(Originally written June 8, 2016 in Book 26)
History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter XV - The Theory of Ideas
Plato asks what is a philosopher and answers, "a lover of wisdom", not just an intellectual curiosity, but a man who loves the vision of truth.
The vision of truth is the demarcation of opinion and knowledge. The art lover may love beautiful things, movies, paintings, music, etc. But, the philosopher loves beauty itself. The lover of beautiful things has opinions; the philosopher has knowledge.
Plato held that knowledge was infallible, but opinion can be false. Knowledge is of things that are, that is to say, to have knowledge is to have knowledge of something. But particular things have contradictory existences and thus are suited for opinion only. A particular thing is simultaneously beautiful and ugly. That particular thing is somewhere between being and non-being. There is no knowledge of a particular, only of the eternal. "Thus we arrive at the conclusion that opinion is of the world presented to the senses, whereas knowledge is of a supersensible eternal world" (Russell, 121).
Plato arrives at the dichotomy of opinion and knowledge by combining Parmenides' notion of what is, is and what is not, is not (nothing does not exist) with Heraclitus' notion of we are and we are not to. Combining the two we necessarily have particular items that both are and both are not, to which knowledge cannot be applied and necessitates opinion. But since knowledge exists and knowledge demands that it must know some 'thing', some 'thing' must exist.
The 'thing' of which knowledge is capable of cannot be a particular thing from a logical standpoint. The word, "cat" for instance can be used to describe a number of particular cats and the meaning of the word cat preexists and retains meaning beyond any particular cat's existence. "If the word 'cat' means anything, it means something which is not this or that cat, but some kind of universal cattyness" (Russell, 121). This is the logical part of Plato's argument for his theory of ideas or forms.
There is also a metaphysical part to his theory. The metaphysical part demands the word 'cat' to mean the ideal cat. This ideal cat is created by God and is unique. All particular cats take part in the nature of the ideal cat imperfectly. Because the particulars take part imperfectly there can be numerous. The eternal cat is what we can have knowledge of. The particular cats we have opinions of. The eternal cat is real. Particular cats merely have appearance because they are a representation of the real cat.
The philosopher is only concerned with the real things. He is concerned with the things that God has made, which are universal. He isn't concerned with the particulars, which are mere copies.
Plato uses the analogy of the cave to explain the difference between knowledge acquired through reason and understanding via sense perception. He likens the acquisition of knowledge to seeing a thing in the light of day whereas when we use sense perception we are akin to viewing something in the twighlight hours and thus, our vision is cloudy and confused.
Plato likens the philosopher to a group of men bound in a cave who see only the shadows of themselves and objects on the cave wall. The philoospher is the man who escapes and sees the real objects (by leaving the cave). If he truly is a philosopher and fit to be a guardian, he will be compelled to teach the others still believing in the shadows to be the real objects erroneously. But this will be a difficult task for the philosopher as he, having viewed sunlight, will have a harder time distinguishing the shadows in the darkness of the cave than the others who have not seen the sun.
Plato has an interesting notion of the good. He claims science and truth are like the good, but the good is higher. To Plato the reality is the good, the appearance is like the good.
Plato marks the beginning of serious intellectual discourse on universals and the problem of universals.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
The History of Western Philosophy Ch. 11 - 14
(Originally written June 7, 2016 in Book 26)
What a fantastic day. Bill fixed our Volvo two days ago and then today, boom! The same thing happens. This time though the car died right in the middle of a busy intersection during rush hour. Other than that today was grand. No, I'm actually not too annoyed (and obviously don't blame Bill; though, that first sentence might've seemed to indicate it). The only truly frustrating thing was the car died. C'est la vie?
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter 11 - Socrates
Socrates is a man we may know much or little about because two of his pupils, Xenophon and Plato wrote volumes about him. Those voluemes however don't always sync up to provide a precise picture.
Xenophon defends Socrates too well. If Xenophon's analysis was wholly correct Socrates would never have been put on trial. But one of the few undisputed facts we know about Socrates is his trial and death in 399 B.C.
Xenophon and Plato both agree that Socrates was concerned with putting the right people into powerful positions.
The problem with taking Xenophon's Socrates as the historical one is the fact that Xenophon makes Socrates so pure he wouldn't have been accused of corrupting the youth. The problem with taking Plato's Socrates as the historical model is Plato's ability as a writer.
Plato's Apology is widely considred as historical. This is Socrates' defense at his trial (which Plato was present at).
The grounds for Socrates' trial seems pretty lear: Socrates was evil, curious and constanly making the right seem wrong and the wrong seem right. The real grounds for the trial also seem clear: he was aristocratic and many of his pupils wre of that class and had acted perniciously while in power.
According to Athenian law, when Socrates was found guilty and stenced to death he was to offer a suitable, lesser punishment for the jury to choose between. Instead he annoyed the court by offering to pay a tiny fine so he would not be mistaken as accepting cupability.
The prosecutors held that Socrates did not follow the religion, introduced noew gods and taught (corrupted) the youth with such ideas.
In his defense Socrates states that he is on trial because the Oracle at Delphi had claimed him to be the wisest man. In pursuit of disproving this he has made many enemeies by exposing those who thought they were wise as being unwise.
In attacking one of his prosecutors he points out that he is on trial for introducting new gods but this prosecutor is accusing him of atheism.
In his defense he states, "fear of death is not wisdom, since no one knows whether death may not be the greater good" (Russell, 87).
After convicted of death, Socrates shames the court, "If you think that by killing men you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is either possible or honourable; the easiest and the noblest way is not to be disabling others, but to be improving yourselves" (Russell, 89).
On death he contends, either death is a good, dreamless sleep or a migration to another world.
Plato describes him as the Orphic saint: "in the dualism of heavenly soul and earthly body, he had achieved the complete mastery of the soul over the body" (Russell, 91).
Socrates was more concerned with ethical questions than scientific knowledge. He believed however knowledge was important because no one sinned on purpose. Thus, by acquiring knowledge one could abstain from sin.
"The close connection between virtue and knowledge is characteristic of Socrates and Plato. To some degree, it exists in all Greek thought, as opposed to that of Christianity. In Christian ethics, a pure heart is essential, and at least as likely to be found among the ignorant as among the learned. The difference between Greek and Christian ethics has persisted down to the present day" (Russell, 92).
The dialectic, seeking knowledge via question and answer wasn't invented by Socrates; but, he definitely used it and developed it.
Chapter 12 - The Influence of Sparta
To understand philosophers from Plato onward it is necessary to know about Sparta. Sparta had a double impact on Greek thought; first, through reality and second, through myth.
