I finished Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching the other day and given that I'd never had any experience with the work before I was a bit befuddled. The commentary and notes in the Penguin edition were enlightening in that they stated that some of the sections were intentionally vague to allow for interpretation. That said, I probably need quite a bit more commentary reading to get me to any level of competency with the text. That said, there were a few passages that really stood out to me.
The first one that stood out to me is ironic given that it is the night of the election. The rhetoric of Trump resounding in my ears regardless of my wishes might have made this one stand out to me.
From IX -
"There may be gold and jade to fill a hall
But there is none who can keep them.
To be overbearing when one has wealth and position
Is to bring calamity upon oneself" (Tzu, 13).
Firstly, it mirrors the Biblical passage Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal". It would seem that the wisdom of ancient China and the wisdom of Jesus have a bit of universality of it. But this reflection came later, initially I thought of Trump. As Trump seems to be coming in with a bunch of surprising victories it seems that wisdom might not always be factually based...
From XIII - Taoism seems to have a dualistic philosophy
"The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?" (Tzu, 17).
From XVIII - Again, my reading might have been shaded by current events, particularly the election of 2016 when this passage stuck out to me.
"When cleverness emerges
There is great hypocrisy" (Tzu, 22).
Frankly, the overbearingness of wealth and power seemed perfectly suited to Trump, but this passage seems to fit both Clinton and Trump perfectly.
From XXIII - It seems that Lao Tzu has a bit of nominative determinism about him as well in his philosophy.
"A man of the way conforms to the way; a man of virtue conforms to virtue; a man of loss conforms to loss. He who conforms to the way is gladly accepted by the way; he who conforms to virtue is gladly accepted by virtue; he who conforms to loss is gladly accepted by loss" (Tzu, 28).
From XLII - Addition by subtraction - a bit of wisdom from ancient minimalists?
"Thus a thing is sometimes added to by being diminished and diminished by being added to" (Tzu, 49).
From XLIV - Again some mirroring of Jesus' words in Matthew 6
"Know contentment
And you will suffer no disgrace" (Tzu, 51).
Matthew 6:28-34 has a bit of contentment and a lack of disgrace in it.
Paul talks about contentment in Philippians 4:12-13
Hebrews 13:5 also preaches contentment.
From XLVI - Contentment is preached again. This was a very good saying/poem.
"There is no disaster greater than not being content" (Tzu, 53).
From LVI - Just a good thought
"One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know" (Tzu, 63).
A lot of the sayings in this book are good, solid wisdom that is hard to argue against. The one that I found most foreign to my thinking and one that I couldn't quite get along with was the thought of following tradition and not breaking new ground. "Let your wheels move only along old ruts" (Tzu, 63). This thought was expressed numerous times in the book and I simply can't fit that into my thinking without fundamentally changing my thought process. That said, as I stated above, I'm so unfamiliar with this text I might be reading into it something that it wasn't intending.
From LXIII -
"Lay plans for the accomplishment of the difficult before it becomes difficult; make something big by starting with it when small. Difficult things in the world must needs have their beginnings in the easy; big things must needs have their beginnings in the small. Therefore it is because the sage never attempts to be great that he succeeds in becoming great" (Tzu, 70).
This is just sound, practical wisdom.
LXXIV seems to me (again pardon my misrepresentation if I'm reading it wrong) to be a questioning of capital punishment. "In chopping wood on behalf of the master carpenter, there are few who escape hurting their own hands instead" (Tzu, 81).
From LXXVII -
"It is the way of heaven to take from what has in excess in order to make good what is deficient. The way of man is otherwise. It takes from those who are in want in order to offer this to those who already have more than enough" (Tzu, 84).
This is a pretty damning indictment of the greediness of man.
From LXXVIII - That's just an example pretty excellent writing to end this part.
"Straightforward words
Seem paradoxical" (Tzu, 85).
From LXXXI - It seems that Lao Tzu could have easily stepped in to back Plato up against the Sophists...
"Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good" (Tzu, 88).
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Who is Boris Pasternak?
I was at Goodwill and a little book was sitting, jutting out and it caught my eye. It's a basic little book with a sketch of a man's face on it entitled, "Poems" by Boris Pasternak. Not being much of a poetry reader I didn't think much of it, but the plainness of the sketch demanded that I opened it. It's a dual language book with Russian on the left hand side and English on the right. I was again intrigued by the peculiarity of this book and decided to read the first little poem. After reading it I decided it was worth the $1.99 price tag (much to my surprise, the color coordination of Goodwill meant that it was only $.99).
The lines that caught my eye:
"This close air is as flat as the boards
In the pond. The sky's flat on its face.
It would be fun if these stars guffawed-
But the universe is a dull place" (Pasternak, 113).
The bleakness spoke to me. But, who is Boris Pasternak? I don't really know. I found out from Wikipedia that he wrote Doctor Zhivago and this was unfortunately after I bought the book. My only experience with Doctor Zhivago was trying to watch it one time with Erin and falling asleep somewhere within the first third of the movie. But, I'm excited to see where Boris will take me when I pick it up.
The lines that caught my eye:
"This close air is as flat as the boards
In the pond. The sky's flat on its face.
It would be fun if these stars guffawed-
But the universe is a dull place" (Pasternak, 113).
The bleakness spoke to me. But, who is Boris Pasternak? I don't really know. I found out from Wikipedia that he wrote Doctor Zhivago and this was unfortunately after I bought the book. My only experience with Doctor Zhivago was trying to watch it one time with Erin and falling asleep somewhere within the first third of the movie. But, I'm excited to see where Boris will take me when I pick it up.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Plato's aesthetics and religion
(Originally written November 7, 2016 in Book 26)
The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones
Chapter 5: Plato - The Special Sciences
Theory of Art
There is an eternal form "Beauty". Things are beautiful in proportion to their participation in the form beauty.
For Plato, order was beauty. "To the degree that any physical object possess order, it is beautiful (Jones, 192).
Mathematics, because of its orderliness is more beautiful than any object.
