto Eco is a great novelist in my opinion. I've read "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum" (twice). I don't read many novels. But I do read a lot of philosophy, history, psychology and science. Novelists can invent the universe to suit themselves. Philosophers and historians can't. They can only engage in the "mad attempt" to interpret the universe. It is those attempts that make life interesting for me.,
One philosopher attempts to describe the history of the human race through etymology, another through the growth and search for food, another from the perspective of religious beliefs. The future of mankind is perceived in the test tube, or the telescope. Destiny, tautology, or transfiguration. Is the next era defined by robotics or the development of nutrition, or both?
Hanging over the head of all this scholarship is a dilemma. Is there a final answer? Is there a universal law, a universal panacea, a universal equation that explains everything and makes it go away?
It may be a futile search for that "underlying truth" but it is also a "riddle that we shrink from giving up." As long as the search goes on there will be those who write about it, and they are the ones who keep me up at night.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*********************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
The new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for mine.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain.
Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish or associate with this new year.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 12 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
What Is Art?
A concept is stronger than a fact.
Charlotte Gilman
*********************
I'm an artist who reads philosophy. Thus I'm faced with a complex dilemma, a group of questions that spray out and point in several directions like an open hand.
There is a branch of philosophy called Aesthetics, the study of Art in all its functions. I wouldn't want to see a philosopher or any thinker forced into the position of having to define Art. What is Art? That question is harder to answer, perhaps, than What is Science? Although there are similarities. To observe nature, make discoveries and articulate what you find could just as easily describe a poet as a scientist. The concept is the difference. That's all.
A fact is a simple thing, a goad to push us to discover more facts. A concept it a carrot dangling temptingly in front of us. It's a scientific theory, an artistic dream, an unanswered question, the source and fuel of all creative thinking.
So philosophers address themselves to questions such as, When is it art and when is it not art? or What is the proper process for observing and enjoying a work of art and how does that relate to the overall human experience? or How well does the work of art convey it's message? or How well has the artist conceived and articulated his ideas? This last question inevitably causes the philosopher to slip on the unseen banana peel and fall into the nasty world of criticism.
There are art critics, music critics, dance critics, restaurant critics, drama critics, even architecture critics and, of course, literary critics. That last is the only legitimate form of criticism is my opinion. A person who doesn't dance has no business being a dance critic. In my own experience I have had to groan through drama reviews written by critics who had no idea what they were writing about. Every respectable philosopher does well to stay out of the pit of criticism. Most philosophers tend to spend a lot of time criticizing each other, which is fine. That's exactly where they should be. It is in the statement, rebuttal and exchange of ideas that the vigor of philosophy exists.
The purpose of philosophy is to pursue and discover the truth, as it is with art and science, and should be but, alas, is not with other important human endeavors. Socrates considered philosophy to be the greatest of the arts. From that perspective then isn't the study of philosophy the same as the artistic experience, which brings me back to the beginning? Isn't Aesthetics truthfully the process of philosophy defining, describing and criticizing itself?
It is. And that's what makes it so interesting to me.
DB - The Vagabond
(Never give up.)
**************************
It's Summer. Time to give over the answers to the SPRING QUESTION.
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
---------------------------------------------
12 diverse and interesting answers.
-----------------------------------------
Do I think that NASA should send a two person mission to Mars. Absolutely not. It would serve no useful purpose and it would put the lives of those two people in unnecessary jeopardy.
I would think that a mission like this would cost many millions of dollars and at a time when many states are going broke, there are deep cuts to infrastructure, education, health, and community programs. The taxpayers are already on the hook to the tune of about 250 million dollars a day to fund the war in Iraq. All of that money has been siphoned away from funds that might have been available to create jobs, house and feed the homeless, stabilize towns and cities across America and provide a better future for both young and old.
We are not good stewards of our own earth and we have caused more problems here than we have fixed. There is absolutely no need to be spending money we don’t have in order to be exploring other planets. We need to get our priorities back in order.
-------------------------------
When it comes to Mars, I think that it is innate for man to explore and want to extend his reach. I am all in favor of the project and they could get the money by stopping the useless wars and invest in NASA.
-------------------------------------------------------
Good question! Since a year on Mars is nearly twice ours --and
elliptical-- the two planets get within 7-month's journey only every 2
Earth-years. So our astronauts would have to stay a year longer on
Mars. On top of this protraction, they would run out of food and have
to eat each other up, which would probably strain their relationship
afterward. I don't think they should do it.
--------------------------------------------
An unpopular view I'm sure.
Trip to Mars is wrong on so many levels, even, perhaps immoral.
We need the expertise, money, dedication, time, here on Earth. Fix things here, make Earth a better place. Don't go chasing waterfalls.
------------------------------------
Sure! Why not?
The travel time will reek havoc in their lives but the six months there will give them a ton of information to share..and perhaps experiments can be performed! :)
I have heard that people accomplish a lot in scientific experiments out in space!thanks! Interesting topic DB!
-------------------------------------
I think man has screwed up earth enough that he should leave the other planets alone and use the time and money spent going to Mars fixing all the damage he's done here on earth.
------------------------------------
Yes, because the highest mountain in the solar system is THERE.
---------------------------------------------
why go to mars when you can grow squash in your back yard, or at least
some chives in a window pot. All you can plant on mars is a flag.
Unless to go from Mars to `=7,./[]}#2 where all will be virgin
---------------------------------------------------
The human race, if it wants to continue to exist, has to solve its housing problem. In several million years our sun will go supernova and incinerate, during its expansion, the planet Earth. Then, when it cools down to a grey dwarf, what was planet Earth will be a cold rock of ice. Not a good place to live or vacation. We have to start flying around the Universe a la Star Trek and find other inhabitable planets if we wish to continue our future existence as a race. They better find a better propulsion system and more sophisticated means to harness energy, hopefully without hardware and make use of Warp Space (which are only time tunnels or Worms) for getting around more easily. It’s all in Star Trek, we’re just catching up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Spring Question: Yes. Our greatest advances have come from pure science and discovery missions. We need to keep the ball rolling.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to respond to this purely from a "seems right" standpoint; that is, I know nothing more about the situation than what you've told me.
Anyway, I suppose traveling to Mars could be an utter waste of resources--time, money and energy that could be channeled toward solving some of our own planets problems instead of involving another. But, to be honest, even if we relocated the time, money and energy it may take to send two men to Mars, I can't bring myself to believe that it would certainly go to something like, for example, improving hospitals in Dhaka. So with all of that aside, every part of my being is screaming, "Why the hell not?! Go to Mars!"
But none of that is what I've really wanted to say to you. What truthfully came to mind when I read your question was this whole concept of mystery and wonderment, and all of these cliche ideas that still make me feel brave and strange and beautiful, regardless of their tendency to be overused in cheap literary settings. Visiting a different planet entirely, a place that authors and dreamers and children have fantasized about; a place that's so unknown, sometimes I feel as though its mass is more daydream than it is anything else.
Given not only the ability but the willingness and eagerness to explore, it would be a grand opportunity to waste. And not just for the intellectual gain either, which is, of course, very important... but for the experiences of the astronauts, the engineers and the planners, the people tracking the progress the whole year and a half it's happening, and for the people who tune in right at the end. These could be the kind of experiences, I think, that lead to understanding, empathy, introspection and perspective... not that experiences like that are necessarily farther away than the backyard garden, but they're valuable nonetheless, and, I think, are well worth a trip to Mars.
The potential there, the possibility, all of it reminds me quite a bit of how I felt when I finished reading A Wrinkle In Time in third grade. Childishly excited, maybe, but sincerely so.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Thank you all. Take a breath. SUMMER QUESTION is coming.