The reality of Sparta was the Spartan defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
The myth is the impact of Lycurgus, immortalized by Plutarch, and its impact on later philosophies including Rousseau, Nietzsche and National Socialism.
Sparta arose out of some Dorian conquerors in Laconia. They reduced the indigenous population to serfdom. The citizens of Sparta owned the land but were forbidden to cultivate it because of the demeaning nature of the work and its interference with their time as soldiers.
The Helots worked the land. The Helots were Greek and resented the order of things. They rebelled often. The Spartans maintained a Police State apparatus to control the Helots and once a year declared war on them to weed out agitators.
"The sole business of a Spartan citizen was war, to which he was trained from birth" (Russell, 95).
Children who passed their inspection after birth were educated solely to become good and loyal soldiers. Those who did not pass this intial inspection were killed.
Boys became men at 20 (serving in the military). They became citizens at 30.
No Spartan was to be poor or rich. Their currency was made of iron.
Women received the same physical training as the men. They were forbidden to show any emotion that didn't coincide to the state's favor.
Sparta was ruled by two kings from two different hereditary lines. The two kings belonged to the thirty-man Council of Elders. The Council tried criminal cases and prepared matters for the Assembly. The Assembly was a body of all citizens who could only vote yes or no on matters.
In addition to these three bodies there were the Ephors. There were five Ephors who acted as the Supreme civil court and had criminal jurisdiction over the two kings.
Tradition held that Lycurgus laid down the Spartan law in 885 BC.
Most other Greek city-states admired SParta. Paritally as an ideal from a bygone era. Partially as a model of stability. Partially for their near invincible status in battle on land.
Aristotle was intensely critical of the Spartan way of governance. Aristotle probably was writing of the real Sparta whereas Plato and Plutarch wrote of the mythical Sparta. Pultarch's praise of Sparta and Lycurgus was of great importance to post-Renaissance thinkers.
Sparta was isolationist, often foiling pan-Greek alliances and forbade its citizens from travel and allowed very few foreigners into the city for fear of corrupting the values of the state.
Chapter 13 - The Source of Plato's Opinions
Plato and Aristotle are the two most influential philosophers in history, and Plato is more important than Aristotle.
Plato's top ideas: 1) Utopia, 2) Theory of ideas, 3) arguments in favor of immortality, 4) his cosmogony, 5) knowledge as reminiscence rather than reception
Plato was born in 428/7 BC during the early years of the Peloponnesian War into an aristocratic family. He was a young man when Athens was defeated by Sparta and coupled with his aristocratic background was staunchly anti-democratic, blaming it for the Athenian defeat.
He was a pupil of Socrates.
He was an admirere of Spartan government (primarily because of his anti-democratic bent)
He was influenced by Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus and Socrates, each leading him to a pro-Spartan outlook. From Pythagoras came the other-worldliness, religious and mystical bent. From Parmenides came the beleif that reality is eternal and change illusionary. From Heraclitus came the belief that nothing is permanent in the sensible world. From Socrates he took the obsession with ethics and a teleological view of the universe.
Chapter 14 - Plato's Utopia
Plato's most important dialogue is The Republic. In it is contained the earliest of Utopias.
One conclusion of Plato is that rulers must be philosophers.
The purpose of The Republic is to define justice.
Plato works to define justice by defining an ideally just state.
In this state he divides citizens into three classes:
1) Common people
2) Soldiers
3) Guardians
The guardians are the sole holders of political power, initially selected by a legislator but then passed through hereditary means. (Plato does allow for exceptional men to rise from the other two classes and for an ill-fated guardian to drop).
The guardians, as politcal agents, are Plato's main concern and that main concern begins with the proper education to rule.
Education was divided into Music and Gymnastics. Music covered everything considered today as culture. Gymnastics concerrned physical training. Musical education was about educating the ruling elite to become 'gentlemen'.
The training up of gentlemen began young. Stories were told to children only if they were approved. Homer & Hesiod were not allowed because:
1) They show the gods misbehaving
2) They cause the fear of death
Sidenote (Future Modern Ancient Greeks)
When discussing political systems with some Alien, the hero gets offended when America is not mentioned. The Alien responds, "Oh yes... the great petry dish, the grand experiment politik, the new Rome, a system built on complete contradictions, an aristocracy so perfect it fooled the lower classes into believeing it was egalitarian in nature. It was perfect until you side-tracked into a primitive hero worship of completely unimportant entitites. There's nothing wrong with admiring or even elevating your artists to godlike status but when you elevate your inartistic to artistic and then what you call the artistic to the status of demigods you get a rather sad and debased populace. A pity really becaue everything was going so well. You survived your Punic war with the Soviets but will you survive long enough to allow the rise of a new Parthia to give you the impetus to survive a millenia? Or have you sped up your timeline and already become decadent and too self-obssessed and self-assured to recognize the imminent but slow rot that overtakes all empires? Not of course you, per se, because you are now a child of the stars and without the wherewithal to return home to the decaying America. But even if your America could cut out the corrosion and you found an astronomically improbable way home, would you be satisfied with life back on a primitive planet now that you have seen just a portion of what other worlds have to offer?" The alien continued with his political treatise in soliliqy as (our hero) ost all sense of national pride and pondered a suddenly existential question, if he ever could make it home, would he want to?
Sidenote complete
3) The homeric poems approve of uncontrollable laughter
4) Homer praises lavishness
Homer and Hesiod cannot be taught in the ideal State because the ideal gaurdians of that State must respect religion (misbehaving gods of Homer are unworthy of respect), must be willing to die for the State and thus, cannot fear or mourn death, be in control of their emotion (no great mirth() and be temperate and praise temperance and simplicity.
Education of the gaurdians also forbids any stories where the wicked are happy or where the good are unhappy.
Plato also banned drama because authors and actors would have to portrait either villains or those beneath their status; thus, debasing themselves.
Music, diet and exercise were also strictly monitored for ideal outcomes.
The young gaurdians must also see no ugliness until they are fully trained and then be exposed to temptations that must be found untempting and terrors which must not terrify.
Economically, Plato insisted on a communist approach where the gaurdians have little private property but are not lacking or unhappy. Poverty and wealth both produce ills so both will be banished.
Wives and children will be common to all men who are gaurdians.
Women gaurdians will be equal to all men gaurdians and recieve the same education.
Interestingly, marriage ceremonies where bride and groom will be chosen (they think) by lot will actually be arranged by legislators to produce the best offspring.
Children will not know who their parents are and parents will not know their children. Thus, children are common to all parents.
Women are to bear children between 20-40. Men to father children should be 25-55. ALl sex outside of these ages is fair and free.