Natural objects are more beautiful than objects of art because natural objects are copies of the eternal form and objects of art are copies of copies (shadows of shadows).
The artist is a liar and a deceiver.
Plato treated art cognitively, but recognized the emotive and conative aspects as well. Thus he treated artists as cognitively inferior to scientists, but dangerous magicians for the power they held over people's emotions.
"Meanings can be communicated without words, by a kind of intellectual osmosis. In fact, this is the way all really important things are in life are communicated - not formally via lectures or books, but gradually over long periods of time" (Jones, 194). Plato used myth as a short cut to convey deep knowledge that would otherwise require a long-term relationship between teacher and pupil.
Art stands between two types of knowledge - the direct experiential knowledge and conceptual knowledge.
Religion
Plato often used myth to convey the deep truths of religion as they shortcut to teaching.
Plato argues certain aspects of the nature of God can be discovered via natural theology.
1. God is good and thus not the author of hurtful things
2. God is not the author of all things, not even the author of many things experienced by man because man experiences more evil than good
3. God does punish the wicked
4. God is unchangeable
5. God does not lie or make false representations of himself
Plato advocated a first-cause movement argument. This first cause is a self-mover. This self-mover is soul. The soul is more ancient than all other motions.
"The gods are good, yea, exceeding good" (Jones, 198).
"The gods exist, and that they are careful and that they are wholly incapable of being seduced to transgress justice" (Jones, 199).
Plato housed his religious views in the language of myth which he intended for readers to take seriously, but not literally.
Timaeus -
God is a creator
What God creates is the cosmos
Plato believed the universe is a purposive whole. The universe is well ordered and ordered for the best. It satisfied not merely our intellectual curiosity but also our moral demands.
Plato (opposite of Christianity) is more interested in the creation than the creator.
Plato's theology served two purposes:
1) The discoverable attributes of god shed light on the nature of the cosmos
2) A reminder of our limitations concerning our finite understandings
Plato's religion compared to Christianity
Plato had a profound impact on Christian theology because of similarities with Christianity.
But Plato's god is not an object of worship. His god is good, but not a loving Father.
The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones
Chapter 5: Plato - The Special Sciences
Theory of Art
There is an eternal form "Beauty". Things are beautiful in proportion to their participation in the form beauty.
For Plato, order was beauty. "To the degree that any physical object possess order, it is beautiful (Jones, 192).
Mathematics, because of its orderliness is more beautiful than any object.
Natural objects are more beautiful than objects of art because natural objects are copies of the eternal form and objects of art are copies of copies (shadows of shadows).
The artist is a liar and a deceiver.
Plato treated art cognitively, but recognized the emotive and conative aspects as well. Thus he treated artists as cognitively inferior to scientists, but dangerous magicians for the power they held over people's emotions.
"Meanings can be communicated without words, by a kind of intellectual osmosis. In fact, this is the way all really important things are in life are communicated - not formally via lectures or books, but gradually over long periods of time" (Jones, 194). Plato used myth as a short cut to convey deep knowledge that would otherwise require a long-term relationship between teacher and pupil.
Art stands between two types of knowledge - the direct experiential knowledge and conceptual knowledge.
Religion
Plato often used myth to convey the deep truths of religion as they shortcut to teaching.
Plato argues certain aspects of the nature of God can be discovered via natural theology.
1. God is good and thus not the author of hurtful things
2. God is not the author of all things, not even the author of many things experienced by man because man experiences more evil than good
3. God does punish the wicked
4. God is unchangeable
5. God does not lie or make false representations of himself
Plato advocated a first-cause movement argument. This first cause is a self-mover. This self-mover is soul. The soul is more ancient than all other motions.
"The gods are good, yea, exceeding good" (Jones, 198).
"The gods exist, and that they are careful and that they are wholly incapable of being seduced to transgress justice" (Jones, 199).
Plato housed his religious views in the language of myth which he intended for readers to take seriously, but not literally.
Timaeus -
God is a creator
What God creates is the cosmos
Plato believed the universe is a purposive whole. The universe is well ordered and ordered for the best. It satisfied not merely our intellectual curiosity but also our moral demands.
Plato (opposite of Christianity) is more interested in the creation than the creator.
Plato's theology served two purposes:
1) The discoverable attributes of god shed light on the nature of the cosmos
2) A reminder of our limitations concerning our finite understandings
Plato's religion compared to Christianity
Plato had a profound impact on Christian theology because of similarities with Christianity.
But Plato's god is not an object of worship. His god is good, but not a loving Father.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Plato's Ethics and Politics
(Originally written November 6, 2016 in Book 26)
It's been a bit since I've delved into Plato. Sorry about that guys. I'll try and give this a little more attention over the next few weeks.
The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones
Chapter 5: Plato - the special sciences
Ethics
Ethics was Plato's primary concern.
"Since he was convinced that the Sophistic attack on moderation and the other traditional virtues had been one of the main causes of the Athenian debacle, he was chiefly concerned, not with a knowledge of the physical world, but with a knowledge of values" (Jones, 153).
The denial of objective knowledge in ethics is extremely paradoxical. A straightforward denial of objective ethical truths would allow for absurdities like being unable to say that Jesus was a better man than Hitler. The consequences of of rejecting the possiblity of objective ethical truths is so great the burden of proof lies with those who wish to prove there are not objective ethical statements, not with those who affirm their existence.
Analysis of the form "courage".
As with his physics, Plato calls the virtue courage in the real world through acts, as having some participation with the 'form' courage.
Two types of knowledge:
1) Experiential knowledge
2) Formal knowledge
Experiential knowledge: picked up through experience. An acquaintence with the particulars of the forms participate in, but not knowledge of the forms themselves.
Formal knowledge is knowledge of the form itself.
Formal knowledge develops out of experiential knowledge.
The forms precede the particulars which participate in the forms, but knowledge works backwards. One learns via the particulars and gradually learns of the form the particulars participate in.
The distinction between pleasure and the good
Plato set out to show that the Sophists were not merely good men with a confused knowledge, but bad men set out to teach erroneous ways. The Sophist's biggest error, to Plato, was their confusing of pleasure and the good.
