Author Topic: Aesthetic Comtempletion  (Read 2490 times)

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Holden

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Re: Aesthetic Comtempletion
« Reply #15 on: June 08, 2016, 12:28:41 am »
Leibnitz argued that evil is a negative quality — i.e., the absence of good; and that its active and seemingly positive character is an incidental and not an essential part of its nature. Cold, he said, is only the absence of the power of heat, and the active power of expansion in freezing water is an incidental and not an essential part of the nature of cold. The fact is, that the power of expansion in freezing water is really an increase of repulsion amongst its molecules; and Schopenhauer is quite right in calling the whole argument a sophism

Could you help me understand this please?
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
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Re: Aesthetic Comtempletion
« Reply #16 on: June 08, 2016, 11:25:07 am »
I believe that Schopenhauer states his case succinctly in Studies in Pessimism: On the Sufferings of the World.

Quote from: Schopenhauer
I know of no greater absurdity than that propounded by most systems of philosophy in declaring evil to be negative in its character. Evil is just what is positive; it makes its own existence felt. Leibnitz is particularly concerned to defend this absurdity; and he seeks to strengthen his position by using a palpable and paltry sophism.  It is the good which is negative; in other words, happiness and satisfaction always imply some desire fulfilled, some state of pain brought to an end.

This explains the fact that we generally find pleasure to be not nearly so pleasant as we expected, and pain very much more painful.

The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other.

Schopenhauer seems to base his arguments on the human experience rather than on natural phenomenon.  To consider cold as something evil and warmth as something good is really just from the perspective of plant and animal life. 

I'm sorry if I keep resorting to quoting Schopenhauer.  This idea of evil being negative and good being positive is even more difficult to discuss in this era of positive psychology.  I recall trying to use positive and negative in a more mathematical manner in some "group therapy" setting, and it was a disaster.  People band together and mock what is incomprehensible to them.

If the world did not exist in the first place, there would be no evil.  In that sense, evil is positive and the negative of evil would be nothingness.

Quote from: Schopenhauer
Brahma is said to have produced the world by a kind of fall or mistake; and in order to atone for his folly, he is bound to remain in it himself until he works out his redemption. As an account of the origin of things, that is admirable! According to the doctrines of Buddhism, the world came into being as the result of some inexplicable disturbance in the heavenly calm of Nirvana, that blessed state obtained by expiation, which had endured so long a time — the change taking place by a kind of fatality. This explanation must be understood as having at bottom some moral bearing; although it is illustrated by an exactly parallel theory in the domain of physical science, which places the origin of the sun in a primitive streak of mist, formed one knows not how. Subsequently, by a series of moral errors, the world became gradually worse and worse — true of the physical orders as well — until it assumed the dismal aspect it wears to-day. Excellent! The Greeks looked upon the world and the gods as the work of an inscrutable necessity. A passable explanation: we may be content with it until we can get a better. Again, Ormuzd and Ahriman are rival powers, continually at war. That is not bad. But that a God like Jehovah should have created this world of misery and woe, out of pure caprice, and because he enjoyed doing it, and should then have clapped his hands in praise of his own work, and declared everything to be very good — that will not do at all! In its explanation of the origin of the world, Judaism is inferior to any other form of religious doctrine professed by a civilized nation; and it is quite in keeping with this that it is the only one which presents no trace whatever of any belief in the immortality of the soul.

If you want a safe compass to guide you through life, and to banish all doubt as to the right way of looking at it, you cannot do better than accustom yourself to regard this world as a penitentiary, a sort of a penal colony, or [Greek: ergastaerion] as the earliest philosopher called it.


In fact, the conviction that the world and man is something that had better not have been, is of a kind to fill us with indulgence towards one another. Nay, from this point of view, we might well consider the proper form of address to be, not Monsieur, Sir, mein Herr, but my fellow-sufferer, Socî malorum, compagnon de miseres! This may perhaps sound strange, but it is in keeping with the facts; it puts others in a right light; and it reminds us of that which is after all the most necessary thing in life — the tolerance, patience, regard, and love of neighbor, of which everyone stands in need, and which, therefore, every man owes to his fellow.

Now, in reference to your question, which part would you like me to consider, the part having to do with freezing water or that Leibnitz's argument is a sophism? 