All this reorientation of familial structures is to create a loyalty to the State as the primary focus.
The government is to be built on one great lie, "one royal lie", to get the whole thing in motion.
This lie is that God made men of three kinds - gold, silver and brass/iron. The men made of gold are to be the gaurdians. The men made of silver are to be the soldiers. The men made of brass and iron are to do the manual labor.
The lie was well thought out. Plato assumed that the first generation of Utopia wouldn't buy it, but subsequent generations through indoctrination would.
Plato reaches his definition of justice in the three types of men God created living in harmony. The city becomes just when each is doing the job he ought to do without interfering with anyone from another class.
Like philosophers before him, and the poets who lived before the dawn of philosophy, Plato embodies the Greek notion of fate - everything having its place and function. Justice was the harmony of living within the boundaries of this fate.
Plato's definition of justice allows for inequality without injustice. The gaurdians, even though the smallest class, rule because they are the wisest and fated to do so. Injustice would only occur if someone from the lower two classes was wiser than a gaurdian. That is why Plato allowed exceptions for promotion or demotion.
Plato, unlike many later Utopians, saw his Utopia as viably feasible and wished to implement it. Unfortunately he chose to try with Syracuse and it failed. Soon thereafter the rise of Macedonia made the polis antiquated and the notion of establishing a Utopian city-state impossible in the face of empires.
What a fantastic day. Bill fixed our Volvo two days ago and then today, boom! The same thing happens. This time though the car died right in the middle of a busy intersection during rush hour. Other than that today was grand. No, I'm actually not too annoyed (and obviously don't blame Bill; though, that first sentence might've seemed to indicate it). The only truly frustrating thing was the car died. C'est la vie?
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Chapter 11 - Socrates
Socrates is a man we may know much or little about because two of his pupils, Xenophon and Plato wrote volumes about him. Those voluemes however don't always sync up to provide a precise picture.
Xenophon defends Socrates too well. If Xenophon's analysis was wholly correct Socrates would never have been put on trial. But one of the few undisputed facts we know about Socrates is his trial and death in 399 B.C.
Xenophon and Plato both agree that Socrates was concerned with putting the right people into powerful positions.
The problem with taking Xenophon's Socrates as the historical one is the fact that Xenophon makes Socrates so pure he wouldn't have been accused of corrupting the youth. The problem with taking Plato's Socrates as the historical model is Plato's ability as a writer.
Plato's Apology is widely considred as historical. This is Socrates' defense at his trial (which Plato was present at).
The grounds for Socrates' trial seems pretty lear: Socrates was evil, curious and constanly making the right seem wrong and the wrong seem right. The real grounds for the trial also seem clear: he was aristocratic and many of his pupils wre of that class and had acted perniciously while in power.
According to Athenian law, when Socrates was found guilty and stenced to death he was to offer a suitable, lesser punishment for the jury to choose between. Instead he annoyed the court by offering to pay a tiny fine so he would not be mistaken as accepting cupability.
The prosecutors held that Socrates did not follow the religion, introduced noew gods and taught (corrupted) the youth with such ideas.
In his defense Socrates states that he is on trial because the Oracle at Delphi had claimed him to be the wisest man. In pursuit of disproving this he has made many enemeies by exposing those who thought they were wise as being unwise.
In attacking one of his prosecutors he points out that he is on trial for introducting new gods but this prosecutor is accusing him of atheism.
In his defense he states, "fear of death is not wisdom, since no one knows whether death may not be the greater good" (Russell, 87).
After convicted of death, Socrates shames the court, "If you think that by killing men you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is either possible or honourable; the easiest and the noblest way is not to be disabling others, but to be improving yourselves" (Russell, 89).
On death he contends, either death is a good, dreamless sleep or a migration to another world.
Plato describes him as the Orphic saint: "in the dualism of heavenly soul and earthly body, he had achieved the complete mastery of the soul over the body" (Russell, 91).
Socrates was more concerned with ethical questions than scientific knowledge. He believed however knowledge was important because no one sinned on purpose. Thus, by acquiring knowledge one could abstain from sin.
"The close connection between virtue and knowledge is characteristic of Socrates and Plato. To some degree, it exists in all Greek thought, as opposed to that of Christianity. In Christian ethics, a pure heart is essential, and at least as likely to be found among the ignorant as among the learned. The difference between Greek and Christian ethics has persisted down to the present day" (Russell, 92).
The dialectic, seeking knowledge via question and answer wasn't invented by Socrates; but, he definitely used it and developed it.
Chapter 12 - The Influence of Sparta
To understand philosophers from Plato onward it is necessary to know about Sparta. Sparta had a double impact on Greek thought; first, through reality and second, through myth.
The reality of Sparta was the Spartan defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
The myth is the impact of Lycurgus, immortalized by Plutarch, and its impact on later philosophies including Rousseau, Nietzsche and National Socialism.
Sparta arose out of some Dorian conquerors in Laconia. They reduced the indigenous population to serfdom. The citizens of Sparta owned the land but were forbidden to cultivate it because of the demeaning nature of the work and its interference with their time as soldiers.
The Helots worked the land. The Helots were Greek and resented the order of things. They rebelled often. The Spartans maintained a Police State apparatus to control the Helots and once a year declared war on them to weed out agitators.
"The sole business of a Spartan citizen was war, to which he was trained from birth" (Russell, 95).
Children who passed their inspection after birth were educated solely to become good and loyal soldiers. Those who did not pass this intial inspection were killed.
Boys became men at 20 (serving in the military). They became citizens at 30.
No Spartan was to be poor or rich. Their currency was made of iron.
Women received the same physical training as the men. They were forbidden to show any emotion that didn't coincide to the state's favor.
Sparta was ruled by two kings from two different hereditary lines. The two kings belonged to the thirty-man Council of Elders. The Council tried criminal cases and prepared matters for the Assembly. The Assembly was a body of all citizens who could only vote yes or no on matters.
In addition to these three bodies there were the Ephors. There were five Ephors who acted as the Supreme civil court and had criminal jurisdiction over the two kings.
Tradition held that Lycurgus laid down the Spartan law in 885 BC.
Most other Greek city-states admired SParta. Paritally as an ideal from a bygone era. Partially as a model of stability. Partially for their near invincible status in battle on land.
Aristotle was intensely critical of the Spartan way of governance. Aristotle probably was writing of the real Sparta whereas Plato and Plutarch wrote of the mythical Sparta. Pultarch's praise of Sparta and Lycurgus was of great importance to post-Renaissance thinkers.
Sparta was isolationist, often foiling pan-Greek alliances and forbade its citizens from travel and allowed very few foreigners into the city for fear of corrupting the values of the state.