A neutral state of equillibrium would be the best state for man in Plato's reasoning, but this is only for the gods who are above both joy and sorrow.
Plato distinguishes between 'necessary' pleasures and 'harmless' pleasures. The former being those that brought the body back to equillibrium and the latter being pure esthetic pleasures.
Plato viewed the majority of men as being hopeless egoistic hedonists. As such, he sought to teach that being a good man was the key to the life of highest pleasure.
"He set himself to try to prove that the pleasures of temperance exceed the pains and that the pains of intemperance exceed the pleasures" (Jones, 161).
Plato distinguished three types of goods:
1) Goods that are good because of their consequence
2) Goods that are good because they are good for their own sake (the harmless pleasures of esthetic enjoyment)
3) Things good for both their own sake and the consequences they produce.
Plato held the true good for men was not pleasure, but "Eudaimonia", often translated as happiness.
Analysis of the form Justice
Plato shows that the common man interacts with the form more than he knows when he describes justice as 'giving a man his due'
Justice (whether in a man or in a State) is a harmony where each element has its due. In a just man his life is balanced and the result is health, happiness and strength.
Man is an organism whose various functions must be balanced and in harmony. FOr Plato, this is not some private matter but an objective fact.
Health is the body functioning properly balanced and harmonious. The organs of the body are all interdependent.
Tripartite psyche: three urges that move man to act.
1) The Appetite - lowest, urges men to fulfill physiological needs
2) Spirit - passions and emotions
3) Reason - curiosity
The State and the individual parallel each other
Three types of activity in the State
1) The Rulers
2) The Guards
3) The Producers
The producers of the State are like the appetite. The Guards correspond to the Spirit; and, the Rulers correspond to the Reason.
The virtue or function of the producers is to produce the goods necessary and unnecessary for consumption in the State.
The virtue/function of the guards was to defend the State against enemies. Courage was therefore, its virtue.
the virtue of the rulers was to know the forms so they can make wise decisions for the State.
One of Plato's most profound beliefs: "There is a wisdom in the people that poet's express (often without understanding it) in the language of myth and metaphor. Philosophical analysis is a way of extracting this meaning and rendering it precise" (Jones, 169).
In parallel to the state, every individual has a producer part (the apetites that are satisfied to sustain life), a rational part to guide and direct his life (the ruler part) and the guards (a spirited part to keep his body in order).
Since the producers must be temperate in their consumption in order to produce for the other two classes who don't produce, so to must the appetites of the self be held in moderation.
The spirited part of the individual must act in accordance with the rational reason (ruler of the self). Otherwise the emotions will overcome the reason and cause chaos.
For Plato (This can be applied to Christianity if Christ is taken as the form of man), being and goodness are parallel. The more a thing participates in the form it corresponds to the more being it has and thus is better. Men likewise participate in the form of man. Those who participate more in the form of man do so by acting more in reason than in the spirit or the appetites. Thus, the individual man who partiicpates in the form of man on the level of reason is better than the individual man who participates in the form of man in the spirit or appetitie level primarily.
Political Theory
Man is a social animal. Thus, to achieve his happiness he must live in a well run State. The good life is only possible in communal living.
Plato held that most men are not ruled by reason sufficiently and are thus, insufficient to rule.
The many should therefore be ruled by the few wise men goverened by reason (and thus participating more fully in the form of man).
Plato condemns democracy because the art of ruling becomes the art of flattery and the art of appealing to the masses, not the wise governing of the state.
Plato's political theory held two assumptions: "first, the many, being incurably ignorant, are incapable of disciplinging themselves. Second, the wise, because they are wise, can and will provide external discipline as a substitute for the internal restraints that the many lack" (Jones, 177).
Plato thought a proper state would exist when kings became philosophers or philosophers became kings.
Since the excesses of the producer class would have to be reigned in Plato was not against doing so by force if necessary, but thought education (propaganda) more effective in the long run.
Each individual of the produceer class would be taught a trade that aligned with their natural abilities or interests, but also educated so that they were obedient to the ruling class. Loyalty and patriotism are to be instilled in this class by any means necessary. This level of education was to be aimed at an emotional level, not an intellectual one. Good emotions were to be stirred while bad ones (fear, greed, etc.) were to be avoided.
Plato generally held some sort of genetic heredity as being obvious. The producer class will have producer class children, a doctor has a doctor or a farmer will have a son naturally inclined to farming; and, so too, rulers will mostly come from the ruler parentage. But, it is not absolutely static. Ability determines proper place in society. If a ruler capable child is born of a farmer than he should be educated as such. If a ruler has a child who lacks the moral character necessary to rule then he should be placed in his proper place.
The radical nature of Plato's educational system comes into play on the ruler-level, not on the guardian or producer levels. Children who show the aptitude for ruling would be removed from their family and placed in a communal nursery to encourage loyalty to the state and not smaller family structure.
- No personal possessions beyond what is necessary
- Communal meals
- No access to gold or silver
- Women can be rulers too and must have equal education: "There is no occupation concerned with the management of social affairs which belongs to woman or man" (Jones, 181).
"Knowledge is a noble and commanding thing, which cannot be overcome, and will not allow a man, if he only nows the difference of good and evil to do anything which is contrary to knowledge" (Jones, 184). Knowledge is virtue. The good man knows what is good an can therefore never act against it. This is why rulers recieve such stringent education. To know the good is to do it. "No man volunatirly pursues evil, or that which he thinks to be evil. To prefer evil to good is not in human nature" (Jones, 185).
Plato believed that men who know the good can make mistakes of judgment by choosing a smaller good over a greater one but this is because of a perspective distortion - just like a smaller object may appear bigger because it is closer, a more easily obtained good may seem better than a more worthy, though harder to achieve good.
Interesting Quote on Democracy:
"They settle down in idleness, some of them burdened with debt, some disenfranchised, some both at once; and these drones are armed and can sting. Hating the men who have acquired their property and conspiring against them and the rest of society, they long for a revolution" (Jones, 189).
Seems eerily accurate to Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016.