DB
******************
Charlotte Gilman
*********************
I'm an artist who reads philosophy. Thus I'm faced with a complex dilemma, a group of questions that spray out and point in several directions like an open hand.
There is a branch of philosophy called Aesthetics, the study of Art in all its functions. I wouldn't want to see a philosopher or any thinker forced into the position of having to define Art. What is Art? That question is harder to answer, perhaps, than What is Science? Although there are similarities. To observe nature, make discoveries and articulate what you find could just as easily describe a poet as a scientist. The concept is the difference. That's all.
A fact is a simple thing, a goad to push us to discover more facts. A concept it a carrot dangling temptingly in front of us. It's a scientific theory, an artistic dream, an unanswered question, the source and fuel of all creative thinking.
So philosophers address themselves to questions such as, When is it art and when is it not art? or What is the proper process for observing and enjoying a work of art and how does that relate to the overall human experience? or How well does the work of art convey it's message? or How well has the artist conceived and articulated his ideas? This last question inevitably causes the philosopher to slip on the unseen banana peel and fall into the nasty world of criticism.
There are art critics, music critics, dance critics, restaurant critics, drama critics, even architecture critics and, of course, literary critics. That last is the only legitimate form of criticism is my opinion. A person who doesn't dance has no business being a dance critic. In my own experience I have had to groan through drama reviews written by critics who had no idea what they were writing about. Every respectable philosopher does well to stay out of the pit of criticism. Most philosophers tend to spend a lot of time criticizing each other, which is fine. That's exactly where they should be. It is in the statement, rebuttal and exchange of ideas that the vigor of philosophy exists.
The purpose of philosophy is to pursue and discover the truth, as it is with art and science, and should be but, alas, is not with other important human endeavors. Socrates considered philosophy to be the greatest of the arts. From that perspective then isn't the study of philosophy the same as the artistic experience, which brings me back to the beginning? Isn't Aesthetics truthfully the process of philosophy defining, describing and criticizing itself?
It is. And that's what makes it so interesting to me.
DB - The Vagabond
(Never give up.)
**************************
It's Summer. Time to give over the answers to the SPRING QUESTION.
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
---------------------------------------------
12 diverse and interesting answers.
-----------------------------------------
Do I think that NASA should send a two person mission to Mars. Absolutely not. It would serve no useful purpose and it would put the lives of those two people in unnecessary jeopardy.
I would think that a mission like this would cost many millions of dollars and at a time when many states are going broke, there are deep cuts to infrastructure, education, health, and community programs. The taxpayers are already on the hook to the tune of about 250 million dollars a day to fund the war in Iraq. All of that money has been siphoned away from funds that might have been available to create jobs, house and feed the homeless, stabilize towns and cities across America and provide a better future for both young and old.
We are not good stewards of our own earth and we have caused more problems here than we have fixed. There is absolutely no need to be spending money we don’t have in order to be exploring other planets. We need to get our priorities back in order.
-------------------------------
When it comes to Mars, I think that it is innate for man to explore and want to extend his reach. I am all in favor of the project and they could get the money by stopping the useless wars and invest in NASA.
-------------------------------------------------------
Good question! Since a year on Mars is nearly twice ours --and
elliptical-- the two planets get within 7-month's journey only every 2
Earth-years. So our astronauts would have to stay a year longer on
Mars. On top of this protraction, they would run out of food and have
to eat each other up, which would probably strain their relationship
afterward. I don't think they should do it.
--------------------------------------------
An unpopular view I'm sure.
Trip to Mars is wrong on so many levels, even, perhaps immoral.
We need the expertise, money, dedication, time, here on Earth. Fix things here, make Earth a better place. Don't go chasing waterfalls.
------------------------------------
Sure! Why not?
The travel time will reek havoc in their lives but the six months there will give them a ton of information to share..and perhaps experiments can be performed! :)
I have heard that people accomplish a lot in scientific experiments out in space!thanks! Interesting topic DB!
-------------------------------------
I think man has screwed up earth enough that he should leave the other planets alone and use the time and money spent going to Mars fixing all the damage he's done here on earth.
------------------------------------
Yes, because the highest mountain in the solar system is THERE.
---------------------------------------------
why go to mars when you can grow squash in your back yard, or at least
some chives in a window pot. All you can plant on mars is a flag.
Unless to go from Mars to `=7,./[]}#2 where all will be virgin
---------------------------------------------------
The human race, if it wants to continue to exist, has to solve its housing problem. In several million years our sun will go supernova and incinerate, during its expansion, the planet Earth. Then, when it cools down to a grey dwarf, what was planet Earth will be a cold rock of ice. Not a good place to live or vacation. We have to start flying around the Universe a la Star Trek and find other inhabitable planets if we wish to continue our future existence as a race. They better find a better propulsion system and more sophisticated means to harness energy, hopefully without hardware and make use of Warp Space (which are only time tunnels or Worms) for getting around more easily. It’s all in Star Trek, we’re just catching up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Spring Question: Yes. Our greatest advances have come from pure science and discovery missions. We need to keep the ball rolling.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to respond to this purely from a "seems right" standpoint; that is, I know nothing more about the situation than what you've told me.
Anyway, I suppose traveling to Mars could be an utter waste of resources--time, money and energy that could be channeled toward solving some of our own planets problems instead of involving another. But, to be honest, even if we relocated the time, money and energy it may take to send two men to Mars, I can't bring myself to believe that it would certainly go to something like, for example, improving hospitals in Dhaka. So with all of that aside, every part of my being is screaming, "Why the hell not?! Go to Mars!"
But none of that is what I've really wanted to say to you. What truthfully came to mind when I read your question was this whole concept of mystery and wonderment, and all of these cliche ideas that still make me feel brave and strange and beautiful, regardless of their tendency to be overused in cheap literary settings. Visiting a different planet entirely, a place that authors and dreamers and children have fantasized about; a place that's so unknown, sometimes I feel as though its mass is more daydream than it is anything else.
Given not only the ability but the willingness and eagerness to explore, it would be a grand opportunity to waste. And not just for the intellectual gain either, which is, of course, very important... but for the experiences of the astronauts, the engineers and the planners, the people tracking the progress the whole year and a half it's happening, and for the people who tune in right at the end. These could be the kind of experiences, I think, that lead to understanding, empathy, introspection and perspective... not that experiences like that are necessarily farther away than the backyard garden, but they're valuable nonetheless, and, I think, are well worth a trip to Mars.
The potential there, the possibility, all of it reminds me quite a bit of how I felt when I finished reading A Wrinkle In Time in third grade. Childishly excited, maybe, but sincerely so.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Thank you all. Take a breath. SUMMER QUESTION is coming.
DB
******************
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Other Guy Is Wrong
Growth in wisdom may be exactly measured by decrease in bitterness.
Friedrich Nietzsche
************************
I am one of those who, with many others, has a respect for other people's firmly held beliefs as long as thy are positive, constructive and progressive, be they political, religious or philosophical. As a child I was influenced, as most youngsters are, by the traditional beliefs of the family I lived in. And in my case there was no discussion or disagreement allowed. It was the truth and that was that. A wise person once said "Respect those who seek the truth, beware of those who find it."
Some people's ideas are just plain stupid, but growing up and getting to know people of other beliefs, influences and traditions I was struck by how diverse and complex the world is. To live in harmony with people without losing my own sense of what I thought was right and true I had to develop a tolerance for others' opinions.
But then one day I read an essay for a radio program on ethics which challenged the idea of tolerance. It taught me that to tolerate an opposing idea of right thinking and behavior was to start from the basis of my own unchallenged convictions. The other fellow was wrong and therefore his opinions must be tolerated.