Chapter 13 - The Source of Plato's Opinions
Plato and Aristotle are the two most influential philosophers in history, and Plato is more important than Aristotle.
Plato's top ideas: 1) Utopia, 2) Theory of ideas, 3) arguments in favor of immortality, 4) his cosmogony, 5) knowledge as reminiscence rather than reception
Plato was born in 428/7 BC during the early years of the Peloponnesian War into an aristocratic family. He was a young man when Athens was defeated by Sparta and coupled with his aristocratic background was staunchly anti-democratic, blaming it for the Athenian defeat.
He was a pupil of Socrates.
He was an admirere of Spartan government (primarily because of his anti-democratic bent)
He was influenced by Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus and Socrates, each leading him to a pro-Spartan outlook. From Pythagoras came the other-worldliness, religious and mystical bent. From Parmenides came the beleif that reality is eternal and change illusionary. From Heraclitus came the belief that nothing is permanent in the sensible world. From Socrates he took the obsession with ethics and a teleological view of the universe.
Chapter 14 - Plato's Utopia
Plato's most important dialogue is The Republic. In it is contained the earliest of Utopias.
One conclusion of Plato is that rulers must be philosophers.
The purpose of The Republic is to define justice.
Plato works to define justice by defining an ideally just state.
In this state he divides citizens into three classes:
1) Common people
2) Soldiers
3) Guardians
The guardians are the sole holders of political power, initially selected by a legislator but then passed through hereditary means. (Plato does allow for exceptional men to rise from the other two classes and for an ill-fated guardian to drop).
The guardians, as politcal agents, are Plato's main concern and that main concern begins with the proper education to rule.
Education was divided into Music and Gymnastics. Music covered everything considered today as culture. Gymnastics concerrned physical training. Musical education was about educating the ruling elite to become 'gentlemen'.
The training up of gentlemen began young. Stories were told to children only if they were approved. Homer & Hesiod were not allowed because:
1) They show the gods misbehaving
2) They cause the fear of death
Sidenote (Future Modern Ancient Greeks)
When discussing political systems with some Alien, the hero gets offended when America is not mentioned. The Alien responds, "Oh yes... the great petry dish, the grand experiment politik, the new Rome, a system built on complete contradictions, an aristocracy so perfect it fooled the lower classes into believeing it was egalitarian in nature. It was perfect until you side-tracked into a primitive hero worship of completely unimportant entitites. There's nothing wrong with admiring or even elevating your artists to godlike status but when you elevate your inartistic to artistic and then what you call the artistic to the status of demigods you get a rather sad and debased populace. A pity really becaue everything was going so well. You survived your Punic war with the Soviets but will you survive long enough to allow the rise of a new Parthia to give you the impetus to survive a millenia? Or have you sped up your timeline and already become decadent and too self-obssessed and self-assured to recognize the imminent but slow rot that overtakes all empires? Not of course you, per se, because you are now a child of the stars and without the wherewithal to return home to the decaying America. But even if your America could cut out the corrosion and you found an astronomically improbable way home, would you be satisfied with life back on a primitive planet now that you have seen just a portion of what other worlds have to offer?" The alien continued with his political treatise in soliliqy as (our hero) ost all sense of national pride and pondered a suddenly existential question, if he ever could make it home, would he want to?
Sidenote complete
3) The homeric poems approve of uncontrollable laughter
4) Homer praises lavishness
Homer and Hesiod cannot be taught in the ideal State because the ideal gaurdians of that State must respect religion (misbehaving gods of Homer are unworthy of respect), must be willing to die for the State and thus, cannot fear or mourn death, be in control of their emotion (no great mirth() and be temperate and praise temperance and simplicity.
Education of the gaurdians also forbids any stories where the wicked are happy or where the good are unhappy.
Plato also banned drama because authors and actors would have to portrait either villains or those beneath their status; thus, debasing themselves.
Music, diet and exercise were also strictly monitored for ideal outcomes.
The young gaurdians must also see no ugliness until they are fully trained and then be exposed to temptations that must be found untempting and terrors which must not terrify.
Economically, Plato insisted on a communist approach where the gaurdians have little private property but are not lacking or unhappy. Poverty and wealth both produce ills so both will be banished.
Wives and children will be common to all men who are gaurdians.
Women gaurdians will be equal to all men gaurdians and recieve the same education.
Interestingly, marriage ceremonies where bride and groom will be chosen (they think) by lot will actually be arranged by legislators to produce the best offspring.
Children will not know who their parents are and parents will not know their children. Thus, children are common to all parents.
Women are to bear children between 20-40. Men to father children should be 25-55. ALl sex outside of these ages is fair and free.
All this reorientation of familial structures is to create a loyalty to the State as the primary focus.
The government is to be built on one great lie, "one royal lie", to get the whole thing in motion.
This lie is that God made men of three kinds - gold, silver and brass/iron. The men made of gold are to be the gaurdians. The men made of silver are to be the soldiers. The men made of brass and iron are to do the manual labor.
The lie was well thought out. Plato assumed that the first generation of Utopia wouldn't buy it, but subsequent generations through indoctrination would.
Plato reaches his definition of justice in the three types of men God created living in harmony. The city becomes just when each is doing the job he ought to do without interfering with anyone from another class.
Like philosophers before him, and the poets who lived before the dawn of philosophy, Plato embodies the Greek notion of fate - everything having its place and function. Justice was the harmony of living within the boundaries of this fate.
Plato's definition of justice allows for inequality without injustice. The gaurdians, even though the smallest class, rule because they are the wisest and fated to do so. Injustice would only occur if someone from the lower two classes was wiser than a gaurdian. That is why Plato allowed exceptions for promotion or demotion.
Plato, unlike many later Utopians, saw his Utopia as viably feasible and wished to implement it. Unfortunately he chose to try with Syracuse and it failed. Soon thereafter the rise of Macedonia made the polis antiquated and the notion of establishing a Utopian city-state impossible in the face of empires.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Aristophanes & Euripides
(Originally written June 6, 2016 in Book 26)
It's been nearly nine years since I've written in this particular journal. To the archivists (Ha!) I'm sorry for the lapse. I just didn't want to leave so much blank space in journal 26 on up and waste paper. But, I haven't been completely idle in nine years. Anyway, I've been primarily digitizing my journals recently; thus, I haven't studied much. Currently I'm midway through Salman Rushdie's Fury. It's a pretty riveting book and much newer than most of my reading this year.