Plato's description of democrarcy is fascinating. Jones says that Plato held that his theory was undoubtedly somewhat impractical but because his theory was supposed to be a description of a political form the fact that a State could only imperfectly participate in it is to be expected and not a valid criticism of it.
It's been a bit since I've delved into Plato. Sorry about that guys. I'll try and give this a little more attention over the next few weeks.
The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones
Chapter 5: Plato - the special sciences
Ethics
Ethics was Plato's primary concern.
"Since he was convinced that the Sophistic attack on moderation and the other traditional virtues had been one of the main causes of the Athenian debacle, he was chiefly concerned, not with a knowledge of the physical world, but with a knowledge of values" (Jones, 153).
The denial of objective knowledge in ethics is extremely paradoxical. A straightforward denial of objective ethical truths would allow for absurdities like being unable to say that Jesus was a better man than Hitler. The consequences of of rejecting the possiblity of objective ethical truths is so great the burden of proof lies with those who wish to prove there are not objective ethical statements, not with those who affirm their existence.
Analysis of the form "courage".
As with his physics, Plato calls the virtue courage in the real world through acts, as having some participation with the 'form' courage.
Two types of knowledge:
1) Experiential knowledge
2) Formal knowledge
Experiential knowledge: picked up through experience. An acquaintence with the particulars of the forms participate in, but not knowledge of the forms themselves.
Formal knowledge is knowledge of the form itself.
Formal knowledge develops out of experiential knowledge.
The forms precede the particulars which participate in the forms, but knowledge works backwards. One learns via the particulars and gradually learns of the form the particulars participate in.
The distinction between pleasure and the good
Plato set out to show that the Sophists were not merely good men with a confused knowledge, but bad men set out to teach erroneous ways. The Sophist's biggest error, to Plato, was their confusing of pleasure and the good.
A neutral state of equillibrium would be the best state for man in Plato's reasoning, but this is only for the gods who are above both joy and sorrow.
Plato distinguishes between 'necessary' pleasures and 'harmless' pleasures. The former being those that brought the body back to equillibrium and the latter being pure esthetic pleasures.
Plato viewed the majority of men as being hopeless egoistic hedonists. As such, he sought to teach that being a good man was the key to the life of highest pleasure.
"He set himself to try to prove that the pleasures of temperance exceed the pains and that the pains of intemperance exceed the pleasures" (Jones, 161).
Plato distinguished three types of goods:
1) Goods that are good because of their consequence
2) Goods that are good because they are good for their own sake (the harmless pleasures of esthetic enjoyment)
3) Things good for both their own sake and the consequences they produce.
Plato held the true good for men was not pleasure, but "Eudaimonia", often translated as happiness.
Analysis of the form Justice
Plato shows that the common man interacts with the form more than he knows when he describes justice as 'giving a man his due'
Justice (whether in a man or in a State) is a harmony where each element has its due. In a just man his life is balanced and the result is health, happiness and strength.
Man is an organism whose various functions must be balanced and in harmony. FOr Plato, this is not some private matter but an objective fact.
Health is the body functioning properly balanced and harmonious. The organs of the body are all interdependent.
Tripartite psyche: three urges that move man to act.
1) The Appetite - lowest, urges men to fulfill physiological needs
2) Spirit - passions and emotions
3) Reason - curiosity
The State and the individual parallel each other
Three types of activity in the State
1) The Rulers
2) The Guards
3) The Producers
The producers of the State are like the appetite. The Guards correspond to the Spirit; and, the Rulers correspond to the Reason.
The virtue or function of the producers is to produce the goods necessary and unnecessary for consumption in the State.
The virtue/function of the guards was to defend the State against enemies. Courage was therefore, its virtue.
the virtue of the rulers was to know the forms so they can make wise decisions for the State.
One of Plato's most profound beliefs: "There is a wisdom in the people that poet's express (often without understanding it) in the language of myth and metaphor. Philosophical analysis is a way of extracting this meaning and rendering it precise" (Jones, 169).
In parallel to the state, every individual has a producer part (the apetites that are satisfied to sustain life), a rational part to guide and direct his life (the ruler part) and the guards (a spirited part to keep his body in order).
Since the producers must be temperate in their consumption in order to produce for the other two classes who don't produce, so to must the appetites of the self be held in moderation.
The spirited part of the individual must act in accordance with the rational reason (ruler of the self). Otherwise the emotions will overcome the reason and cause chaos.
For Plato (This can be applied to Christianity if Christ is taken as the form of man), being and goodness are parallel. The more a thing participates in the form it corresponds to the more being it has and thus is better. Men likewise participate in the form of man. Those who participate more in the form of man do so by acting more in reason than in the spirit or the appetites. Thus, the individual man who partiicpates in the form of man on the level of reason is better than the individual man who participates in the form of man in the spirit or appetitie level primarily.
Political Theory
Man is a social animal. Thus, to achieve his happiness he must live in a well run State. The good life is only possible in communal living.
Plato held that most men are not ruled by reason sufficiently and are thus, insufficient to rule.
The many should therefore be ruled by the few wise men goverened by reason (and thus participating more fully in the form of man).
Plato condemns democracy because the art of ruling becomes the art of flattery and the art of appealing to the masses, not the wise governing of the state.
Plato's political theory held two assumptions: "first, the many, being incurably ignorant, are incapable of disciplinging themselves. Second, the wise, because they are wise, can and will provide external discipline as a substitute for the internal restraints that the many lack" (Jones, 177).
Plato thought a proper state would exist when kings became philosophers or philosophers became kings.
Since the excesses of the producer class would have to be reigned in Plato was not against doing so by force if necessary, but thought education (propaganda) more effective in the long run.
Each individual of the produceer class would be taught a trade that aligned with their natural abilities or interests, but also educated so that they were obedient to the ruling class. Loyalty and patriotism are to be instilled in this class by any means necessary. This level of education was to be aimed at an emotional level, not an intellectual one. Good emotions were to be stirred while bad ones (fear, greed, etc.) were to be avoided.