It's true that without tolerance arguments ensue. It's a shameful thing to witness one seeker for truth who is convinced he has found it defensively putting down another seeker for truth. And if they are both convinced they are right and try to convert each other the argument either becomes comical or it leads to war. And as Nietzsche points out where there is bitterness there is no wisdom.
As a result of reading that essay I began to stop thinking of myself as a tolerant person and went looking for something better. The better is to acknowledge that my opinions, beliefs and faith are mine based upon my early influences, my thinking, my research and my life experiences. To realize they are not going to go through any radical change as long as they are honestly held. To understand that the search for truth is an infinite, eternal process and that if another sincere seeker has a different path than mine his journey must be respected. The differences are far less important than the wisdom gained.
There used to be a Museum of Philosophy in New York. There was a computer there that asked you a whole set of questions about your beliefs and opinions. It wasn't a test; you weren't graded. But when you finished and pressed "enter" it gave you a list of a few philosophers who agreed with you. Now, whereas it's nice and cozy to have your own opinions reinforced by thinkers who are more articulate than you are, I was more interested in those who disagreed with me, so I started reading works by people who weren't on the list. And what happened? Behold, a few of them changed my mind about things. I gained some wisdom.
DB
--------------------------------
New Improved Weekend Puzzle
Straighten out these titles please.
AABIILRS
AAOTTW
ACEEGHNNOP
AEHNST
AEIJKKRVY
AGHINNOSTW
AIPRS
BDILNU
CHKLMOOST
DLNNOO
EHIIKLNS
EMOR
(dgoo cklu)
DB
*********************
Friedrich Nietzsche
************************
I am one of those who, with many others, has a respect for other people's firmly held beliefs as long as thy are positive, constructive and progressive, be they political, religious or philosophical. As a child I was influenced, as most youngsters are, by the traditional beliefs of the family I lived in. And in my case there was no discussion or disagreement allowed. It was the truth and that was that. A wise person once said "Respect those who seek the truth, beware of those who find it."
Some people's ideas are just plain stupid, but growing up and getting to know people of other beliefs, influences and traditions I was struck by how diverse and complex the world is. To live in harmony with people without losing my own sense of what I thought was right and true I had to develop a tolerance for others' opinions.
But then one day I read an essay for a radio program on ethics which challenged the idea of tolerance. It taught me that to tolerate an opposing idea of right thinking and behavior was to start from the basis of my own unchallenged convictions. The other fellow was wrong and therefore his opinions must be tolerated.
It's true that without tolerance arguments ensue. It's a shameful thing to witness one seeker for truth who is convinced he has found it defensively putting down another seeker for truth. And if they are both convinced they are right and try to convert each other the argument either becomes comical or it leads to war. And as Nietzsche points out where there is bitterness there is no wisdom.
As a result of reading that essay I began to stop thinking of myself as a tolerant person and went looking for something better. The better is to acknowledge that my opinions, beliefs and faith are mine based upon my early influences, my thinking, my research and my life experiences. To realize they are not going to go through any radical change as long as they are honestly held. To understand that the search for truth is an infinite, eternal process and that if another sincere seeker has a different path than mine his journey must be respected. The differences are far less important than the wisdom gained.
There used to be a Museum of Philosophy in New York. There was a computer there that asked you a whole set of questions about your beliefs and opinions. It wasn't a test; you weren't graded. But when you finished and pressed "enter" it gave you a list of a few philosophers who agreed with you. Now, whereas it's nice and cozy to have your own opinions reinforced by thinkers who are more articulate than you are, I was more interested in those who disagreed with me, so I started reading works by people who weren't on the list. And what happened? Behold, a few of them changed my mind about things. I gained some wisdom.
DB
--------------------------------
New Improved Weekend Puzzle
Straighten out these titles please.
AABIILRS
AAOTTW
ACEEGHNNOP
AEHNST
AEIJKKRVY
AGHINNOSTW
AIPRS
BDILNU
CHKLMOOST
DLNNOO
EHIIKLNS
EMOR
(dgoo cklu)
DB
*********************
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Dig We Must
The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.
Edwin Schlossberg
*********************
Anyone who is looking for quick and easy answers to the paradox of life is in for a shock. Look to a favorite book to tell you what to think and you're looking for trouble. Among the philosophers that I enjoy reading are Nietzsche, Hegel and Heidegger. Those are men with strong opinions strongly and clearly stated. What's difficult is following the thinking processes that brought them to their opinions. Nietzsche stated that the purpose of philosophy is not to tell you what to think but to get youto think for yourself. A good philosophy teacher would point out the observations, logic and finger posts of a philosophers thought and ask if there is a fault line running through it. He would ask if you agree or disagree, and if so, in either case, why?
It isn't necessary for everyone in the world to be a philosopher or even a reader of philosophy as I am (a nutcase if there ever was one). But it is necessary for people to think. I've written about this topic so often that I'm bored with it, as you also probably are. I have a quote here someplace that I might use someday which says that the reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
The sad thing is that there is no result of honest applied thought available on most of our TV and radio programs, from news reporters, politicians and preachers, tal;k show hosts. No one is entertained by mindfulness.
Great music is a glamorized experience of original deep thinking. Listen carefully and find your way through Debussy's La Mer, You can't do it on one hearing. Only a genius can do that.
Why is thinking like digging in the back yard? Because you might be surprised at what you find there. Carefully study Da Vinci's Last Supper. Forget for a time it's religious significations and look through it with an open mind. Can you find the knife?
Read any Shakespearian play. The story, the characters and Shakespeare's own amazing intellect are so completely bound harmoniously together that it is easy to miss the profound wisdom as it flashes by.
My life changed considerably one day when I discovered that not only was I opinionated but that there was so little thought that supported my opinions. Facts are one thing, ideas are something else. Most people want to just deal in facts and leave the ideas alone. "Just the facts, ma'am." They want to know the what and the how but not the why.
The amazing thing is that there is an infinitetude of ideas, music, poetry, art, inventions, systems, philosophies, programs and solutions still existing in the mind waiting to be discovered. Writers write to lead us, through the inadequacy of words, to the places where those discoveries can be made. A good writer provides the back yard and the shovel.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
3 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Edwin Schlossberg
*********************
Anyone who is looking for quick and easy answers to the paradox of life is in for a shock. Look to a favorite book to tell you what to think and you're looking for trouble. Among the philosophers that I enjoy reading are Nietzsche, Hegel and Heidegger. Those are men with strong opinions strongly and clearly stated. What's difficult is following the thinking processes that brought them to their opinions. Nietzsche stated that the purpose of philosophy is not to tell you what to think but to get youto think for yourself. A good philosophy teacher would point out the observations, logic and finger posts of a philosophers thought and ask if there is a fault line running through it. He would ask if you agree or disagree, and if so, in either case, why?
It isn't necessary for everyone in the world to be a philosopher or even a reader of philosophy as I am (a nutcase if there ever was one). But it is necessary for people to think. I've written about this topic so often that I'm bored with it, as you also probably are. I have a quote here someplace that I might use someday which says that the reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
The sad thing is that there is no result of honest applied thought available on most of our TV and radio programs, from news reporters, politicians and preachers, tal;k show hosts. No one is entertained by mindfulness.
Great music is a glamorized experience of original deep thinking. Listen carefully and find your way through Debussy's La Mer, You can't do it on one hearing. Only a genius can do that.
Why is thinking like digging in the back yard? Because you might be surprised at what you find there. Carefully study Da Vinci's Last Supper. Forget for a time it's religious significations and look through it with an open mind. Can you find the knife?