As I state, primarily I've been working to bring my journals all into a comprehensive blog, tagged with numerous categories in case I ever want to research a topic. This way I can pull up my notes and move from there. Books 3, 4 and 5 have a lot of notes from 2006 on Bertrand Russell's The History of Western Philosophy and lo and behold, ten years later I'm reading it again, It's somewhat coincidental and definitely gives it a comical symmetry. Iv'e read the introduction which covers the PRe-Socratics and am now starting the part on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle Additionally, I'm reading my books from History of philosophy at Taylor (A History of Western Philosophy by W.T. Jones) to get a fuller depth of understanding. It is there I'll actually begin.
The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones
Ch. 2 - Education by Violence
Aristophanes
Aristophanes held that democracy was destroying the state.
Aristophanes was a playwright during the violent chaos of the Peloponnesian War and its aftermath. It is for this reason he so avidly opposed the unruliness and inefficiency of democracy.
He criticized the Athenian practice of paying people to be on the j tries because it led to lazy, incompetent and ignorant juries, making a travesty of justice.
Aristophanes used many of his plays to attack the mass democracy and the ills it foisted on Athens. But in Ecclesiazusae he offered a solution that anticipated Plato's Utopia and is akin to communism:
- land, money and private property became common to all
- no rich or poor
- women belong to all men in common
- "Athens will become nothing more than a single house, in which every thing will belong to everyone" (Jones, 51).
Euripides
Euripides (480-406 BC) was a playwright during the Peloponnesian War. Initially his plays were optimistic and patriotic to the Athenians, but after the brutal subjugation of the Melians by the Athenians his tone changed.
Euripides believed in a moral order which was a natural order. He used the gods and goddesses as an embodiment of that order, dishing out justice and punishment.
In his play Trojan Women he points out the doubly futile nature of war. First, its consequences are greater than the spark which ignited the war in the first place. Second, ti generally does not achieve the desired ends.
The war caused Euripides to lose his faith in the natural order, the moral order and religion. This profound loss contrasted Euripides from an earlier generation. While they were sure and optimistic in light of the Pax Athenica, in spite of many flaws, Euripides was a product of the horrors of war.
Euripides clings to the Greek ideal of moderation, but taught by war, mourns its loss.
It's been nearly nine years since I've written in this particular journal. To the archivists (Ha!) I'm sorry for the lapse. I just didn't want to leave so much blank space in journal 26 on up and waste paper. But, I haven't been completely idle in nine years. Anyway, I've been primarily digitizing my journals recently; thus, I haven't studied much. Currently I'm midway through Salman Rushdie's Fury. It's a pretty riveting book and much newer than most of my reading this year.
As I state, primarily I've been working to bring my journals all into a comprehensive blog, tagged with numerous categories in case I ever want to research a topic. This way I can pull up my notes and move from there. Books 3, 4 and 5 have a lot of notes from 2006 on Bertrand Russell's The History of Western Philosophy and lo and behold, ten years later I'm reading it again, It's somewhat coincidental and definitely gives it a comical symmetry. Iv'e read the introduction which covers the PRe-Socratics and am now starting the part on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle Additionally, I'm reading my books from History of philosophy at Taylor (A History of Western Philosophy by W.T. Jones) to get a fuller depth of understanding. It is there I'll actually begin.
The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones
Ch. 2 - Education by Violence
Aristophanes
Aristophanes held that democracy was destroying the state.
Aristophanes was a playwright during the violent chaos of the Peloponnesian War and its aftermath. It is for this reason he so avidly opposed the unruliness and inefficiency of democracy.
He criticized the Athenian practice of paying people to be on the j tries because it led to lazy, incompetent and ignorant juries, making a travesty of justice.
Aristophanes used many of his plays to attack the mass democracy and the ills it foisted on Athens. But in Ecclesiazusae he offered a solution that anticipated Plato's Utopia and is akin to communism:
- land, money and private property became common to all
- no rich or poor
- women belong to all men in common
- "Athens will become nothing more than a single house, in which every thing will belong to everyone" (Jones, 51).
Euripides
Euripides (480-406 BC) was a playwright during the Peloponnesian War. Initially his plays were optimistic and patriotic to the Athenians, but after the brutal subjugation of the Melians by the Athenians his tone changed.
Euripides believed in a moral order which was a natural order. He used the gods and goddesses as an embodiment of that order, dishing out justice and punishment.
In his play Trojan Women he points out the doubly futile nature of war. First, its consequences are greater than the spark which ignited the war in the first place. Second, ti generally does not achieve the desired ends.
The war caused Euripides to lose his faith in the natural order, the moral order and religion. This profound loss contrasted Euripides from an earlier generation. While they were sure and optimistic in light of the Pax Athenica, in spite of many flaws, Euripides was a product of the horrors of war.
Euripides clings to the Greek ideal of moderation, but taught by war, mourns its loss.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Flatland
I must admit after struggling a month to finish the 252 pages of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and falling behind schedule to hit my self-appointed target of 50 books this year I chose Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot because of it's small size. I found the book in a 25 cent pile and read the jacket without knowing what it was and it seemed worth a read and it was surprisingly interesting. It tells the story of a two-dimensional being that has the opportunity to see a world with three-dimensions, one-dimension and no dimensions at all. Given my recent drive to create something concerning space and time travel, I thought and was affirmed that it might give me some ideas. Besides that, it was pretty good in spite of my lack of interest in geometry or mathematics in general.
The narrator is a square and is attempting to tell his readers in the three-dimensional world about his world and his trips to the others. He talks about his world and the light in it and because there is no sun the question arises then, where does the light come from. He explains that though it has been pondered and sometimes answered it doesn't quite turn out right. "What is the origin of light? and the solution of it has been repeatedly attempted, with no other result than to crown our lunatic asylums with the would-be solvers" (Abbot, 5). It's an interesting notion that to ponder the great mysteries of the universe could and in fact, should render the would be answers worthy of the asylum.
In the flatland of the two dimensional world the highly pointed triangles are either criminals or soldiers, but the deadliest of all the inhabitants are the woman who are merely lines. "If our highly pointed Triangles of the soldier class are formidable, it may be readily inferred that far more formidable are our Women. For if a soldier is a wedge, a Woman is a needle: being, so to speak all point" (Abbot, 10). That's just funny.
Future Modern Ancient Greeks - The square in enquiring of his teacher the sphere (of a third dimension) what of the fourth dimension world, finds himself wondering that if a square (2-D) has four end points and a cube (3-D) has eight points then the next shape up like a square must have sixteen end points. "And consequently does it not of necessity follow that the more divine offspring of the divine Cube in the Land of Four Dimensions, must have 8 bounding Cubes: and is not this also, as my Lord has taught me to believe, 'strictly according to analogy'" (Abbot, 73). In the story when the protagonist of Future Modern Ancient Greeks goes to other dimensions he should travel in a space ship surrounded by 8 bounding cubes. Play with the word bounding and it'll be a nod to this book in mine.
