Author Topic: Remembering Mainlander  (Read 4858 times)

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Nation of One

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Re: Remembering Mainlander
« Reply #45 on: January 20, 2019, 09:29:14 pm »
How you found this, i don't know, but I am very appreciative.  Thank you.

I had attempted to use automatic-translators back in late December 2017.

This is great. 
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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Silenus

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Re: Remembering Mainlander
« Reply #46 on: January 20, 2019, 10:36:25 pm »
The r/pessimism sub-reddit is currently attempting to compile a definitive list of literature and this was included.  I never would have known because I do not see anything regarding it on r/Mainlander. 

All in all, the reddit user who has slowly pieced this together has my respect for doing this on his own time.  I don't think it's incorrect to assume that an English translation has yet to be undertaken by any Academic simply because there is no money to be made from such an obscure philosophy, let alone from a disciple of Schopenhauer! ;)

"And the strict master Death bids them dance."

Nation of One

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Re: Remembering Mainlander
« Reply #47 on: January 20, 2019, 11:19:08 pm »
In March 2018 someone who might have been from Subreddit was in touch with me about any digital versions of the [German version] Philosophie der Erlösung.  He spoke German.  I do not read much if any German at all, I am ashamed to admit. 

He told me the following:  "I can tell you a thing or two, but if you want to learn about Mainländer, you definitively want to get in touch with the Reddit User YuYuHunter, the guy behind the /r/Mainlander Subreddit."

https://www.reddit.com/user/YuYuHunter

That is a great find, Silenus.  The translation I had come up with (the lazy way) was not very readable and I stopped reading it.  I will surely be taking my time with it as i am curious about this idea of the Creator of the Universe having already committed suicide, with this world of ours as the consequence or remains after the death of the Will?   

Yes, it is obscure, and there was no money in it for the person who translated it, which means it might be worth exploring.  Thank you again for remembering us here on these rings of Saturn!
« Last Edit: January 20, 2019, 11:41:12 pm by Kaspar the Jaded »
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 ~

Silenus

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Re: Remembering Mainlander
« Reply #48 on: January 21, 2019, 08:07:25 pm »
In the chapter titled Analytic of the Cognition, I have made my way through Mainlander interpretation of Kant and have arrived at the point when he introduces Schopenhauer.  Thinking about your recent "Quantum Mechanics"  thread, Hentrich, I can certainly understand and appreciate knowing how little I understand.

I have only been able to get a grasp on Kantian philosophy through reading WWR.  Otherwise, my "back is against the wall" when it comes to his terminology, the logic of his language, and so on.  Reading through Mainlander interpretation was difficult; I have grasped little and will likely revisit it. Sometimes I think I can "visualize" Kent's concepts, so to speak, but in terms of the logic of the language, it feels beyond me.

Luckily, there is Schopenhauer, who wrote for all in his generosity.  So, on to the next section of this chapter.

What I'm trying to get at is. It is personally refreshing to run into your own limits and accept them. That is one thing I never learned in class! ;)

"And the strict master Death bids them dance."

Nation of One

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Re: Remembering Mainlander
« Reply #49 on: January 21, 2019, 10:10:34 pm »
Running into the limits of my own mental capacity has been alternately frustrating and refreshing.  It really is something an individual must face alone.

As for Kant's writings, I did try to take a detour in 1991, following Schopenhauer's suggestion to read Kant; but I could not really get into it too much, except to gain some clarity on where Schopenhauer got "Will" (thing-in-itself = noumenon) and "representation" (phenomenon) from.  I am indebted to Schopenhauer, who, to me, is much more than a philosopher, and more like the founder of a "religion without religion," much as the Buddha is the central figure in a religion without a Creator God.

He was still a kind of salvationist.  While there may be no real salvation for us, the fact remains that we are in a predicament where we feel a metaphysical need for something like salvation.

That is what makes Schopenhauer's approach so helpful for me.  It speaks to my heart, helps me to come to terms with our existential predicament; whereas mathematics (and physics) may be elegant, there is something about it that leaves one cold.   Cioran summed it up when he says something about what he would like to whisper into the ear of a dying man, or something that could be understood and appreciated by a drunk.

We may not always be in a position to wait 10 years before we can make a conjecture.

And how has our species become so dependent on specialized training to reach "truth"?

There is one little obstacle with coming to accept the limits of our own mental capacity (or even our lack of advanced education): not everyone we encounter will respect this stance.   Look around the Internet and you will see a great deal of intellectual "priick waving" or "piisssing contests."

I will also be reading through Mainlander's work.  Maybe he will help me with questions I am not even fully conscious of.  The first part I am reading now, where he attempts to explain the parts of Kant's work which he feels Schopenhauer did not understand correctly is very difficult reading for me.  Kant's 12 categories did not appeal to me at all.  In fact, all I could wonder is, "Who is he to create these categories?"

I often wondered how it is I could be drawn so strongly to Schopenhauer, who claims to be kind of a correction to "the great Kant," while at the same time wanting to forget Kant's Transcendental Aesthetic, Transcendental Analytic, etc, blah-blah-blah ...