Read any Shakespearian play. The story, the characters and Shakespeare's own amazing intellect are so completely bound harmoniously together that it is easy to miss the profound wisdom as it flashes by.
My life changed considerably one day when I discovered that not only was I opinionated but that there was so little thought that supported my opinions. Facts are one thing, ideas are something else. Most people want to just deal in facts and leave the ideas alone. "Just the facts, ma'am." They want to know the what and the how but not the why.
The amazing thing is that there is an infinitetude of ideas, music, poetry, art, inventions, systems, philosophies, programs and solutions still existing in the mind waiting to be discovered. Writers write to lead us, through the inadequacy of words, to the places where those discoveries can be made. A good writer provides the back yard and the shovel.
DB - The Vagabond
********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
3 responses so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Me In A Church
Where there is love, there is no question.
Unknown
(Thank you Cindy)
******************
WHY I DON't GO TO CHURCH.
Carl Sandburg was fond of saying that "exclusive" was the ugliest word in the English language. I'm reminded of the lyric from an old sang "I'm in with the in-crowd. I know what the in-crowd knows." We spend a lot of time drawing circles to determine who's "in" and who's "out."
The one thing I expect from a church is that when I walk through the door I am not only welcomed but accepted. In spite of what a great many people may think and what a lot of religious pastors may preach, no religion has all the cards on holiness. But the one thing, which no one can own, that every religiom should have, by nature of what it is, is love. A church, more than any other place in the world, should be a house of love.
In my younger years I did some church going, looking for a sense of love that I didn't find anywhere else. For a lot of youngsters there is no love at home. They seek it in the safety of their church, if they can. I can remember several times when I approached the door of a church and was met by someone who looked at me with an expression which said "What are you doing here?" Oh, a lot of churches preach love, "All are welcome," but once inside you soon see where the lines are drawn. I once entered a church with a sign out front that read "God is Love." The only love inside was of the hypocritical nature.
I knew a woman in Missouri, a mother of three young boys, who divorced her husband because he cheated on her. She went to live with another man, until the divorce was final, then married him. Her church completely ostracized her. She was no longer "welcome." Instead of compassion and love, she got rejection. She was a sinner!
Speaking of sinners, there seem to be a lot of those around. Some church goers have given themselves the right to decide whom God hates and what exactly the punishments are for the various offenses against the divine will. We have been told that Aids is God's punishment for homosexuality. We were given a similar reason for Katrina, ignoring the fact that the gay section of New Orleans was the only area unaffected by the storm. We have been informed that the earthquake in Haiti was because the nation made a pact with the devil. The sin is that too many people listen to and believe in this sort of clap-trap.
On the other hand, one block from where I lived in New York there was a Catholic church. Every Thursday evening the service was conducted by an old priest. I had no use for the mumbo jumbo that went on. I went for his sermons, which were sometimes lengthy but always deep and inspiring. He had no bigotry or exclusivity about him. He was a loving man.
One Autumn I went on a tour of the synagogues of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We got to a small converted brownstone in the 90's and the rabbi was an Englishman with a bright, happy manner who greeted us with joy. The women had prepared cakes and tea for us. He spoke with love about his religion, the various rituals and what they meant. He was genuinely glad to see us even though most of us weren't Jewish. The other rabbis we met were cordial but none had expressed the love that fellow did. I vowed that if I was Jewish and living in New York, that's where I would go, just to be in the presence of that jolly Englishman and his humble, immediate and all inclusive grasp of spirituality.
I was talking about him one day to a woman who lived in a small town way up north, a Christian girl, who said that if she ever met a Jew or a Muslim she would convert him. How can a thinking person even ignore that sort of closed minded arrogance?
If I visit your church and you tell me that yours is the one true religion, that I need to be "saved" and that you "love" me "in Jesus' name" I am outta there. No need to show me the door, I can find it myself.
So now I don't go to church. Instead I study philosophy. Why? To become a better man. What does that mean? It means to become a more virtuous man. Philosophers have been thinking and writing about virtue and how to be more virtuous since way before there were any Christians, Muslims or Synagogues and they do it because they love humanity.
I'm not areligious, antireligious or sacrilegious, but I'm not an absolutist either. I'm a ponderer, a wanderer, a vagabond.
DB
*****************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 7 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Unknown
(Thank you Cindy)
******************
WHY I DON't GO TO CHURCH.
Carl Sandburg was fond of saying that "exclusive" was the ugliest word in the English language. I'm reminded of the lyric from an old sang "I'm in with the in-crowd. I know what the in-crowd knows." We spend a lot of time drawing circles to determine who's "in" and who's "out."
The one thing I expect from a church is that when I walk through the door I am not only welcomed but accepted. In spite of what a great many people may think and what a lot of religious pastors may preach, no religion has all the cards on holiness. But the one thing, which no one can own, that every religiom should have, by nature of what it is, is love. A church, more than any other place in the world, should be a house of love.
In my younger years I did some church going, looking for a sense of love that I didn't find anywhere else. For a lot of youngsters there is no love at home. They seek it in the safety of their church, if they can. I can remember several times when I approached the door of a church and was met by someone who looked at me with an expression which said "What are you doing here?" Oh, a lot of churches preach love, "All are welcome," but once inside you soon see where the lines are drawn. I once entered a church with a sign out front that read "God is Love." The only love inside was of the hypocritical nature.
I knew a woman in Missouri, a mother of three young boys, who divorced her husband because he cheated on her. She went to live with another man, until the divorce was final, then married him. Her church completely ostracized her. She was no longer "welcome." Instead of compassion and love, she got rejection. She was a sinner!
Speaking of sinners, there seem to be a lot of those around. Some church goers have given themselves the right to decide whom God hates and what exactly the punishments are for the various offenses against the divine will. We have been told that Aids is God's punishment for homosexuality. We were given a similar reason for Katrina, ignoring the fact that the gay section of New Orleans was the only area unaffected by the storm. We have been informed that the earthquake in Haiti was because the nation made a pact with the devil. The sin is that too many people listen to and believe in this sort of clap-trap.
On the other hand, one block from where I lived in New York there was a Catholic church. Every Thursday evening the service was conducted by an old priest. I had no use for the mumbo jumbo that went on. I went for his sermons, which were sometimes lengthy but always deep and inspiring. He had no bigotry or exclusivity about him. He was a loving man.
One Autumn I went on a tour of the synagogues of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We got to a small converted brownstone in the 90's and the rabbi was an Englishman with a bright, happy manner who greeted us with joy. The women had prepared cakes and tea for us. He spoke with love about his religion, the various rituals and what they meant. He was genuinely glad to see us even though most of us weren't Jewish. The other rabbis we met were cordial but none had expressed the love that fellow did. I vowed that if I was Jewish and living in New York, that's where I would go, just to be in the presence of that jolly Englishman and his humble, immediate and all inclusive grasp of spirituality.
I was talking about him one day to a woman who lived in a small town way up north, a Christian girl, who said that if she ever met a Jew or a Muslim she would convert him. How can a thinking person even ignore that sort of closed minded arrogance?
If I visit your church and you tell me that yours is the one true religion, that I need to be "saved" and that you "love" me "in Jesus' name" I am outta there. No need to show me the door, I can find it myself.
So now I don't go to church. Instead I study philosophy. Why? To become a better man. What does that mean? It means to become a more virtuous man. Philosophers have been thinking and writing about virtue and how to be more virtuous since way before there were any Christians, Muslims or Synagogues and they do it because they love humanity.
I'm not areligious, antireligious or sacrilegious, but I'm not an absolutist either. I'm a ponderer, a wanderer, a vagabond.