"Yet mark his perfect self-contentment, and hence learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy" (Abbot, 75). Again, I seem to have latched on to something that describes my restlessness in something I've read. This time though I don't find anything profound in it. I find it sad to say. Self-contentment is vile and ignorant. To be happy, even impotently so, ought to be better than to be aspirational. Aspiring and not reaching that aspiration cannot, surely, be preferable to happiness of any kind.
Future Modern Ancient Greeks - I find the whole passage of the non-dimensional being fascinating. He has no conception outside of himself. Everything that exists exists in him. He is his own world. I think that could be used somewhere in Future Modern Ancient Greeks.
The narrator is a square and is attempting to tell his readers in the three-dimensional world about his world and his trips to the others. He talks about his world and the light in it and because there is no sun the question arises then, where does the light come from. He explains that though it has been pondered and sometimes answered it doesn't quite turn out right. "What is the origin of light? and the solution of it has been repeatedly attempted, with no other result than to crown our lunatic asylums with the would-be solvers" (Abbot, 5). It's an interesting notion that to ponder the great mysteries of the universe could and in fact, should render the would be answers worthy of the asylum.
In the flatland of the two dimensional world the highly pointed triangles are either criminals or soldiers, but the deadliest of all the inhabitants are the woman who are merely lines. "If our highly pointed Triangles of the soldier class are formidable, it may be readily inferred that far more formidable are our Women. For if a soldier is a wedge, a Woman is a needle: being, so to speak all point" (Abbot, 10). That's just funny.
Future Modern Ancient Greeks - The square in enquiring of his teacher the sphere (of a third dimension) what of the fourth dimension world, finds himself wondering that if a square (2-D) has four end points and a cube (3-D) has eight points then the next shape up like a square must have sixteen end points. "And consequently does it not of necessity follow that the more divine offspring of the divine Cube in the Land of Four Dimensions, must have 8 bounding Cubes: and is not this also, as my Lord has taught me to believe, 'strictly according to analogy'" (Abbot, 73). In the story when the protagonist of Future Modern Ancient Greeks goes to other dimensions he should travel in a space ship surrounded by 8 bounding cubes. Play with the word bounding and it'll be a nod to this book in mine.
"Yet mark his perfect self-contentment, and hence learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy" (Abbot, 75). Again, I seem to have latched on to something that describes my restlessness in something I've read. This time though I don't find anything profound in it. I find it sad to say. Self-contentment is vile and ignorant. To be happy, even impotently so, ought to be better than to be aspirational. Aspiring and not reaching that aspiration cannot, surely, be preferable to happiness of any kind.
Future Modern Ancient Greeks - I find the whole passage of the non-dimensional being fascinating. He has no conception outside of himself. Everything that exists exists in him. He is his own world. I think that could be used somewhere in Future Modern Ancient Greeks.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
Oh boy. What a grind it was to finish this one. First of all, there is no denying that this is truly a phenomenal book with incredible insights and Joyce does an amazing job of putting you into the story as a fly on the wall who can use every sense to imagine being in the story. We see, hear, feel, taste and smell alongside Stephen Dedalus. Secondly, I find much of Stephen Dedalus to be extremely boring. That may be sacrilegious, but I fear and fear not the repercussions of that sentence.
After I finished the book I did some reading and found that Joyce had originally submitted this as a treaty on Aesthetics. I found his take on aesthetics to be interesting. "-Art, said Stephen, is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end" (Joyce, 207). In fact, Stephen's entire conversation with Lynch about art, aesthetics and beauty is fascinating. His contention that beauty should create a stasis between pity and terror rather than a kinetic emotion is an interesting and dispassionate notion. I think it is wrong, but it is at the very least thought provoking. His take on false art producing kinetic emotions like desire and loathing is something to take into account. Sadly, his attempt to get his thoughts on aesthetics was unpublished and he housed it in this semi-autobiographical tale that had more boring parts than interesting ones. I guess he accomplished his goal and left me in sort of a stasis, offering few kinetic emotions about his book.
One of the few times I felt kinetic emotion was during the retreat section when the priests were calling for repentance so that no soul would suffer eternal damnation. In my mind's eye I recalled terrifying sermons from the retired senior pastor who gave such terrifying images of hellfire and brimstone I prayed nightly to escape such a fate. Tears and stress overtook me overtime he preached this message and I can't imagine hell much scarier than as he put it. I empathized with Stephen as he struggled with repenting and the notion that he had done to much to escape this terrible fate. "What did it avail to pray when he knew that his soul lusted after its own destruction?" (Joyce, 103-104). I understand that line on a visceral level. I also understand his wrestling with faith throughout the book, though I find my ending point to be vastly different than that of Stephen's.
I found that like Daumal in A Night of Serious Drinking Joyce also sends a jab to the nose of reason. While Daumal called reason the off-loading of the responsibility to think, Joyce calls reason a pollutant. "A phrase of Cornelius Agrippa flew through his mind and then there flew hither and tither shapeless thoughts from Swedenborg on the correspondence of birds to things of the intellect and of how the creatures of the air have their knowledge and know their times and seasons because they, unlike man are in the order of their life and have not perverted that order by reason" (Joyce, 224-225).
Joyce unleashes a stinging attack on Protestantism in the back end of the book. Much of this book houses an Irish history that I don't fully know and can't fully know. It concerns self-rule and the religious trappings of a Protestant-Catholic war that has obvious political overtones. But, I do, even as someone who isn't Catholic understand his criticism of the disorganized way in which protestantism worships and structures there fragmented theological opinions. "I said that I had lost the faith, Stephen answered, but not that I had lost selfrespect. What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent?" (Joyce, 243-244). I don't agree that faith is necessarily an absurdity nor do I find Protestantism illogical. But, I do find and struggle with the fact that Protestantism is so incoherent and crave some of the symmetry and logically soundness behind Catholicism.
Lastly, I found this line to be sadly beautiful in its composition and meaning. "The past is consumed in the present and the present is living only because it brings forth the future" (Joyce, 251). I find that restlessness and striving to be endearing, but also wearying.