Running into our own limitations and accepting them ... this sounds like a very sound approach.  The trick, I think, is to imagine that those who write the heavy texts do not carry all that around in their heads.   Also, many "rocket scientists" would be hard-pressed to be able to rub two sticks together to create fire!   Our distant ancestors may have been more fit for living in this world than we are, even though our technological knowledge is more advanced.  It's a paradox.

So, we may feel proud of ourselves for getting through a difficult text, but secretly be more confused than we were before we read it. 

As I have told Holden before, I strive to be honest even if I come off sounding naive.

It is not only refreshing to accept our own limits, but also to openly admit when an idea is unlcear without shame. 

I admire musicians, but I do not play any musical instruments.  I think I also admire mathematicians, physicists, and even computer programmers who create computer algebra systems.   I would like to understand their craft, their disciplines.  I devote a great deal of time to studying, and I'm sure it is better for me than being abused in the work-force; but I will not shy away from being honest about just how depressing this "quest for knowledge" can be at times.

We each have to get through this life as best we can.  This means we each must endure ourselves.  I would not be able to endure myself if I were not totally honest with myself about whether or not I am understanding what I am studying.  This is why notebooks are so important to me.   When I look at my notes from many months ago, or years ago, I have to concentrate to know where I was at.  The understanding is not what I would have wished it to be.   

Disposable knowledge, I suppose.

And yet when Schopenhauer wrote about how our lives consist in wanting, wishing, disappointment, boredom, etc, this is refreshing to read.  I see why he called Hegel's work "State Philosophy."  If there is one way I am a true disciple of Arthur Schopenhauer, it is in how much I value honesty-with-myself. 

I do not think I could ever be any kind of professional "teacher," since I probably would admit to the students that I forget most everything I study.   Then why study at all?   To remember what I forgot?

Yes, exactly, to remember what I forgot, and to try to learn it in such a way that I might remember it this time - that is, so that I might understand it.

What helps me when considering how confusing Kant can be is to realize that sometimes you gain more insight just staring at a full moon out in the cold.  You know that you have to get your butt indoors or else you'll freeze to death! 

This is what it is for us to exist.  Maybe someone might read what we have written and find great liberation in our honesty.   They may continue to study something difficult, but at a level they can better understand.   We must know what that level is.  If such a level does not exist, then we must create it ourselves.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2019, 12:09:37 am by Kaspar the Jaded »
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 ~

Nation of One

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Mainlander and the essential truths of salvation
« Reply #50 on: October 16, 2021, 10:47:56 pm »
English translation of Philipp Mainländer, Philosophy of Salvation, Philosophy of Redemption, Philosophie der Erlösung. (OLD REDDIT)


A downloadable version on The Wayback Machine discovered by Silenus:  Mainländer Philosophy Of Redemption

Mainländer's philosophy, he was proud to say, would be “the first attempt to ground the essential truths of salvation on the basis of nature alone”

Mainländer is a Soul Brother Disciple of Schopenhauer.   I think the time has come for me to peck away at it, even if this distracts me from John Wild's work (and Wildberger's Rational Trigonometry to a Universal Geometry).
« Last Edit: October 16, 2021, 10:59:21 pm by Creepy Sleepy »
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 ~

Nation of One

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Taxi Driver Analysis
« Reply #51 on: November 02, 2022, 04:04:18 pm »


This film gives a clue as to how one might apply Holden's methods of getting through his days ... Observing the Narrator Within our own Psyche

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 ~

Silenus

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The Apostle of Virginity
« Reply #52 on: February 02, 2024, 07:59:22 pm »

All,

According to the reddit r/Mainlander forum, The Philosophy of Redemption has been translated and published in English for the first time just days ago.  This is available for purchase on Amazon, but I won't link it here to refrain from promoting that website. (Alternate site: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-philosophy-of-redemption-philipp-mainl-nder/1144657093?ean=9780645498073)

Here's an extract published by the translator Christian Romuss himself:

https://www.synkretic.com/issues/the-philosophy-of-redemption

Quote from: The Extract
As Schopenhauer very aptly remarks: Having sufficiently tormented his utterly powerless creature, Jehovah then threw it on the dung heap. Against this, critical reason reacted with unbridled force in the exalted personality of Christ. Christ restored the individual once more to his inalienable right, and on that right, and on faith in the motion of the world out of life into death (downfall of the world), he founded the atheistic religion of redemption. That pure Christianity in its deepest foundation is genuine atheism (i.e., denial of a personal God coexisting with the world, but affirmation of an immense, all-pervading breath sighed out by a godhead which perished before it) and only on its surface is monotheism, I shall prove in this work.


This is a real feat and a bright light in a dark cosmos by Mr. Romuss!
« Last Edit: February 02, 2024, 08:27:29 pm by Silenus »

"And the strict master Death bids them dance."

Holden

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Re: Remembering Mainlander
« Reply #53 on: February 06, 2024, 11:38:59 am »
Thanks for sharing this! I certainly intend to read this book.
Take care.
La Tristesse Durera Toujours                                  (The Sadness Lasts Forever ...)
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