DB
*****************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 7 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Behind The Wall
I'd like to think of my work simply as a cradle in which philosophy could rock itself to sleep, thumb in mouth.
Lawrence Durrell
********************
Last Saturday night I went to check my mail box and found a letter from a law firm telling me I had defaulted in my negotiated agreement to pay so much a month on one of my credit card debts and that therefore they were going to begin steps to sue for the entire amount. I knew I wasn't in default but it was Saturday night, all day Sunday and half of Monday before I could make the inevitable three phone calls to clear up the mess. It was very stressful. It wasted a lot of time and gave me a headache.
One of my great pleasures in life is to read philosophy. I read as much as I can from before Plato to after Parsons. It thrills me to come upon a philosopher I haven't visited before and follow his or her thoughts into and out of life's dilemmas. And every idea I read I hammer on the anvil of my own experience to test its strength.
Distilled from all the books, essays, dialogues, critiques and monographs, and measured by my own wisdom, such as it is, my personal philosophy of life can be summed up in three words: "Never give up."
Carl Sandburg wrote about a group of wise people who were ordered to reduce all of human wisdom to a single word. They did, and the word was "Maybe."
It is that uncertainty that has made us create theories of art, science, religion, government, education, economics, medicine, and philosophy. The big question remains unanswered in any proven, practical way: Do we really ever know what we are doing? Every now and then we get something right, like the proverbial stopped clock. And with that encouragement we keep on repeating ourselves until the next happy accident comes along.
I've made two important observations in my studies. One is that brilliant original thinkers have come up with very practical answers to some of life's most perplexing problems with good sound suggestions as to how we should conduct our lives. And the other is that basically nobody ever pays any attention to them.
Through our ignorance of life's lessons we do things to mess ourselves up, as I did when I got into debt, or we will mess up someone else's life, as the law firm did over my debt payment to them. Then life becomes untangling the mess.
When I was in school I enjoyed learning how to parse a sentence. That's an exercise in grammar, sentence structure and so on. As an actor I had to learn scansion. That's an exercise in verse and how to speak it. Now I study semantics which delves into truth conditional statements and implicatures. It's a philosophical study of a more refined grammar, dealing with what is meant and what is not meant by what is said.
There is a meaning behind the words I write which is unknown to me. I keep on writing and never giving up until the meaning or meanings surface for me. Meanwhile I'm like a cat staring into a fish tank.
Once I understand what my words mean or don't mean in their true and beautiful music, I hope and believe philosophy will then be able to rest in my arms, thumb in mouth.
DB - The Vagabond
Lawrence Durrell
********************
Last Saturday night I went to check my mail box and found a letter from a law firm telling me I had defaulted in my negotiated agreement to pay so much a month on one of my credit card debts and that therefore they were going to begin steps to sue for the entire amount. I knew I wasn't in default but it was Saturday night, all day Sunday and half of Monday before I could make the inevitable three phone calls to clear up the mess. It was very stressful. It wasted a lot of time and gave me a headache.
One of my great pleasures in life is to read philosophy. I read as much as I can from before Plato to after Parsons. It thrills me to come upon a philosopher I haven't visited before and follow his or her thoughts into and out of life's dilemmas. And every idea I read I hammer on the anvil of my own experience to test its strength.
Distilled from all the books, essays, dialogues, critiques and monographs, and measured by my own wisdom, such as it is, my personal philosophy of life can be summed up in three words: "Never give up."
Carl Sandburg wrote about a group of wise people who were ordered to reduce all of human wisdom to a single word. They did, and the word was "Maybe."
It is that uncertainty that has made us create theories of art, science, religion, government, education, economics, medicine, and philosophy. The big question remains unanswered in any proven, practical way: Do we really ever know what we are doing? Every now and then we get something right, like the proverbial stopped clock. And with that encouragement we keep on repeating ourselves until the next happy accident comes along.
I've made two important observations in my studies. One is that brilliant original thinkers have come up with very practical answers to some of life's most perplexing problems with good sound suggestions as to how we should conduct our lives. And the other is that basically nobody ever pays any attention to them.
Through our ignorance of life's lessons we do things to mess ourselves up, as I did when I got into debt, or we will mess up someone else's life, as the law firm did over my debt payment to them. Then life becomes untangling the mess.
When I was in school I enjoyed learning how to parse a sentence. That's an exercise in grammar, sentence structure and so on. As an actor I had to learn scansion. That's an exercise in verse and how to speak it. Now I study semantics which delves into truth conditional statements and implicatures. It's a philosophical study of a more refined grammar, dealing with what is meant and what is not meant by what is said.
There is a meaning behind the words I write which is unknown to me. I keep on writing and never giving up until the meaning or meanings surface for me. Meanwhile I'm like a cat staring into a fish tank.
Once I understand what my words mean or don't mean in their true and beautiful music, I hope and believe philosophy will then be able to rest in my arms, thumb in mouth.
DB - The Vagabond
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Philosopher's Stone
There is always something to write about. If there's not then you need to live life more aggressively.
Min Kim
********************
I was speaking with someone recently who asked if I categorized myself as a philosopher. I responded that I am one who tries to figure things out and understand them. If that is what a philosopher does then I guess I qualify.
I think too many people have a vision of a philosopher as someone who sits secure in an ivory tower of university tenure spending hours contemplating a comma, instead of someone who grapples daily with himself and his ideas in a gladiatorial arena, striking all opinions that come his way against the touchstone of reason before accepting or rejecting them. A philosopher is both architect and builder in a world in which mentality has a direct effect on reality. He is also a traveler on a road where other philosophers before him have marked out mile stones.
Life is an energetic and aggressive thing if properly lived. It's energetic because it requires a moment by moment commitment to preserve itself and it's aggressive because it means not giving in to the things that would cause it to become dormant. I'm for a two fisted approach to gravity, that which both keeps my feet on the ground and wants me to sink into it. I want to grasp important and complicated concepts and not let go until I understand them. Does that make me a philosopher?
Life is a vital thing. Even in the midst of grime and ugliness it enables me, it gives me permission, to make and appreciate beauty. I'm glad to join the treacherous intellectual dance of being wrong, being corrected and being right. I enjoy peering with curiosity and wonder around any corner, under any stone and into any book. Does that make me a philosopher?
I'm a former street bum who grew up in poverty. I've been an actor, a broadcaster and a musician. I've had more love affairs than I want to think about. Along the way I'v developed a keen appreciation of the ironic and paradoxical which has given me a sense of humor. Now I write and paint. I don't know who I am or what I am and I don't know enough about the world around me, but I am on an adventurous and seemingly destnationless journey to find out. Does that make me a philosopher? If not it doesn't matter.
DB - The Vagabond
Min Kim
********************
I was speaking with someone recently who asked if I categorized myself as a philosopher. I responded that I am one who tries to figure things out and understand them. If that is what a philosopher does then I guess I qualify.
I think too many people have a vision of a philosopher as someone who sits secure in an ivory tower of university tenure spending hours contemplating a comma, instead of someone who grapples daily with himself and his ideas in a gladiatorial arena, striking all opinions that come his way against the touchstone of reason before accepting or rejecting them. A philosopher is both architect and builder in a world in which mentality has a direct effect on reality. He is also a traveler on a road where other philosophers before him have marked out mile stones.
Life is an energetic and aggressive thing if properly lived. It's energetic because it requires a moment by moment commitment to preserve itself and it's aggressive because it means not giving in to the things that would cause it to become dormant. I'm for a two fisted approach to gravity, that which both keeps my feet on the ground and wants me to sink into it. I want to grasp important and complicated concepts and not let go until I understand them. Does that make me a philosopher?