I heard only the hum of silence
A Night of Serious Drinking by René Daumal was fantastic. It was a very enjoyable read; and, for those of you following this blog it should come to no surprise to you that I enjoyed it as it is yet another surrealist work of literature. The book is basically satirical in nature and like Voltaire, it's satire is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. And like Voltaire, Daumal's pace is incredibly rapid and absurd. There is a whole host of good satire on philosophy, theology and the human condition throughout the book and it is slam bang full of fantastic one-liners. One such example concerns a simile about suicide (which isn't really a laughing matter but is darkly humorous nonetheless). "There are aerial battles where sound waves bounce back on themselves, start spinning and whirl between heaven and earth, like the indestructible regret of the suicide, who halfway down from the sixth floor all of a sudden no longer wants to die any more" (Daumal, 19).
Again, my obsession with writing a good space/time travel piece saw me take some inspiration from what I was reading. In Daumal I found this passage which I might make use of somehow. "'It's the same here as anywhere else, but here it's made quite clear: space is generated by need. Let's say you'd like to take a walk. You simply project in front of you the necessary space which you walk across and when. The same with time. Just a s spider secretes the thread down which she climbs, so you secrete the time you need to do whatever you have to, and you proceed along this thread which is visible only behind you but usable only had of you. The key its in working it out properly. If the thread is too long, it goes into loops and if it's too short, it snaps'" (Daumal, 38). Future Modern Ancient Greeks stuff.
The builders of a fantastic house were describing it to the protagonist of the story and I had an audible chuckle when they told him about the climate controls. "The temperature is kept exactly at the ideal level for the ideal human organism as defined by our experts. It is the only temperature at which nobody feels comfortable: some shine and others sweat" (Daumal, 45). That's funny!
The definition of reason given in this book is another funny passage. "Reason, n., an imaginary process onto which the responsibility for thinking is off-loaded" (Daumal, 55). It's funny because those who are slavishly devoted to reason are often more dogmatic that those slavishly devoted to a certain comprehension of a religion. It's good sarcasm.
In describing a certain group of people in the asylum, the guide tells the protagonist these people are called The Nibblists. Upon reading the guide's description I realized I might be exactly who the guide was describing. "They spend their time retailing imaginary lives in writing. Some relate what they themselves have experienced and attribute it to characters of their invention so that they might avoid their obligations and indulge all manner of impertinence. The others, through their characters, live out everything they would like to have experienced themselves, in order to have the illusion of having really experienced it" (Daumal, 57). Guilty as charged.
Chapter 20 in part 2 as a whole is hysterical. But, the best line in the chapter is "philosophy teaches how man thinks he thinks; but drinking shows how he really thinks" (Daumal, 59). The humor in this statement is dark and finds its relevance in its truthfulness.
Lastly, Daumal makes reference to Homer and his hero Ulysses. Upon listening to intellectual conversations so tantalizing the protagonist of this story remembers the warnings of his guide. Suddenly, he takes action. "But, remembering the companions of Ulysses, I stuffed those ears with thick plugs of common sense, and, listening with another ear - my trust ear, my only good ear - I heard only the hum of silence" (Daumal, 77). What a good line.
While I still think that I enjoy Queneau more than any other surrealist authors, A Night of Serious Drinking is up at the top of my list. I look forward to reading other books by René Daumal.
Again, my obsession with writing a good space/time travel piece saw me take some inspiration from what I was reading. In Daumal I found this passage which I might make use of somehow. "'It's the same here as anywhere else, but here it's made quite clear: space is generated by need. Let's say you'd like to take a walk. You simply project in front of you the necessary space which you walk across and when. The same with time. Just a s spider secretes the thread down which she climbs, so you secrete the time you need to do whatever you have to, and you proceed along this thread which is visible only behind you but usable only had of you. The key its in working it out properly. If the thread is too long, it goes into loops and if it's too short, it snaps'" (Daumal, 38). Future Modern Ancient Greeks stuff.
The builders of a fantastic house were describing it to the protagonist of the story and I had an audible chuckle when they told him about the climate controls. "The temperature is kept exactly at the ideal level for the ideal human organism as defined by our experts. It is the only temperature at which nobody feels comfortable: some shine and others sweat" (Daumal, 45). That's funny!
The definition of reason given in this book is another funny passage. "Reason, n., an imaginary process onto which the responsibility for thinking is off-loaded" (Daumal, 55). It's funny because those who are slavishly devoted to reason are often more dogmatic that those slavishly devoted to a certain comprehension of a religion. It's good sarcasm.
In describing a certain group of people in the asylum, the guide tells the protagonist these people are called The Nibblists. Upon reading the guide's description I realized I might be exactly who the guide was describing. "They spend their time retailing imaginary lives in writing. Some relate what they themselves have experienced and attribute it to characters of their invention so that they might avoid their obligations and indulge all manner of impertinence. The others, through their characters, live out everything they would like to have experienced themselves, in order to have the illusion of having really experienced it" (Daumal, 57). Guilty as charged.
Chapter 20 in part 2 as a whole is hysterical. But, the best line in the chapter is "philosophy teaches how man thinks he thinks; but drinking shows how he really thinks" (Daumal, 59). The humor in this statement is dark and finds its relevance in its truthfulness.
Lastly, Daumal makes reference to Homer and his hero Ulysses. Upon listening to intellectual conversations so tantalizing the protagonist of this story remembers the warnings of his guide. Suddenly, he takes action. "But, remembering the companions of Ulysses, I stuffed those ears with thick plugs of common sense, and, listening with another ear - my trust ear, my only good ear - I heard only the hum of silence" (Daumal, 77). What a good line.
While I still think that I enjoy Queneau more than any other surrealist authors, A Night of Serious Drinking is up at the top of my list. I look forward to reading other books by René Daumal.
Curiosity Assuaged
Well, well. It has been a considerable amount of time and I am sure you have missed me. My apologies. Much has happened in said considerable amount of time, some more considerable than others. Firstly, I have changed jobs. Twice. Secondly, I've moved into our first purchased home with my wife. Exciting times. But, this is neither here nor there, so let us away and back to the intellectual pursuits.
Since I've last journaled on here, which was in February I haven't been completely intellectually idle. I have read four books - so not incredible prodigious, but not completely unstimulated. The first of which I will assess is Philippe Soupault's Last Nights of Paris. I really enjoyed this one, as seems to be the case with most Surrealist literature (and most French literature for that matter). With its many corridors and narrow rabbit trails however, it seemed to come to an incredibly abrupt ending, which I won't give away. But, I will offer some thoughts on a few passages that stuck out to me.
"Very clearly I was the only one still listening to the discussion of the two comrades, and I was divided between the desire to question and that of keeping my mouth shut in order to learn more" (Soupault, 73). What a great paragraph that is. It captures the feeling of being intrigued and thus, being drawn into question but also the apprehension and the truth of the matter if one would just shut up and listen he would acquire some knowledge.