Plato generally held some sort of genetic heredity as being obvious. The producer class will have producer class children, a doctor has a doctor or a farmer will have a son naturally inclined to farming; and, so too, rulers will mostly come from the ruler parentage. But, it is not absolutely static. Ability determines proper place in society. If a ruler capable child is born of a farmer than he should be educated as such. If a ruler has a child who lacks the moral character necessary to rule then he should be placed in his proper place.
The radical nature of Plato's educational system comes into play on the ruler-level, not on the guardian or producer levels. Children who show the aptitude for ruling would be removed from their family and placed in a communal nursery to encourage loyalty to the state and not smaller family structure.
- No personal possessions beyond what is necessary
- Communal meals
- No access to gold or silver
- Women can be rulers too and must have equal education: "There is no occupation concerned with the management of social affairs which belongs to woman or man" (Jones, 181).
"Knowledge is a noble and commanding thing, which cannot be overcome, and will not allow a man, if he only nows the difference of good and evil to do anything which is contrary to knowledge" (Jones, 184). Knowledge is virtue. The good man knows what is good an can therefore never act against it. This is why rulers recieve such stringent education. To know the good is to do it. "No man volunatirly pursues evil, or that which he thinks to be evil. To prefer evil to good is not in human nature" (Jones, 185).
Plato believed that men who know the good can make mistakes of judgment by choosing a smaller good over a greater one but this is because of a perspective distortion - just like a smaller object may appear bigger because it is closer, a more easily obtained good may seem better than a more worthy, though harder to achieve good.
Interesting Quote on Democracy:
"They settle down in idleness, some of them burdened with debt, some disenfranchised, some both at once; and these drones are armed and can sting. Hating the men who have acquired their property and conspiring against them and the rest of society, they long for a revolution" (Jones, 189).
Seems eerily accurate to Bernie Sanders supporters in 2016.
Plato's description of democrarcy is fascinating. Jones says that Plato held that his theory was undoubtedly somewhat impractical but because his theory was supposed to be a description of a political form the fact that a State could only imperfectly participate in it is to be expected and not a valid criticism of it.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Assessment of the Chronicles of Narnia
October was an especially fruitful month for my reading challenge. I finished thirteen books after completing only two in September. Among them were the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia. I loved C.S. Lewis' works as a young child and decided to reread them as an adult and was not disappointed. I gave them all three stars on Goodreads other than Prince Caspian, which I gave four stars. Honestly, the best part of this series is that Lewis is such a great storyteller, you feel right in the middle of the story. I really enjoy how he weaves non-Christian myths into his allegorical telling of Christianity.
As far as ranking the books, currently from favorite to least I give this order:
Prince Caspian
The Horse and His Boy
The Last Battle
The Silver Chair
As far as ranking the books, currently from favorite to least I give this order:
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Horse and His Boy
The Last Battle
The Silver Chair
I think I enjoyed Prince Caspian the best because it was interesting to think of the four children, who had once been the Kings and Queens of Narnia, returning to the land they ruled in the golden age as children again, far into the Narnian future. I enjoyed the time differential in our world and in Narnia and how it was utilized. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader came next simply because it was such an interesting story on going to the edge of the world. The Magician's Nephew I enjoyed only slightly more than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe simply because I remembered the latter more clearly than the former and it was like reading The Magician's Nephew for the first time again. The Horse and His Boy is an excellent one too and I would consider the five I mentioned above as considerably more enjoyable to me than the last two. The Silver Chair I enjoyed the least simply because I found Eustace less interesting as a character than the other four children, and I felt that it was aimed at slightly younger readings and thus lost some of its universality.
The Last Battle has some interesting theological points in the follower of Tash coming to the final Narnia. I won't go to far into it, but there is an interesting idea of grace that I get from it. Personally, I think that the way to Heaven is laid out scripturally, no one comes to the Father but through Jesus Christ the Son. I don't think doctrinally or theologically a Christian can stray too far from this to embrace any kind of universal salvation for mankind, but I do think there is something to be said of admitting that the grace of God is larger than our ability to understand it. It's not something I would want to build a system of theology on, but something I would offer about any theory of God I would offer. It's good to admit one's limitations when describing God without limiting Him.
Assessment of The Kreutzer Sonata - Tolstoy
I finished The Kreutzer Sonata a few days ago and really enjoyed the book. It's a small, cheap edition of three of Tolstoy's stories: How Much Land Does a Man Need?, The Death of Ivan Ilych, & The Kreutzer Sonata. Firstly, I had never read any of these short stories and enjoyed them quite a bit. I especially liked How Much Land Does a Man Need? While, the ending might have been a bit predictable, the wording and the meaning is quite excellent. It's a very short tale that slams the greediness inherent to human beings and serves as a warning against the pains that greediness will bring.
The way Tolstoy writes about coming to grips with man's end in The Death of Ivan Ilych is among some of the best inner-monologue I think I've ever read. The pain and the suffering internally Ivan has in Tolstoy's work is so well written that I felt sweat beads coming down my brow as I experienced the pangs along with Ivan. Likewise, the jealousy that Pozdnyshev feels throughout The Kreutzer Sonata is so well articulated that I was reliving some old feelings that I thought I had divested myself of long ago. His rage was so palpable I felt myself tensing up and was nearly relieved when the climax came. That relief however was twofold and some modern circumstances aided Tolstoy's literary prowess.
I was coming to the conclusion of The Kreutzer Sonata as I was selling plasma. I don't think I've ever written about this experience, but I have apparently expressed my feelings well enough about this to Erin that she mocks my grief at subjecting myself to this torture. I feel embarrassed at selling plasma. I didn't so much feel it when I was younger and in college, but as a grown man I feel embarrassed by the entire situation. I think I should be able to make enough money at thirty-two so as not to be forced to degrade myself in such a manner, but at the same time it's good spending money and I'm basically paid to sit and read. It's a hassle and probably not really worth my time, but if I go twice a week it's a payment of $65 dollars for six hours, four of which are sitting in a waiting room and two of which are with a needle in my vein.
