Thomas Hobbes and some thoughts.

Leisure is the mother of philosophy. - Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes is a philosopher that I like a lot. The title of my blog is stemmed from his primary work, The Leviathan. This quote particularly speaks to me because it relates to my life in so many many ways.
I would love to consider myself a philosopher. I think every philosophy student would. However, I lack what Hobbes says is the mother of philosophy: Leisure. And even if I had leisure I wouldn't be able to philosophize. (Yes, I made philosophy a verb there.) If I had leisure I would use it to sleep.
I still think that I might be able to philosophize. Maybe not today, but I can keep trying. But if leisure is the mother of philosophy, and I'm never going to have leisure time, then perhaps I'm never going to be able to philosophize.

Dammit.

~Lisa

There is no order in the world around us, we must adapt ourselves to be the requirements of chaos instead. It is hard to adapt to chaos, but it can be done. I am living proof of that: it can be done. - Kurt Vonnegut

Chuang Tzu and some thoughts.

The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you’ve gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him? - Chuang Tzu

I like this quote because it sort of relates to our conversations in class last week regarding patriotism. I especially like the "Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words." I like it because it implies that all the things that we have words for are things that we still haven't "gotten." The question at the end is what makes it for me, though. Most people want to carry on conversations with people who know words, who know as many words as we do. But if a man (or person) has forgotten words, then that means that they "get" things. And perhaps they could help us "get" things too.

When it comes to patriotism, we clearly don't get it. Jensen alone with the various definitions of patriotism proved that we don't understand the meaning. We cannot forget the word because we do not understand the meaning. We don't get it. Perhaps we should try, but how?

Get it?

~Lisa

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. - Kurt Vonnegut

is/ought magic trick!

found a bunch of philosophical cartoons here: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cmpbell/Philosophy%20Cartoons.html and thought that this one in particular related to our conversations last week on deriving "ought" from "is."

I hope you enjoy. :)

~Lisa

you got your patriotism in my nationalism! (you got your nationalism in my patriotism!)

In class, DKJ says “it’s not just American propaganda, it’s Norwegian propaganda, it’s Swiss propaganda, it’s Russian propaganda; it’s universal.”

So why is it so hard to make all our varying propagandas compliment each other? Not universalize the propaganda, but universalize the understanding of the propaganda.

The Iraq war:
Iraqis have a sense of patriotism. They love their country, as Americans love America. (Although this to me is difficult to say, because there are so many different types of Americans because there are different Americas: Canadians are Americans; Mexicans are Americans; Peruvians are Americans; yet they all have their own names in association with their countries. Individuals from the United States of America are not the only “Americans.”) REFOCUS! To think that Iraqis are looking at the American infiltration, or “liberation” as the American government would like to believe it to be, as a good thing, as a liberation from their government, is insane. How would we in the United States feel if Canada decided that they needed to “liberate” us, because they don’t feel we have control of our own country. We would feel violated. We would feel as though our validity as a country had been tainted and abused. Canadians would be being patriotic, and sharing their patriotism with the U.S., but we in the U.S., would feel tainted, and our patriotism would be viewed as askew and even terrorist by the Canadians that are trying to “liberate” us. Oh wait, our patriotism is terrorism to the Iraqis…and theirs is patriotism to us.

So maybe patriotism does not need to be universalized. But, like I mentioned before, the respect of it needs to be universalized. Let Americans be proud to be Americans. Let Iraqis be proud to be Iraqis. And don’t try and liberate anybody!

unrelated to class, but still perhaps slightly philosophical and intriguing

First, a transcription:
Guy #1: You should be more careful what you write. You never know when a future employer might read it.
Guy #2: When did we forget our dreams?
Guy #1: What?
Guy #2: The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live trapped in loops. Reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a handful of paths laid out ahead of us. We see the same things each day, we respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, each day a slight variation on the last, every moment smoothly following the gentle curves of societal norms. We all act like if we just get through today, tomorrow our dreams will come back to us. And no, I don't have all the answers. I don't know how to jolt myself into seeing what each moment could be come. But I do know one thing: the solution doesn't involve watering down my every little idea and creative impulse for the sake of someday easing my fit into a mold. It doesn't involve tempering my life to better fit someone's expectations. It doesn't involve constantly holding back for fear of shaking things up. This is very important, so I want to say it as clearly as I can: FUCK. THAT. SHIT.


Now, my take/opinion on this:
xkcd is an amazing webcomic because of strips like this. Hopelessness is a chronic ailment these days, it seems. In the college environment, life is supposed to be an adventure. New things at every turn. Instead, we find ourselves in the same daily grind. We're often told that the 9-5 life after college is going to kill our minds, our creativity. To be completely honest, I'm looking forward to my life after graduation in a month. Because it's this, it's college, that has been killing my mind, killing my creativity, for the past four years. Instead of cultivating my mind and shaping me into a productive member of society, it has rendered me nearly creatively useless. After graduation, when I get into a 9-5 routine, my dreams can come true. I have more repercussions here for "shaking things up" than I would have in the "real" world. So I agree with Randall, the maker of xkcd, because the world deserves to be shaken up. To hell with the consequences.

Thoughts on Patriotism

These are a few notes that I jotted today in class, elaborating on what Katherine said on the definition of patriotism:

Patriot = when people enjoy the country they have and want to keep it.
optional: keep changing it for its own good.

Companies/corporations go elsewhere to escape their regulations, yet they still want us to be "patriotic" because it will sell.


“I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.”

I'm with Debs.



~Lisa

Another webcomic -- is/ought

So you all know my love for webcomics by now.
I decided to take a crack at an attempt at bridging the is/ought gap with Slither's logic. Please forgive any and/or all of this that doesn't make sense, I'm flu-y.

I. Liberty and safety are inherent rights of mankind. (IS)
II. Liberty and safety are equal to one another. (IS)
III. Liberty and safety, being equal, should go hand-in-hand. (OUGHT)
IV. Mankind is morally obligated to maintain and defend both liberty and safety. (IS(?))

Therefore: People who would give up liberty for safety deserve to be thrown in jail and tortured until they admit they are wrong. (OUGHT)