Life is a vital thing. Even in the midst of grime and ugliness it enables me, it gives me permission, to make and appreciate beauty. I'm glad to join the treacherous intellectual dance of being wrong, being corrected and being right. I enjoy peering with curiosity and wonder around any corner, under any stone and into any book. Does that make me a philosopher?
I'm a former street bum who grew up in poverty. I've been an actor, a broadcaster and a musician. I've had more love affairs than I want to think about. Along the way I'v developed a keen appreciation of the ironic and paradoxical which has given me a sense of humor. Now I write and paint. I don't know who I am or what I am and I don't know enough about the world around me, but I am on an adventurous and seemingly destnationless journey to find out. Does that make me a philosopher? If not it doesn't matter.
DB - The Vagabond
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thunderous Thinking
Labor and rest, city and country life, social discourse and mere play, entertainment in solitude, now with prose, now with poetry, sometimes with philosophy, sometimes with mathematics, all those changes of activity strengthen the mind.
Immanuel Kant
*********************
I used to know a young philosopher named John. I say young because he was fresh out of graduate school with a PhD. We tend to think of a philosopher as a gray haired, bearded old professorial type with a system of thought summed up from a lifetime of pondering. John was an exception to that picture, as I'm sure there are others. He was a follower of the English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, an empiricist and mathematician.
The remarkable thing about John was his ability to completely focus his mind on whatever issue interested him at the time. He could address any topic: astronomy, the economy, poetry, cooking or football, with the same intense concentration. He was curious about everything. He was also very passionate about things he was for or against, but he always had good, sound, well thought out reasons for his opinions. He also had a good sense of humor and play.
I think John's secret was that his mind didn't wander. Nothing in his head interfered with what he was thinking about at the time. But he wasn't the slightest bit critical or judgmental toward people whose minds did wander, such as myself.
John had a girl friend at the time who was my sister-in-law. The four of us would hang around and do things together. He was a pleasure to be with, although often a little intimidating. One always knew that clockwork mind of his was ticking on some issue that had attracted his attention even if he was silent.
We were driving somewhere one day and I posed the following problem:
A guy goes into a gambling hall, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
He goes into a second one, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
He goes into a third one, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
He goes into a fourth, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
When he leaves the fourth gambling hall he has no more money. How much money did he have when he started?
John immediately started from the end and calculated, adding and subtracting as he went. He stopped only once to ask me if there was a fourth gambling hall. When I said there was he went ahead and gave the correct answer. It took him way less than a minute.
John, I wish you great happiness wherever you are.
DB
Immanuel Kant
*********************
I used to know a young philosopher named John. I say young because he was fresh out of graduate school with a PhD. We tend to think of a philosopher as a gray haired, bearded old professorial type with a system of thought summed up from a lifetime of pondering. John was an exception to that picture, as I'm sure there are others. He was a follower of the English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, an empiricist and mathematician.
The remarkable thing about John was his ability to completely focus his mind on whatever issue interested him at the time. He could address any topic: astronomy, the economy, poetry, cooking or football, with the same intense concentration. He was curious about everything. He was also very passionate about things he was for or against, but he always had good, sound, well thought out reasons for his opinions. He also had a good sense of humor and play.
I think John's secret was that his mind didn't wander. Nothing in his head interfered with what he was thinking about at the time. But he wasn't the slightest bit critical or judgmental toward people whose minds did wander, such as myself.
John had a girl friend at the time who was my sister-in-law. The four of us would hang around and do things together. He was a pleasure to be with, although often a little intimidating. One always knew that clockwork mind of his was ticking on some issue that had attracted his attention even if he was silent.
We were driving somewhere one day and I posed the following problem:
A guy goes into a gambling hall, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
He goes into a second one, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
He goes into a third one, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
He goes into a fourth, pays $4 to get in, doubles his money and pays $4 to get out.
When he leaves the fourth gambling hall he has no more money. How much money did he have when he started?
John immediately started from the end and calculated, adding and subtracting as he went. He stopped only once to ask me if there was a fourth gambling hall. When I said there was he went ahead and gave the correct answer. It took him way less than a minute.
John, I wish you great happiness wherever you are.
DB
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Xenophilic Xylograph 6/20/09
Curiosity and a sense fo wonder keep me on the trail through the forests of philosophy.
DB - The Vagabond
'''''''''''''''''''
Come wander with me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out the WEEK END PUZZLE below.
-----------------------
I've been many places and talked with many people and one of the primary discoveries I've been blessed to make is that it does no good to measure anyone by a limited set of standards. Even though it is the common "normal" way of reacting to the varied members of the human race, it forces decisions and opinions that prevent one from actually understanding oneself and others. Superficial judgements are bad ones.
As a college student I was assigned to read Plato and to discuss it in very prescribed, neo platonic terms, those which the professor had decided were the only ones worth discussing. In my career I spent most of the time with dramas, memorizing speeches and making some theatrical sense out of them. I didn't touch philosophy, If I had any free time it was spent with the daily newspapers.
But one day I picked up a book on philosophy, just out of curiosity. It's by Martin Heidegger (What is Called Thinking). I read it and as I was reading I found myself in a rich, fecund forest of ideas. It wasn't about how to behave or what to think. It was a challenge to understand what the whole process of thinking is about. This was a topic I had never considered. It was like posing the question "What is breathing?"
That experience took me into the study of philosophy and an awareness of how much philosophical thinking there is around me and how important it is to the basic human problems of existence. Much of philosophy addresses how to live a virtuous life but even that subject requires a vigorous exercise of analysis and interpretation. Philosophy concerns itself with everything from the mundane to the sublime, from good manners and healthy diets to the complex of metaphysics and the vast infinity of cosmology. Philosophic literature can be in one sentence or in a 1600 page book, as my complete Plato is. Yes, I finally went back to Plato to find out what Plato had to say about his philosophy and not what Professor So-and-so said.
Another discovery I made is that philosophy doesn't tell us what to think. It prompts us to think for ourselves and leads us in that direction. Any thinking person is a philosopher to one extent or another. We all have to confront the problems and dilemmas of life. It is an easy answer to let someone or something else tell us what to think or do. But if we learn to step up to the task with a sturdy respect for and trusty reliance on our own innate ability to question, reason and solve at least some aspect of the crazy riddle of life we are philosophers and much the better off for it.
And philosophy doesn't exclude science, religion, economics, mechanics, politics or the daily efforts to make a living. It includes, in fact it wraps itself around, all of those things.
Philosophers don't agree with each other. No matter. That's what makes it interesting. Philosophy is a walk through a wild and tangled forest of ideas and I enjoy it as much as I have ever enjoyed anything.
DB - The Vagabond
__________________
Summer is a-comin' in, Are you ready?
********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Below is a list of 22 names. Your privilege is to rearrange the names into sets of two, a first name and a last name of two famous people. The 2 first names must be the same or the last 2 names must be the same, as in Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis or Al Smith and Kate Smith. You may use any name more than once. To win you must use all the names and have at least 8 sets of two names each. Ready? Go !!!
Betsy
Berg
Bob
Danny
Diana
Dylan
Ford
George
Gerald
Gobel
Hamilton
Harrison
Hingle
Hope
Margaret
Molly
Pat
Picon
Robertson
Ross
Thatcher
Thomas
Good luck
Answer with winners (I hope) will be posted on Sunday evening at 9 Eastern Time.
Note: 3 winners so far, 2 from the Email Lions. 1 from the Blogspot Tigers.
dbdacoba@aol.com
http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/
DB - The Vagabond
'''''''''''''''''''
Come wander with me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out the WEEK END PUZZLE below.