The embarrassment doesn't fully come from the fact that I'm selling part of my body that will replenish itself. The embarrassment comes from the company I keep while doing this veritable prostitution. While I was in college the mix of people selling plasma alongside me was about 80% college kids, 20% other. That other is, without trying to be elitist (although accomplishing it nonetheless) what I would term 'undesirables'. Sometimes the mix would have a larger proportion of that other and the 19 or 20 year-old iteration of me may have occasioned to use the phrase, "the dregs of societies" and that instance may have occurred enough to burn that elitist phrase into my personal lexicon. The 31 and 32 year-old iterations of me then may have described the undesirable caste in such derogatory language and my wife instantly seized upon the phraseology. Thus, some of my embarrassment may arise not only with being a part of that caste, but my own derogatory words being used to describe me in the mouth of another. My embarrassment is thus multi-pronged in that I'm embarrassed to need the money, embarrassed to be among the undesirables, and embarrassed that I have described them as such (because it sounds so awfully high-handed when she says it). Each of these prongs needles me as I'm being needled. But, I am not so embarrassed to spend the money. Plus, it gives me a good five to six hours to sit and read, relatively uninterrupted.
But, on my attempt to finish The Kreutzer Sonata was not uninterrupted, as it were. A certain member of the lowly caste, a person among the dregs would not let me finish the book in peace. Much of the final short story is an inner struggle with jealousy and a lot of psychological feeling and not much action. It is building to an action, namely Pozdnyshev killing his wife. I know that Pozdnyshev is going to kill his wife. I know why he is going to kill his wife - jealousy. But, I am unsure, intentionally led on, as to first, how if he is going to kill his wife and second, if the killing is justifiable (if only in Pozdnyshev's mind). The story is clear on the former and a bit opaque on the latter. But, there is a great deal of psychological turmoil leading up to the climatic scene and I was lying on the table, with a needle in my arm, desperately trying to race the plasma being pumped out of me to finish the story. The lady next to me however was screaming at the workers. Apparently, she did not look at the three hours or so as a time to sit back, relax and read. She took those three hours or more as a time to complain about whatever popped into her mind.
In the lobby while we were waiting she found someone to commiserate with. The two, then three, then four commiserated rather loudly and I changed places on three occasions to escape the commiserating, but it was omnipresent. This is a normal occurrence among this caste of society, but normally I can drown it out and focus on what I'm reading. It took some practice, but I was able to succeed in the end. But, in the back, she was placed on the table next to me as we were being hooked up to our blood machines. First, she complained about the temperature in the room. Being cold-natured, I tend to enjoy the chilliness of the room where we are actually drained of our fluids to be used as life-giving medicines (there is an altruism to this practice as well, though I am confident that neither she nor I really care most of the time about this altruistic reason for "donating" plasma). However, on this occasion, her complaint about the coldness of the room was not unfounded. Second, she complained about the television not being loud enough for her to hear the movie being played. I offer her no solace on this point as I had to concentrate hard to drown out the volume to concentrate on my book. Lastly, as the time neared for the last bus to leave her station she began to scream about being at the donation center for an inordinate amount of time. It takes entirely too long, each and every time plasma donation occurs. This particular time was no different, neither longer nor shorter than normal. But, just as I am coming to the dramatic action of the book, she was coming to dramatic action of her donation. She finished her donation; I did not finish my book.
I finished it later that evening, in the quiet of my own home.
There was much to be admired in the short little book, but this blurb has gone on to be lengthier than I had originally intended. However, this anecdote was funny (after the fact) and I felt it was worthy to be retold here. For this reason, I'll include only two quotes from The Kreutzer Sonata that really struck me. The first is, "What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness! A beautiful woman utters absurdities; we listen and we hear not the absurdities, but wise thoughts. She speaks, does odious things, and yet we are only conscious of something agreeable. If she refrains from absurd or hateful words and acts, and if she is beautiful to boot, we are straightway convinced that she is a paragon of wisdom and morality" (Tolstoy, 78). There are two things to unpack here. The first is the sentence, "What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness". I know that Tolstoy is speaking here about women in general, but it struck me from a philosophical level. Truly, it is strange that we equate beauty with goodness on an aesthetic level. Second, as a man who has undergone a rough relationship or two, I understand (though I try to suppress) the inner rage at the absurdity of the situation that a good looking woman can have on an otherwise relatively clear thinking man. Tolstoy certainly hits the nail on the head in better language than I could. But the formula is fairly simple: a good looking woman can get away with just about anything simply for the fact that she is good looking.
The second passage goes, "Woman has transformed herself into an object of pleasure of such terrible effect that a man cannot calmly approach her. No sooner does a man draw near a woman than he falls under the power of her spell, and his senses are forthwith paralyzed" (Tolstoy, 84). Again, Tolstoy hits the nail on the head. It's not as sexist as it seems in this cherry picked passage as Pozdnyshev lays much of the blame for women being treated as an object of pleasure on man's shoulders earlier and later in this section, but women once they have realized that they have been relegated to this position, have embraced it with such power that they turn the tables on the men objectifying them. There is an uncanny truth in this situation and the language Tolstoy uses expresses this truth perfectly.
The way Tolstoy writes about coming to grips with man's end in The Death of Ivan Ilych is among some of the best inner-monologue I think I've ever read. The pain and the suffering internally Ivan has in Tolstoy's work is so well written that I felt sweat beads coming down my brow as I experienced the pangs along with Ivan. Likewise, the jealousy that Pozdnyshev feels throughout The Kreutzer Sonata is so well articulated that I was reliving some old feelings that I thought I had divested myself of long ago. His rage was so palpable I felt myself tensing up and was nearly relieved when the climax came. That relief however was twofold and some modern circumstances aided Tolstoy's literary prowess.
