Something philosophical to say

[ritter]

Old, out-of-date.

Really looking forward to your new, cutting-edge contribution! 

[Mandryka]

Old, out-of-date.

That's not true - but it is erudite, that's what makes this forum so exclusive I guess.

[hopefullytrusting]

Really looking forward to your new, cutting-edge contribution! 

No, I've seen how those conversations go, and given the limited range, it seems, of thinkers cited - I see nothing useful to be gained, but I do think the irony should be highlighted, just in case anyone who might happen to find this forum through this post will recognize it is not representative.

[hopefullytrusting]

That's not true - but it is erudite, that's what makes this forum so exclusive I guess.

I cannot tell if you are serious or not, but there is very little erudite about this forum, least of all this thread.

[Mandryka]

I cannot tell if you are serious or not, but there is very little erudite about this forum, least of all this thread.

Well my post about Hume was erudite, though I say so myself.

Anyway - I think the word you were looking for was "fusty"

[hopefullytrusting]

Well my post about Hume was erudite, though I say so myself.

Anyway - I think the word you were looking for was "fusty"

I'll leave that for others to judge, but to take Hume seriously when it comes to ethics or morality is something I cannot do without first drowning in irony.


No,musty was what I meant.

[Todd]

Geez, must everything on these boards be so musty?

Kinda. 

[Henk]

I cannot tell if you are serious or not, but there is very little erudite about this forum, least of all this thread.

This thread is exactly not about being erudite. I invited you to express your own philosophical ideas.

[Florestan]

there is very little erudite about this forum, least of all this thread.

Well, if the GMG forum doesn't meet your high intellectual standards, why don't you look for one that does?

[Todd]

Well, if the GMG forum doesn't meet your high intellectual standards, why don't you look for one that does?

Solid, GMG grade intellectualism.

[Mandryka]

I'll leave that for others to judge, but to take Hume seriously when it comes to ethics or morality is something I cannot do without first drowning in irony.


No,musty was what I meant.

He's only indirectly talking about ethics -- his main concerns are actions, reasons and causes.   His ideas about ethics follow from his philosophy of mind and action.

[hopefullytrusting]

He's only indirectly talking about ethics -- his main concerns are actions, reasons and causes.   His ideas about ethics follow from his philosophy of mind and action.

I get it, but this digression, I feel, has reached its point of satisfaction. I don't regard Hume, but that isn't unique, as much of the "western" tradition remains wildly outmoded.

[Todd]

I don't regard Hume, but that isn't unique, as much of the "western" tradition remains wildly outmoded.

[Cato]

Yes, Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann. I read this book about 40 years ago and no longer remember the details. It seems the prototype of the main character was Schoenberg? I'm not sure if Mann was aiming for satire, but 20th-century music as a consequence and product of syphilis seems like a rather fitting metaphor to me. By the way, Lenin also had syphilis, and his brain was partially destroyed for most of his adult life.

Except for the musical system, which is only one of the novel's many points, the character has more in common with Nietzsche, but some readers feel Leverkuehn is a composite of various historical characters, and if not satire, ironic viewpoints are always in play with Thomas Mann.

Having read the book several times, including in German, I think Leverkuehn's pact with the devil via syphilis - an attempt to heighten his genius through the brain's hallucinations from the disease, which belief shows that Leverkuehn is already mentally unstable - is more of a commentary on the insane pact with the Nazis made by too many Germans.

Of interest is that Leverkuehn does not try to get treated, but willingly lets the disease eat away at his brain, parallel with what Thomas Mann saw as the suicidal behavior of the Germans, among whom too few resisted or revolted against the Nazis, even when it was obvious that obliteration was coming.

The book, of course, has many more ideas than that: one could write a large, book-length commentary about them! 

[hopefullytrusting]

[Todd]

How I felt when I read Derrida in college.

[AnotherSpin]

Except for the musical system, which is only one of the novel's many points, the character has more in common with Nietzsche, but some readers feel Leverkuehn is a composite of various historical characters, and if not satire, ironic viewpoints are always in play with Thomas Mann.

Having read the book several times, including in German, I think Leverkuehn's pact with the devil via syphilis - an attempt to heighten his genius through the brain's hallucinations from the disease, which belief shows that Leverkuehn is already mentally unstable - is more of a commentary on the insane pact with the Nazis made by too many Germans.

Of interest is that Leverkuehn does not try to get treated, but willingly lets the disease eat away at his brain, parallel with what Thomas Mann saw as the suicidal behavior of the Germans, among whom too few resisted or revolted against the Nazis, even when it was obvious that obliteration was coming.

The book, of course, has many more ideas than that: one could write a large, book-length commentary about them! 

I've read this book only once, in the Russian translation, and that was a long time ago. I don't remember much. Besides, other books by Mann left a stronger impression. I had a 10-volume collected works edition, plus two separate volumes of Joseph and His Brothers, and also a separate edition of Mann's correspondence. I read everything; Mann seemed important. Today, I looked up when Doctor Faustus was written, and it seems you're right about the insane pact.

[AnotherSpin]

He's only indirectly talking about ethics -- his main concerns are actions, reasons and causes.   His ideas about ethics follow from his philosophy of mind and action.

Hume's reflection that reason is incapable of comprehending what lies beyond immediate experience and that thinking is based on habit was interesting. And his doubt about the possibility of scientific knowledge. There is probably something else what I liked, but I need to refresh my memory.

[Mandryka]

Hume's reflection that reason is incapable of comprehending what lies beyond immediate experience and that thinking is based on habit was interesting. And his doubt about the possibility of scientific knowledge. There is probably something else what I liked, but I need to refresh my memory.

Remember also his ideas contra Descartes about personal identity -- that the I in I think therefore I am is an illusion.

[AnotherSpin]

Remember also his ideas contra Descartes about personal identity -- that the I in I think therefore I am is an illusion.

Hume denied the existence of a stable, permanent I outside a flow of our perceptions.

Descartes' phrase, it seems to me, is not always understood correctly because it's taken out of context. But in its literal form, it sounds strange, as it doesn't take much thought to see that we exist independently of whether we are thinking or not, as in dreamless sleep.