-----------------------
I've been many places and talked with many people and one of the primary discoveries I've been blessed to make is that it does no good to measure anyone by a limited set of standards. Even though it is the common "normal" way of reacting to the varied members of the human race, it forces decisions and opinions that prevent one from actually understanding oneself and others. Superficial judgements are bad ones.
As a college student I was assigned to read Plato and to discuss it in very prescribed, neo platonic terms, those which the professor had decided were the only ones worth discussing. In my career I spent most of the time with dramas, memorizing speeches and making some theatrical sense out of them. I didn't touch philosophy, If I had any free time it was spent with the daily newspapers.
But one day I picked up a book on philosophy, just out of curiosity. It's by Martin Heidegger (What is Called Thinking). I read it and as I was reading I found myself in a rich, fecund forest of ideas. It wasn't about how to behave or what to think. It was a challenge to understand what the whole process of thinking is about. This was a topic I had never considered. It was like posing the question "What is breathing?"
That experience took me into the study of philosophy and an awareness of how much philosophical thinking there is around me and how important it is to the basic human problems of existence. Much of philosophy addresses how to live a virtuous life but even that subject requires a vigorous exercise of analysis and interpretation. Philosophy concerns itself with everything from the mundane to the sublime, from good manners and healthy diets to the complex of metaphysics and the vast infinity of cosmology. Philosophic literature can be in one sentence or in a 1600 page book, as my complete Plato is. Yes, I finally went back to Plato to find out what Plato had to say about his philosophy and not what Professor So-and-so said.
Another discovery I made is that philosophy doesn't tell us what to think. It prompts us to think for ourselves and leads us in that direction. Any thinking person is a philosopher to one extent or another. We all have to confront the problems and dilemmas of life. It is an easy answer to let someone or something else tell us what to think or do. But if we learn to step up to the task with a sturdy respect for and trusty reliance on our own innate ability to question, reason and solve at least some aspect of the crazy riddle of life we are philosophers and much the better off for it.
And philosophy doesn't exclude science, religion, economics, mechanics, politics or the daily efforts to make a living. It includes, in fact it wraps itself around, all of those things.
Philosophers don't agree with each other. No matter. That's what makes it interesting. Philosophy is a walk through a wild and tangled forest of ideas and I enjoy it as much as I have ever enjoyed anything.
DB - The Vagabond
__________________
Summer is a-comin' in, Are you ready?
********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
Below is a list of 22 names. Your privilege is to rearrange the names into sets of two, a first name and a last name of two famous people. The 2 first names must be the same or the last 2 names must be the same, as in Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis or Al Smith and Kate Smith. You may use any name more than once. To win you must use all the names and have at least 8 sets of two names each. Ready? Go !!!
Betsy
Berg
Bob
Danny
Diana
Dylan
Ford
George
Gerald
Gobel
Hamilton
Harrison
Hingle
Hope
Margaret
Molly
Pat
Picon
Robertson
Ross
Thatcher
Thomas
Good luck
Answer with winners (I hope) will be posted on Sunday evening at 9 Eastern Time.
Note: 3 winners so far, 2 from the Email Lions. 1 from the Blogspot Tigers.
dbdacoba@aol.com
http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Xenophilic X-rays 4/28/09
To me reading philosophy is like reading a great work of fiction. I love to follow a path of ideas to the ultimate and pleasurable surprise.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
C'mon-a my house-a, my house.
--------------------------------------
When I was a kid I liked classical music, opera, poetry and novels (Yes. I was a strange kid.) But I wouldn't go near philosophy. What could be more boring? Watching the grass grow, perhaps?
My college English teacher, a tiresome, over-categorizing fellow, made us wade through Plato's "Republic" for some odd reason. It was all Greek to me (ha, ha). I had a girl friend who was a Philosophy major. She would often give me quotes to think about: Plato said this, Descartes said that, Aristotle said the other, but then Mill said so and so and Russell replied such and so, and of course Santayana and Rousseau, etc. until my head was spinning.
Years later, I don't remember how, I found a copy of "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes sitting on my desk. So I read it. That book showed me three important things. One: it taught me a lot about the machinery of politics and government. Two: it showed me that in the hands and mind of a great thinker, philosophy could be a very interesting read, Three: philosophy isn't a system to tell you what to think, but a system to get you thinking for yourself.
The first actual book of phosophy I bought for myself was by Martin Heidegger. By the time I finished it I was an addict. I soon found the funds to purchase a complete Plato that now sits at my elbow along with my complete Shakespeare and some other favored books. I was blessed to be chosen to record Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" for the Library Of Congress' books for the blind.
Now I'm the owner of a small library of philosophical works: a lot of Aristotle, Kant, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Benthem, Mill, Santayana, Kierkegaard, Bruno, Locke, Whitehead, Neruda, Russell, Sartre, Descartes, Aquinas, Jaspers, Hegel and that's all I can remember without going through my library and it's too hot today to do that. Plus I have several journals on philosophy and the history of ideas.
Aesthetics, ethics, politics, poetics, linguistics, logic, epistemology, metaphysics, semantics, cosmology, spirituality, sociology, virtue; philosophy is the study of the human race, where it came from, and what it's destiny is. It is the hidden art and the divine science.
Through the years philosophers have approached it's topics from every conceivable angle and influence. That they can't agree with each other is what makes it fun. But they all address their subjects with a keen mind. To follow such a mind as it hikes its way through the jungle of thoughts and theories, making discoveries along the way and reaching a destination on top of some mountain of clarity and conclusion, is exciting to me.
You don't have to like philosophy. You don't have to read it. Leave that up to strange kids like me. I just wanted to spend this page of my journal sharing my joy with you.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
May angels greet you in the morning.
DB - The Vagabond
******************
C'mon-a my house-a, my house.
--------------------------------------
When I was a kid I liked classical music, opera, poetry and novels (Yes. I was a strange kid.) But I wouldn't go near philosophy. What could be more boring? Watching the grass grow, perhaps?
My college English teacher, a tiresome, over-categorizing fellow, made us wade through Plato's "Republic" for some odd reason. It was all Greek to me (ha, ha). I had a girl friend who was a Philosophy major. She would often give me quotes to think about: Plato said this, Descartes said that, Aristotle said the other, but then Mill said so and so and Russell replied such and so, and of course Santayana and Rousseau, etc. until my head was spinning.
Years later, I don't remember how, I found a copy of "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes sitting on my desk. So I read it. That book showed me three important things. One: it taught me a lot about the machinery of politics and government. Two: it showed me that in the hands and mind of a great thinker, philosophy could be a very interesting read, Three: philosophy isn't a system to tell you what to think, but a system to get you thinking for yourself.
The first actual book of phosophy I bought for myself was by Martin Heidegger. By the time I finished it I was an addict. I soon found the funds to purchase a complete Plato that now sits at my elbow along with my complete Shakespeare and some other favored books. I was blessed to be chosen to record Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" for the Library Of Congress' books for the blind.
Now I'm the owner of a small library of philosophical works: a lot of Aristotle, Kant, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Benthem, Mill, Santayana, Kierkegaard, Bruno, Locke, Whitehead, Neruda, Russell, Sartre, Descartes, Aquinas, Jaspers, Hegel and that's all I can remember without going through my library and it's too hot today to do that. Plus I have several journals on philosophy and the history of ideas.
Aesthetics, ethics, politics, poetics, linguistics, logic, epistemology, metaphysics, semantics, cosmology, spirituality, sociology, virtue; philosophy is the study of the human race, where it came from, and what it's destiny is. It is the hidden art and the divine science.
