Tag Archives: Philosophy

PROMPT: Power

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Daily writing prompt
If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?
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That no individual would have the power to unilaterally change any law.

Because if we all had the power to change one law it would be chaos, like in “Bruce Almighty.”

BOOKS: “Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction” by Jonathan Culler

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Literary Theory: A Very Short IntroductionLiterary Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan D. Culler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher site – OUP

This brief guide tries to bring some clarity to the question of what literary theory is, a question which is a great deal more convoluted that it is in science (or even the social sciences) where the scientific method shapes our understanding of the term. Often when one hears about literary theory it’s in the context of Marxists, Feminists, or Psychoanalysts, and one might be forgiven for wondering whether those scholars don’t have a discipline of their own (not to mention how much can a Marxist – for example – illuminate The Little Prince or the poetry of Li Bai.)

I thought the book was well-arranged to shed as much light on the topic as possible. Of its nine chapters, the first two explore competing ideas of what constitutes “theory” and “literature,” respectively. There is a chapter (Ch.3) that distinguishes the field from the overlapping discipline of cultural studies. The remaining six chapters cover topical components of the field, including: language / meaning, rhetoric / poetics, story, performative language, identity, ethics, and aesthetics.

This book does a good job of offering some clarity and has a sense of humor as it does so (notably through satirical cartoons that illustrate the book.) If you’re looking for a layman’s guide to the subject, this one is readable and insightful.

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FIVE WISE LINES FROM WILLIAM JAMES [Feb. 2025]

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Our view of the world is truly shaped
by what we decide to hear.

The greatest weapon against stress
is our ability to choose
one thought over another.

The art of being wise is
the art of knowing what to overlook.

We have grown literally afraid to be poor.
We despise anyone who elects to be poor
in order to simplify and save his inner life.

Whenever two people meet,
there are really six people present.
There is each man as he sees himself,
each man as the other person sees him,
and each man as he really is.

NOTABLE MENTIONS:

We may be in the Universe as dogs and cats
are in our libraries, seeing the books
and hearing the conversation,
but having no inkling of the meaning of it all.

My experience is what I agree to attend to.

BOOKS: “Practical Taoism” ed. / trans. by Thomas Cleary

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Practical TaoismPractical Taoism by Thomas Cleary
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Shambhala

Like a number of Eastern systems, Taoism is thought of in many different ways by many different people, and a few of those ways are fairly “out there.” To some, it is a philosophy. To others, it is a religion. To still others, it is a style of magic. By “practical Taoism” Cleary is suggesting that the many varied sources from which he drew snippets, assembling them together to make a coherent whole, reflect some of the more down-to-earth philosophy of “inner alchemy.” [Not to be confused with the “alchemy” in which lead is turned to gold, but sharing the central idea that methods exist to convert a low-quality entity into a high-quality one, but in the case of inner alchemy these methods are breathwork, meditation, and movement techniques that improve one’s vitality as a human being.]

The good news is that Cleary does collect a group of ideas that seem less arcane and cryptic than the average Taoist inner alchemy manual content (or, at least, they are translated so as to seem so.) The bad news is that the average Taoist inner alchemy manual was apparently pretty darn arcane and cryptic, such that even this selection isn’t exactly clear as a limpid stream. Some parts of it are straightforward, but one still has some work to do to make sense of what the original authors were trying to get across. [Some readers will enjoy that more than others.]

Presumably owing to the attempt to simplify through selection and translation, the book isn’t annotated, nor does it feature much ancillary material besides a relatively lengthy introduction to setup the reader with a contextual backdrop. So, there is not a lot of help to clarify ideas that are murky. (I do recognize the translator’s challenge in that there is only so much he can do to try to clarify ideas without imposing upon the authors’ intensions.)

I enjoyed, and learned from, this book — even if I didn’t always feel I was reading a “practical” guide to self-betterment.

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BOOKS: “The Varieties of Religious Experience” by William James

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The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human NatureThe Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by Dr. William James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Project Gutenberg — Free Online

This book is now more than 120 years old and yet is still widely read and is still provoking thought about the nature of religious experiences and how they should be considered by academia. The book is a write-up of a series of twenty lectures that the famous American Philosopher-Psychologist, William James, delivered at the University of Edinburgh in 1901-02.

There are a few things that impressed me about this book. First, James was skilled with language and clever in conveying ideas, resulting in a good bit of quotable material and stimulating ideas.