Quote from: Holden
Leibnitz argued that evil is a negative quality — i.e., the absence of good; and that its active and seemingly positive character is an incidental and not an essential part of its nature. Cold, he said, is only the absence of the power of heat, and the active power of expansion in freezing water is an incidental and not an essential part of the nature of cold. The fact is, that the power of expansion in freezing water is really an increase of repulsion amongst its molecules; and Schopenhauer is quite right in calling the whole argument a sophism.

Could you help me understand this please?

Schopenhauer is accusing Leibnitz of using an invalid argument in an attempt to deceive.   One of the reasons I appreciate Schopenhauer's two cents so much is because he presents the situation in terms of how we experience it, not in the objective terms of science or mathematical formulas, but how we experience it in our guts, in our loins, and psychologically. 

Some cultures (I am thinking here of Hollywood/Bollywood culture) see growing old and death as evil.  They worship youth.  One may object insisting that death is a great blessing.  Remember the discussion with one of our visitors who was all for immortality and the fantasy of using technology to do away with such things as death.  Absurd, right?

I think Mitchel Heisman's 2000 page suicide note had some sections which criticized this cultural bias against death.

I have always been intrigued with a certain tribe somewhere in Africa that mourns birth and celebrates death.  They are an honest people that have not confused "what we wish was the case" with the actual lived experience.

Then there are those with religious beliefs who look forward to death so as to enter another dimension - or they fear dying and going to a place called Hell.  They just can't seem to except nonexistence.   It is impossible for us to imagine zero.

We talk in terms of negative and positive, and yet zero is beyond negative and positive.

We eat food.  This can be seen as a positive, but it can also be seen as a negative (the removal of hunger).  In that case, hunger is the positive motivation, and eating food is the negative of hunger.

Orgasm can be seen as positive, but it can also be seen as the negative of s-e-x-ual tension.

We have been born into an Orwellian nightmare where communication is difficult.  People say they feel wonderful and are doing great and that "life is good."   Doubleplus good.

We say life is bad.

Fry up some potatoes and crack some eggs ---> "Life is good."

We look at the underlying biological necessity of eating and object to glorifying the satisfaction of primitive needs.  We witness our predicament and see no reason to chant the mantras of gratitude and thanksgiving.

We are doomed.  We are doomed to become hungry again ... it's all so redundant.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2016, 11:38:38 am by Nobody »
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

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Holden

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Re: Aesthetic Comtempletion
« Reply #17 on: June 08, 2016, 02:38:42 pm »
Once, as I was botanizing under an oak, I found amongst a number of other plants of similar height one that was dark in color, with tightly closed leaves and a stalk that was very straight and stiff. When I touched it, it said to me in firm tones: Let me alone; I am not for your collection, like these plants to which Nature has given only a single year of life. I am a little oak.
So it is with a man whose influence is to last for hundreds of years. As a child, as a youth, often even as a full-grown man, nay, his whole life long, he goes about among his fellows, looking like them and seemingly as unimportant. But let him alone; he will not die. Time will come and bring those who know how to value him.


I think you are that little oak.
Quote
Now, in reference to your question, which part would you like me to consider, the part having to do with freezing water or that Leibnitz's argument is a sophism? 

I'd request you to consider the part having to do with freezing water.Thanks for your response!
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
-van Gogh.

Nation of One

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Re: Aesthetic Comtempletion
« Reply #18 on: June 08, 2016, 04:32:27 pm »
Cold, he said, is only the absence of the power of heat, and the active power of expansion in freezing water is an incidental and not an essential part of the nature of cold. The fact is, that the power of expansion in freezing water is really an increase of repulsion amongst its molecules.

You are saying that the power of expansion is an essential part of the nature of cold and not merely "an incidental".  It makes sense to me.  I don't know what I could add to that.

I will have to think about it.

In the meantime, I opened up the Kindle DX and was able to remove the old micro usb port with the desoldering wick and a soldering iron, but there did not seem to be any holes, not even tiny ones, where I could secure the new usb port into.  While trying to solder the port to the board, a little solder got into the front of the usb port.

While I am ordering another usb port (they are only nine dollars), I do not think I will be able to repair this.  Even when I had gotten it into place, I was not certain it was going to "make a connection" to the board.   The only videos on ZooTube are for the Kindle Fire, which shows clearly there are holes where the usb port fits into.

I will have to get my mother another Kindle, this time a newer model (which is actually half of what the old DX model cost.