Through the years philosophers have approached it's topics from every conceivable angle and influence. That they can't agree with each other is what makes it fun. But they all address their subjects with a keen mind. To follow such a mind as it hikes its way through the jungle of thoughts and theories, making discoveries along the way and reaching a destination on top of some mountain of clarity and conclusion, is exciting to me.
You don't have to like philosophy. You don't have to read it. Leave that up to strange kids like me. I just wanted to spend this page of my journal sharing my joy with you.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
_____________________
May angels greet you in the morning.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Weird Ways 3/02/09
One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing.
Morris West
???????????
Here we go.
--------------
One of the strangest places I was ever in was a small city in the Southwest that was built literally in the middle of the desert. There was a road that came into town, but it didn't go through it. I walked to the end of the road and I was on the edge of the city, There was a sidewalk. Houses were built along the side walk. It turned a right angle and there were more houses, with back yards, trees. bushes and children playing in the yards But when you stepped off the sidewalk you stepped immediately into the desert. If you turned your back to the houses all you would see in front of you was desert. I don't remember the name of that city or what state it was in, but I imagine it has expanded out into that desert by now.
I often think of that experience of taking a single step from civilization into wilderness. To me it was the same as taking a step from the safe and known into the dark world of ignorance. Ignorance is not a bad thing. Stupidity is bad, ignorance is not the same thing. When able to admit my ignorance about something, I am poised to step into the wild world of darkness and doubt. If I take that step it could be scary. What some people call foolishness, other people call courage. One has to agree to walk in darkness before one can see the light.
If some did not have the courage to peer into a telescope or a microscope, to crawl around in dark caves or on the ocean floor, or peek into the machinations of the human mind, we wouldn't know anything.
I once visited a Museum of Philosophy. In it there was a computer program that asked me a series of questions about my beliefs and opinions. Then it came up with a list of philosophers whose writings, more or less, conformed to my own philosophy of things. I thought, how nice, I can read the works of great writers who agree with me. I could bask in the easy sunshine of coordinate thinking.
It didn't take but a few days before I became bored with that idea, and went searching out the rare and troublesome works of thinkers who were antagonistic to my easy, sunny, back porch studies and who posed ideas that were difficult to understand and even harder to harmonize with what I thought was true. I began to grapple with new ideas. Some of them were very ancient, but they were new to me. And I found dark and doubtful places in my own thinking that needed to have a microscope trained on them.
Oh, I'm still ignorant. Who isn't? But that part of my vagabond journey has been fascinating, fulfilling and infuriating. And I won't stop until I know something.
DB
---------------------------------
May you hear the silent, distant winds of Spring.
Morris West
???????????
Here we go.
--------------
One of the strangest places I was ever in was a small city in the Southwest that was built literally in the middle of the desert. There was a road that came into town, but it didn't go through it. I walked to the end of the road and I was on the edge of the city, There was a sidewalk. Houses were built along the side walk. It turned a right angle and there were more houses, with back yards, trees. bushes and children playing in the yards But when you stepped off the sidewalk you stepped immediately into the desert. If you turned your back to the houses all you would see in front of you was desert. I don't remember the name of that city or what state it was in, but I imagine it has expanded out into that desert by now.
I often think of that experience of taking a single step from civilization into wilderness. To me it was the same as taking a step from the safe and known into the dark world of ignorance. Ignorance is not a bad thing. Stupidity is bad, ignorance is not the same thing. When able to admit my ignorance about something, I am poised to step into the wild world of darkness and doubt. If I take that step it could be scary. What some people call foolishness, other people call courage. One has to agree to walk in darkness before one can see the light.
If some did not have the courage to peer into a telescope or a microscope, to crawl around in dark caves or on the ocean floor, or peek into the machinations of the human mind, we wouldn't know anything.
I once visited a Museum of Philosophy. In it there was a computer program that asked me a series of questions about my beliefs and opinions. Then it came up with a list of philosophers whose writings, more or less, conformed to my own philosophy of things. I thought, how nice, I can read the works of great writers who agree with me. I could bask in the easy sunshine of coordinate thinking.
It didn't take but a few days before I became bored with that idea, and went searching out the rare and troublesome works of thinkers who were antagonistic to my easy, sunny, back porch studies and who posed ideas that were difficult to understand and even harder to harmonize with what I thought was true. I began to grapple with new ideas. Some of them were very ancient, but they were new to me. And I found dark and doubtful places in my own thinking that needed to have a microscope trained on them.
Oh, I'm still ignorant. Who isn't? But that part of my vagabond journey has been fascinating, fulfilling and infuriating. And I won't stop until I know something.
DB
---------------------------------
May you hear the silent, distant winds of Spring.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Spiritual Searching 1/06/08
The ultimate triumph of philosophy would be to cast light upon the mysterious ways in which Providence moves to achieve the designs it has for man.
Marquis de Sade
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have always liked mysteries. Not the Sherlock Holmes variety, but the sort of mysteries that scientists enjoy poking their noses into.
I took a philosophy course in college and found it dull, boring and tedious. The professor was an interesting, colorful fellow, but his lectures were not and I thought his examples were silly. But I waded though the literature: Kant, Nietzsche, Hobbes, Locke, Descartes, Rousseau, etc. and retained just enough of it to get by.
Many years later, out of curiosity, I read a series of lectures by Martin Heidegger and discovered something. I was suddenly into the world of the known, almost known, unknown and unknowable. In short, I was in a mysterious land. Now I'm an avid reader of philosophy, both ancient and modern. It has become one of the most interesting and satisfying adventures on my vagabond journey.
I'm not a gardener and most of my life I have taken gardens for granted. But I have seen how people can turn a small patch of earth into something beautiful by care and determination. There is such a small patch in front of this apartment building and the young woman who lives on the first floor has filled it with flowers. I have seen her stand and look at it with concern and love as one might worry over a child.
I remember seeing a clarinetist stare at his instrument while it was still in its case with the same look of curiosity and fascination.
Now I understand those looks. There are mysteries to be seen. What may bloom in that garden, what music is that clarinet capable of.
Philosophers may disagree with each other about the best route to take, there are the empiricists, the Cartesians, the metaphysicians, the ethicists, the aestheticians, and so on, but the summit of the climb is the same . It is to know the unknown and the unknowable.
DB - The Vagabond
Marquis de Sade
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have always liked mysteries. Not the Sherlock Holmes variety, but the sort of mysteries that scientists enjoy poking their noses into.
I took a philosophy course in college and found it dull, boring and tedious. The professor was an interesting, colorful fellow, but his lectures were not and I thought his examples were silly. But I waded though the literature: Kant, Nietzsche, Hobbes, Locke, Descartes, Rousseau, etc. and retained just enough of it to get by.
Many years later, out of curiosity, I read a series of lectures by Martin Heidegger and discovered something. I was suddenly into the world of the known, almost known, unknown and unknowable. In short, I was in a mysterious land. Now I'm an avid reader of philosophy, both ancient and modern. It has become one of the most interesting and satisfying adventures on my vagabond journey.
I'm not a gardener and most of my life I have taken gardens for granted. But I have seen how people can turn a small patch of earth into something beautiful by care and determination. There is such a small patch in front of this apartment building and the young woman who lives on the first floor has filled it with flowers. I have seen her stand and look at it with concern and love as one might worry over a child.
I remember seeing a clarinetist stare at his instrument while it was still in its case with the same look of curiosity and fascination.
Now I understand those looks. There are mysteries to be seen. What may bloom in that garden, what music is that clarinet capable of.
Philosophers may disagree with each other about the best route to take, there are the empiricists, the Cartesians, the metaphysicians, the ethicists, the aestheticians, and so on, but the summit of the climb is the same . It is to know the unknown and the unknowable.
DB - The Vagabond
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