I was coming to the conclusion of The Kreutzer Sonata as I was selling plasma. I don't think I've ever written about this experience, but I have apparently expressed my feelings well enough about this to Erin that she mocks my grief at subjecting myself to this torture. I feel embarrassed at selling plasma. I didn't so much feel it when I was younger and in college, but as a grown man I feel embarrassed by the entire situation. I think I should be able to make enough money at thirty-two so as not to be forced to degrade myself in such a manner, but at the same time it's good spending money and I'm basically paid to sit and read. It's a hassle and probably not really worth my time, but if I go twice a week it's a payment of $65 dollars for six hours, four of which are sitting in a waiting room and two of which are with a needle in my vein.
The embarrassment doesn't fully come from the fact that I'm selling part of my body that will replenish itself. The embarrassment comes from the company I keep while doing this veritable prostitution. While I was in college the mix of people selling plasma alongside me was about 80% college kids, 20% other. That other is, without trying to be elitist (although accomplishing it nonetheless) what I would term 'undesirables'. Sometimes the mix would have a larger proportion of that other and the 19 or 20 year-old iteration of me may have occasioned to use the phrase, "the dregs of societies" and that instance may have occurred enough to burn that elitist phrase into my personal lexicon. The 31 and 32 year-old iterations of me then may have described the undesirable caste in such derogatory language and my wife instantly seized upon the phraseology. Thus, some of my embarrassment may arise not only with being a part of that caste, but my own derogatory words being used to describe me in the mouth of another. My embarrassment is thus multi-pronged in that I'm embarrassed to need the money, embarrassed to be among the undesirables, and embarrassed that I have described them as such (because it sounds so awfully high-handed when she says it). Each of these prongs needles me as I'm being needled. But, I am not so embarrassed to spend the money. Plus, it gives me a good five to six hours to sit and read, relatively uninterrupted.
But, on my attempt to finish The Kreutzer Sonata was not uninterrupted, as it were. A certain member of the lowly caste, a person among the dregs would not let me finish the book in peace. Much of the final short story is an inner struggle with jealousy and a lot of psychological feeling and not much action. It is building to an action, namely Pozdnyshev killing his wife. I know that Pozdnyshev is going to kill his wife. I know why he is going to kill his wife - jealousy. But, I am unsure, intentionally led on, as to first, how if he is going to kill his wife and second, if the killing is justifiable (if only in Pozdnyshev's mind). The story is clear on the former and a bit opaque on the latter. But, there is a great deal of psychological turmoil leading up to the climatic scene and I was lying on the table, with a needle in my arm, desperately trying to race the plasma being pumped out of me to finish the story. The lady next to me however was screaming at the workers. Apparently, she did not look at the three hours or so as a time to sit back, relax and read. She took those three hours or more as a time to complain about whatever popped into her mind.
In the lobby while we were waiting she found someone to commiserate with. The two, then three, then four commiserated rather loudly and I changed places on three occasions to escape the commiserating, but it was omnipresent. This is a normal occurrence among this caste of society, but normally I can drown it out and focus on what I'm reading. It took some practice, but I was able to succeed in the end. But, in the back, she was placed on the table next to me as we were being hooked up to our blood machines. First, she complained about the temperature in the room. Being cold-natured, I tend to enjoy the chilliness of the room where we are actually drained of our fluids to be used as life-giving medicines (there is an altruism to this practice as well, though I am confident that neither she nor I really care most of the time about this altruistic reason for "donating" plasma). However, on this occasion, her complaint about the coldness of the room was not unfounded. Second, she complained about the television not being loud enough for her to hear the movie being played. I offer her no solace on this point as I had to concentrate hard to drown out the volume to concentrate on my book. Lastly, as the time neared for the last bus to leave her station she began to scream about being at the donation center for an inordinate amount of time. It takes entirely too long, each and every time plasma donation occurs. This particular time was no different, neither longer nor shorter than normal. But, just as I am coming to the dramatic action of the book, she was coming to dramatic action of her donation. She finished her donation; I did not finish my book.
I finished it later that evening, in the quiet of my own home.
There was much to be admired in the short little book, but this blurb has gone on to be lengthier than I had originally intended. However, this anecdote was funny (after the fact) and I felt it was worthy to be retold here. For this reason, I'll include only two quotes from The Kreutzer Sonata that really struck me. The first is, "What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness! A beautiful woman utters absurdities; we listen and we hear not the absurdities, but wise thoughts. She speaks, does odious things, and yet we are only conscious of something agreeable. If she refrains from absurd or hateful words and acts, and if she is beautiful to boot, we are straightway convinced that she is a paragon of wisdom and morality" (Tolstoy, 78). There are two things to unpack here. The first is the sentence, "What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness". I know that Tolstoy is speaking here about women in general, but it struck me from a philosophical level. Truly, it is strange that we equate beauty with goodness on an aesthetic level. Second, as a man who has undergone a rough relationship or two, I understand (though I try to suppress) the inner rage at the absurdity of the situation that a good looking woman can have on an otherwise relatively clear thinking man. Tolstoy certainly hits the nail on the head in better language than I could. But the formula is fairly simple: a good looking woman can get away with just about anything simply for the fact that she is good looking.
The second passage goes, "Woman has transformed herself into an object of pleasure of such terrible effect that a man cannot calmly approach her. No sooner does a man draw near a woman than he falls under the power of her spell, and his senses are forthwith paralyzed" (Tolstoy, 84). Again, Tolstoy hits the nail on the head. It's not as sexist as it seems in this cherry picked passage as Pozdnyshev lays much of the blame for women being treated as an object of pleasure on man's shoulders earlier and later in this section, but women once they have realized that they have been relegated to this position, have embraced it with such power that they turn the tables on the men objectifying them. There is an uncanny truth in this situation and the language Tolstoy uses expresses this truth perfectly.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Notes on Les Chants De Maldoror
Well. What can I say about Les Chants De Maldoror by Comte de Lautreamont? It is a book. It is a good book. It is a difficult book to read. And honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to be caught in flagrante delicato reading it. It's about as beautiful as a chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting table. Honestly, it's a rough read. It's a celebration of evil and besides that it's way out there. Much of it is incredibly dark. But, I can understand why the surrealists held it up as the godfather of their artistic movement.