The only bright side of this technological annoyance is that I am relieved that I am not depending on an eReader for my library.  All the books I need for my private studies are hard copies.  When the print is small, I use a magnifying glass.  I am more determined than ever to never invest in an eReader for myself.  I don't have faith in it.  What a grand illusion!

That an expensive device is so vulnerable to becoming useless is more than a little disheartening.

I almost think that it cannot be repaired, but I will try one more time.

It is all I can do not to condemn myself as an idiot.  I will try not to let this get me too depressed. 

I don't think I have the patience required.  I might have even had it secured at one point, but it is delicate work.  I felt like a baboon.   :-[

In fact, in order to make the most of this frustrating encounter with the world of circuit boards, soldering irons, and disposable equipment designed to be replaced rather than repaired and maintained by the user, I am hoping to experience a mental shift where I allow myself to be dumb or confused without becoming too goddamned depressed about it.  I don't want to see myself as "smart".  That's a fictional narrative that nobody can really live up to.

   If I am going to continue to exist, I prefer to exist with no pressure to live up to any ideal image of who I am.   I don't care about any self-image.  I am a character in a Dostoyevsky novel ... neurotic to the core!  The underground man ...

... if only I had a better sense of humor ...  :-\

Quote
I'd request you to consider the part having to do with freezing water.

To be perfectly honest, Holden, I don't really want to think about it.  I'm feeling kind of frustrated just being in my own skin at the moment.  I'm going to consider some trigonometric identities and see if I can make some kind of psychological breakthrough where I become more comfortable with the idea of not being a genius.  I am not Arthur Schopenhauer.  I am a frustrated man pecking away at some basic trigonometry, calculus, and physics. 

I get frustrated setting up environments for programming.  It is satisfying on some level, but it can also be discouraging at times.

There is a part of me deep down inside that is screaming in a rage.   Maybe I am too honest.

The best thing I can do right now is to celebrate the enjoyment I get in taking notes from math textbooks in pencil, writing in script as large as I want to with no dependency on batteries, micro usb charging ports, or expensive universities.  I will pretend that I have gone insane ... and that this is the only thing that satisfies this brain in my head.

I do not care about leaving any profound book for the future victims of birth.   If they find some notes on foundation mathematics helpful (written in cursive and in pencil), that will be fine, but I do not care about humanity the way Schopenhauer did.  He cared about us.  He wanted to give us a heads up.   If I can offer anything to humanity, all I can give the future is my sympathy and compassion, and an honest record of my daily thoughts about the petty frustrations and anxieties I myself encountered on my trip through.

There is no need for us to act as though we have a handle on our internal wiring.   

It is difficult to make any sense of anything.  Maybe that's why I take refuge in math or programming books ... so that I can try to use my mental energies to focus on one little thing at a time.

What I experience is most clearly the "sickness" the Underground Man described in Dostoyevsky's tale.  Excuse my spelling.  I spell the name that way.  It's how I pronounce it.

If I could use the term "mental illness" without all the "medicalized baggage" attached to the term, I would.  The reason I choose not to use the term mental illness is because, if I were to use that term to describe the discomfort anxiety I feel, that would be like saying there was something particularly "unstable" about me, when, in fact, I know that these feelings must be universal and that every human creature on this planet experiences "mental illness", distress, anxiety, nine out of every ten minutes of their lives, whether they are wide awake or sound asleep.   This is the case whether they are a prisoner in a state corrections facility or the warden of that facility, whether they are the gardener at the palace or the "Lord" of the palace.

Mental illness is the norm.  What Schopenhauer called "salvation" was simply, in plain honest language, resignation.  We resign ourselves to the absurdity of existence and try to get through it as gracefully as we can without going off the deep end.  You see, Holden, such honesty is discouraged.  Of course, even as I concede that being alive causes mental distress, I have no faith in psychiatry or psychoanalysis to come up with a cure.  Alcohol and television for the masses ... religion, sports, entertainment ... and for a smaller segment, a library of textbooks to give the illusion of "making some progress" ...

I am in one of those moods where I want to feel stupid, and in my stupidity I want to become incrementally wiser by small degrees.  It is best that I remain isolated.  I am fairly calm and laid back when alone.  I am far too honest for polite society or gainful employment.
« Last Edit: June 09, 2016, 01:45:38 pm by Nobody »
Things They Will Never Tell YouArthur Schopenhauer has been the most radical and defiant of all troublemakers.

Gorticide @ Nothing that is so, is so DOT edu

~ Tabak und Kaffee Süchtigen ~