There is a paragraph in the book dealing with 'chance' that I rather enjoyed. "Chance, said I to myself, is at least sincere in that it does not conceal its deceptions from us. On the contrary it exposes them in broad daylight, and trumpets them at night. It amuses itself, from time to time, by stupefying the world with the shock of a terrible surprise, as if to remind men of its great strength, thinking they might forget its flightiness, its mischief, its whimsicalities. The complacencies of chance are not favors but treacheries: it does not amaze us to save to keep us in its grasp and all that we receive from its hands are not so much gifts it is offering us as pledges we make to remain its slaves in perpetuity, subject to the grievous visitations of its harsh and malicious power" (Soupault, 83-84). It shows the merciless and faceless nature of chance encounters, but strangely shows that chance acts to remind man, negating the very essence of what chance is. It's a fascinating anthropomorphism.
In remarking about some men gambling, Soupault turns his focus on the human emotion of hope. "Near the wickets old men were in the majority and I marveled at the perpetuity of hope" (Soupault, 87). I just get the image of desperate men seeking out against all odds and yet, despite their memories of failure, he still describes the men as hopeful. It is simultaneously inspiring and sad, tragic and happy.
Again in the surrealist style I find some interesting sentences strewn together. It affirms something in the first and then casts doubt on what we just learned in the second. That kind of subtle jarring is one of the things I find most fascinating about surrealism. "Did he know that he had been betrayed in this place? And what is more, was it he whom they had betrayed?" (Soupault, 94). In a way it almost seems like an Abbot and Costello skit.
"Slowly I went on my way, following the day's ascent. While the sun rose and came to greet me, I marveled at being able to live in the midst of mystery without being wonderstruck each second. I admitted that we grow accustomed to the strangest circumstances and smiled with pity thinking of those who refuse to be what is called dupes - who want to know everything and who are not even able to perceive the diurnal mystery which suffuses and bathes them from head to foot" (Soupault, 122). What great irony! In desiring so strongly to know everything those who don't want to be dupes are duped by the mystery surrounding them on a daily basis.
"You loved her without quite loving her. She was feared a little, but above all you were uneasy as much because of her presence as her absence" (Soupault, 132). Great line.
"Dullness would seize them and to drive it off they sought mystery and created phantoms" (Soupault, 132). It sounds like Soupault has walked around in my brain a little.
"Empty handed, I set out upon the discovery of the flight of time and space" (Soupault, 135). Given my recent obsession with time and space in my writings this line stuck out to me.
"Again I felt that disgust which follows curiosity assuaged" (Soupault, 143). My restlessness, my constant groaning and groping for that which I do not want, my need for constant stimulation, all of this I have levied as a punishment for the sins of hyper stimulation. But all this time it was hyper stimulation as a result of a certain disgust I felt when I came to the end of my object du jour of curiosity. "Again I felt that disgust which follows curiosity assuaged". Ennui. Is there any line ever written more French?
Since I've last journaled on here, which was in February I haven't been completely intellectually idle. I have read four books - so not incredible prodigious, but not completely unstimulated. The first of which I will assess is Philippe Soupault's Last Nights of Paris. I really enjoyed this one, as seems to be the case with most Surrealist literature (and most French literature for that matter). With its many corridors and narrow rabbit trails however, it seemed to come to an incredibly abrupt ending, which I won't give away. But, I will offer some thoughts on a few passages that stuck out to me.
"Very clearly I was the only one still listening to the discussion of the two comrades, and I was divided between the desire to question and that of keeping my mouth shut in order to learn more" (Soupault, 73). What a great paragraph that is. It captures the feeling of being intrigued and thus, being drawn into question but also the apprehension and the truth of the matter if one would just shut up and listen he would acquire some knowledge.
There is a paragraph in the book dealing with 'chance' that I rather enjoyed. "Chance, said I to myself, is at least sincere in that it does not conceal its deceptions from us. On the contrary it exposes them in broad daylight, and trumpets them at night. It amuses itself, from time to time, by stupefying the world with the shock of a terrible surprise, as if to remind men of its great strength, thinking they might forget its flightiness, its mischief, its whimsicalities. The complacencies of chance are not favors but treacheries: it does not amaze us to save to keep us in its grasp and all that we receive from its hands are not so much gifts it is offering us as pledges we make to remain its slaves in perpetuity, subject to the grievous visitations of its harsh and malicious power" (Soupault, 83-84). It shows the merciless and faceless nature of chance encounters, but strangely shows that chance acts to remind man, negating the very essence of what chance is. It's a fascinating anthropomorphism.
In remarking about some men gambling, Soupault turns his focus on the human emotion of hope. "Near the wickets old men were in the majority and I marveled at the perpetuity of hope" (Soupault, 87). I just get the image of desperate men seeking out against all odds and yet, despite their memories of failure, he still describes the men as hopeful. It is simultaneously inspiring and sad, tragic and happy.
Again in the surrealist style I find some interesting sentences strewn together. It affirms something in the first and then casts doubt on what we just learned in the second. That kind of subtle jarring is one of the things I find most fascinating about surrealism. "Did he know that he had been betrayed in this place? And what is more, was it he whom they had betrayed?" (Soupault, 94). In a way it almost seems like an Abbot and Costello skit.
"Slowly I went on my way, following the day's ascent. While the sun rose and came to greet me, I marveled at being able to live in the midst of mystery without being wonderstruck each second. I admitted that we grow accustomed to the strangest circumstances and smiled with pity thinking of those who refuse to be what is called dupes - who want to know everything and who are not even able to perceive the diurnal mystery which suffuses and bathes them from head to foot" (Soupault, 122). What great irony! In desiring so strongly to know everything those who don't want to be dupes are duped by the mystery surrounding them on a daily basis.
"You loved her without quite loving her. She was feared a little, but above all you were uneasy as much because of her presence as her absence" (Soupault, 132). Great line.
"Dullness would seize them and to drive it off they sought mystery and created phantoms" (Soupault, 132). It sounds like Soupault has walked around in my brain a little.
"Empty handed, I set out upon the discovery of the flight of time and space" (Soupault, 135). Given my recent obsession with time and space in my writings this line stuck out to me.
"Again I felt that disgust which follows curiosity assuaged" (Soupault, 143). My restlessness, my constant groaning and groping for that which I do not want, my need for constant stimulation, all of this I have levied as a punishment for the sins of hyper stimulation. But all this time it was hyper stimulation as a result of a certain disgust I felt when I came to the end of my object du jour of curiosity. "Again I felt that disgust which follows curiosity assuaged". Ennui. Is there any line ever written more French?
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