While I'd probably need to read it more thoroughly to fully grasp everything that was said in it, there were some points in it that really stuck out to me. In talking about man he writes, "As for me, I presume that he believes in his beauty only from pride, but that he is not really beautiful and that he suspects this, for why does he contemplate the countenance of his fellow man with so much scorn?" (Lautreamont, 18). It's a damning indictment and one that sticks well.
"Legislators of stupid institutions, inventors of narrow morality, keep your distance from me, for I have an impartial mind" (Lautreamont, 231). He celebrates the pride he has, but it is a wicked pride. Although it is truly reprehensible, he does it is an amazing and captivating style. He may be bad but he's perfectly good at it... Again he celebrates his pride. "Human justice has not yet surprised me in flagrante delicatu, despite the incontestable skill of its agents" (Lautreamont, 234).
"The theatre of war is nothing but a vast field of carnage when night reveals her presence and the silent moon appears between the rags of a cloud" (Lautreamont, 236). A pretty, but sad sentence.
"It is possible that in this manner you will succeed in rejoicing extremely the soul of the dead person who is about to take refuge from life in a grave" (Lautreamont, 237). A very pretty way to describe death - a refuge from life in the grave.
There are also fairly funny sentences that are truly surreal in nature. For example, "I began the preceding sentence, I calculate mentally that it would not be useless here to construct the complete avowal of my basic impotence, when it is especially a matter, as at present, of this imposing and unapproachable question" (Lautreamont, 239). "But there will be no more anathemas, possessing the specialty of provoking laughter; fictitious personalities who would have done better to remain in the author's brain" (Lautreamont, 256). And then he made me laugh, in public, caught in the act (in flagrante delicatu). "I no longer recall what I was intending to say, for I do not remember the beginning of the sentence" (Lautreamont, 261).
On a personal note I understood a short tale he told within the story. "He had contracted the habit of getting drunk; during the moments when he returned to the house after having visited the cabaret bars, his madness would become almost immeasurable, and he would strike out indiscriminately at any object that came in sight. But soon, under the protests of his friends, he reformed completely, and sank into a taciturn frame of mind. No one could come near him, not even our mother. He nursed a secret resentment against the idea of duty, which prevented him from having his own way" (Lautreamont, 282). I understand that resentment better than I wish I did.
In the Poésies he writes, "Judgments on poetry have more value than poetry. They are the philosophy of poetry. Philosophy, thus understood, comprises poetry. Poetry cannot do without philosophy. Philosophy can do without poetry." (Lautreamont, 330).
"We must not believe that what Nature has made friendly should be vicious. There has not been a century or a people that has not established imaginary virtues and vices" (Lautreamont, 340).
I think I'd like to reread this, but with a commentary. Or a couple of commentaries. But, as for why the surrealists and why they held it up as a precursor for them, I understand. Breton was amazed when he found the sentence, "as beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table ". He held it up as the beginning of the surrealist aesthetic. Max Ernst used this imagery to define the structure of a surrealist painting. He said that it linked two realities that have nothing to link them in a setting that shouldn't be linked with either of them. That is the essence of surrealism.
While I'd probably need to read it more thoroughly to fully grasp everything that was said in it, there were some points in it that really stuck out to me. In talking about man he writes, "As for me, I presume that he believes in his beauty only from pride, but that he is not really beautiful and that he suspects this, for why does he contemplate the countenance of his fellow man with so much scorn?" (Lautreamont, 18). It's a damning indictment and one that sticks well.
"Legislators of stupid institutions, inventors of narrow morality, keep your distance from me, for I have an impartial mind" (Lautreamont, 231). He celebrates the pride he has, but it is a wicked pride. Although it is truly reprehensible, he does it is an amazing and captivating style. He may be bad but he's perfectly good at it... Again he celebrates his pride. "Human justice has not yet surprised me in flagrante delicatu, despite the incontestable skill of its agents" (Lautreamont, 234).
"The theatre of war is nothing but a vast field of carnage when night reveals her presence and the silent moon appears between the rags of a cloud" (Lautreamont, 236). A pretty, but sad sentence.
"It is possible that in this manner you will succeed in rejoicing extremely the soul of the dead person who is about to take refuge from life in a grave" (Lautreamont, 237). A very pretty way to describe death - a refuge from life in the grave.
There are also fairly funny sentences that are truly surreal in nature. For example, "I began the preceding sentence, I calculate mentally that it would not be useless here to construct the complete avowal of my basic impotence, when it is especially a matter, as at present, of this imposing and unapproachable question" (Lautreamont, 239). "But there will be no more anathemas, possessing the specialty of provoking laughter; fictitious personalities who would have done better to remain in the author's brain" (Lautreamont, 256). And then he made me laugh, in public, caught in the act (in flagrante delicatu). "I no longer recall what I was intending to say, for I do not remember the beginning of the sentence" (Lautreamont, 261).
On a personal note I understood a short tale he told within the story. "He had contracted the habit of getting drunk; during the moments when he returned to the house after having visited the cabaret bars, his madness would become almost immeasurable, and he would strike out indiscriminately at any object that came in sight. But soon, under the protests of his friends, he reformed completely, and sank into a taciturn frame of mind. No one could come near him, not even our mother. He nursed a secret resentment against the idea of duty, which prevented him from having his own way" (Lautreamont, 282). I understand that resentment better than I wish I did.
In the Poésies he writes, "Judgments on poetry have more value than poetry. They are the philosophy of poetry. Philosophy, thus understood, comprises poetry. Poetry cannot do without philosophy. Philosophy can do without poetry." (Lautreamont, 330).
"We must not believe that what Nature has made friendly should be vicious. There has not been a century or a people that has not established imaginary virtues and vices" (Lautreamont, 340).
I think I'd like to reread this, but with a commentary. Or a couple of commentaries. But, as for why the surrealists and why they held it up as a precursor for them, I understand. Breton was amazed when he found the sentence, "as beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table ". He held it up as the beginning of the surrealist aesthetic. Max Ernst used this imagery to define the structure of a surrealist painting. He said that it linked two realities that have nothing to link them in a setting that shouldn't be linked with either of them. That is the essence of surrealism.
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