Second, James’s writings about Eastern practices and philosophies were impressively clear and faithful. In those days, there wasn’t a lot translated from Sanskrit, Pali, etc. and what had been translated was frequently done by outside academicians with no firsthand experience with Eastern systems — e.g. Hinduism or Buddhism. This meant that the writings about Eastern Philosophy and practices from those days were often contorted by a Western / Abrahamic frame in a way that distorted the true nature of those traditions. James seems to have gained at least some of his understanding from someone with enough practical experience to produce accurate descriptions. Furthermore, James avoids spewing myths and misapprehensions by being humble in stating what is merely his understanding. It should be noted that James does write much more about Abrahamic traditions (as one would expect given his direct experience,) but it’s hard to plumb the depths of mysticism without looking to the East where such practices reached such advanced states.

Finally, I was impressed with James’s ability to walk the line of believer and scholar in a way that was fair both to religion and the religious but also to the scientifically-minded rational sceptic. So much of what I read on the subject takes a vitriolic tone of strict opposition and often unfairly depicts the positions of the other side (to be fair, usually this seems to be because the critic doesn’t understand the views of the other side and so produces an interpretation of the opposing ideas conforming to their own worldview, rather than just lying to win.) [As was attributed to James as well as others, “…people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”]

I’d highly recommend this book for readers interested in philosophy of religion and the psychology of religious experience.

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Swimmingly [Free Verse]

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Swim through the world
      - effortlessly -
  Don't crave speed;
  Maximize the glide.

With each stroke,
  Sail as far as the limbs
      will send one.

Don't thrash. Don't splash.
   Don't gasp.
 
Feel the catch. Feel the pull.
   Don't let short, wild motions
      exhaust one.

Breathe!

Be wary of drag.
   Put less effort
      into propulsion,
   And more into streamlining --  
   Shoot through the void,
      without struggle.

Never lose sight of the value
      of a good glide.

PROMPT: Complain

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Daily writing prompt
What do you complain about the most?
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People. They’re the worst. Or, possibly, technology. It’s a close runner up, at least. Of course, on some level, it’s all one shitstorm. Humans are the technological animal, and technology facilitates the making of comfort junkies who avoid deep thought at all costs. (Which is at the core of my beef.)

BOOKS: “Original Tao” by Harold D. Roth

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Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism (Translations from the Asian Classics)Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism by Harold D. Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher site – Columbia University Press

This book is built around a translation of an old Taoist manual called “Inward Training” (i.e. 内业,) and the book serves not only to elaborate the meaning of the twenty-six poems that make up the manual, but also to put this work in a context with respect to its place in early Taoist mysticism — which raises further questions as to what constitutes early Taoism and early Taoist mysticism. (Just as the earliest followers of Jesus didn’t think of themselves as “Christians” – at least not as we understand that term – it’s an open question as to when people started to think of themselves as Taoists and how that start relates to when people began holding a set of proto-beliefs that formed the basis of the school(s) of philosophy.)

“Inward Training” presents breathwork and meditational exercises that Roth calls “inner cultivation” — or what some have called “inner alchemy.” The book does contain the entire manual both in Traditional Chinese and an English translation, as well as a much more extensive elaboration of the teachings of the manual. The latter is necessary because, like many old manuals, sparse description, archaic language, and assumptions about common knowledge du jour make it difficult for the layman to get any depth of understanding from the manual, itself.

This is a scholarly work, which means that its readability isn’t the highest and it does dive into matters that will be arcana for non-expert readers. That said, particularly as works of academic philosophy go, its readability isn’t bad. The book is heavily annotated and offers and extensive bibliography.

If you are interested in Taoist practices of breath, meditation, and alignment, this book is well worth investigating.

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Evolution [Free Verse]

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Anywhere copies are made, 
   but copies aren't exact,
      selection will take place.

Some erroneous copies will 
    be more beloved than others.
      Some errors will propagate.
      Some errors will die out.

Thus is language,
   thus is chemistry,
   and thus is life.

BOOKS: “Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction” by Daniel K. Gardner

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Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction by Daniel K. Gardner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – OUP

This is a brief guide to Confucianism from the early life of Confucius (孔子 -Kǒngzǐ) to the ups and downs the philosophy experienced in the twentieth century. It has chapters exploring the system’s thinking with respect to personal development as well as with respect to governance and also discusses how later thinkers (most notably Mencius and Xunzi) expanded on Confucius’s ideas — but also created schisms. The book examines the laudable elements of the philosophy such as its sanction of benevolence among leaders, but also its less laudable elements such as its unenlightened views on women and what they are capable of [and, of course, the many ideas in between that could be seen in varied lights.)

As with other books in this series, it has a few graphics as well as a bibliography and further reading section.

I found this book to be readable, well-organized, and of a level appropriate for its intended purpose. I’d highly recommend it for individuals looking for a concise introduction to Confucianism.

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