“They saw their injured country's woe;
The flaming town, the wasted field;
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, - but left the shield.”
No scientifically, let alone artistically, thinking person can remain deaf to the wise voice of true philosophy, can fail to study it as a vitally necessary sphere of culture, as the source of world-view and method. Equally true is the fact that no thinking and emotionally developed person can remain indifferent to literature, poetry, music, painting, sculpture and architecture. Obviously, one may be to some extent indifferent to some highly specialised science, but it is impossible to live an intellectually full life if one rejects philosophy and art. The person who is indifferent to these spheres deliberately condemns himself to a depressing narrowness of outlook.
No dispute.
But occasionally, a retreat into pure science, away from the chaos and the crass of the rest of the lived experience, is tonic for the soul.
All legitimate fields of endeavor are branches of the same tree. All stem from the same root and are thus inseparable from one another at the highest levels of understanding.
Queer Studies, Black Studies, Women's Studies, etc. are not legitimate fields of endeavor, since they are inherently divisive, contentious, and tend to foster the exacerbation of resentment, malice, spite and antagonism.
Alas! I have no head for higher Mathematics and most aspects of Science and Technology, but do know a fair amount about the other fields cited. Sincere assiduous study of any of the legitimate fields inevitably leads to enlightenment and an enhanced sense of harmony with the cosmos –– what the eastern philosophers and religionists call Nirvana.
Learning for the pure joy of acquiring greater understanding is solitary, non-competitive, and free of egoism and the Siren call of sexual desire. It is the essence of what prayer is supposed to be all about.
So much more interesting than all this kvetching about Communism/Capitalism, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteStill grateful I chose science as an attempt to weltanschauung...
Your glass is now "half-full" again... ;)
ReplyDelete:P
ReplyDeleteNo scientifically, let alone artistically, thinking person can remain deaf to the wise voice of true philosophy, can fail to study it as a vitally necessary sphere of culture, as the source of world-view and method. Equally true is the fact that no thinking and emotionally developed person can remain indifferent to literature, poetry, music, painting, sculpture and architecture. Obviously, one may be to some extent indifferent to some highly specialised science, but it is impossible to live an intellectually full life if one rejects philosophy and art. The person who is indifferent to these spheres deliberately condemns himself to a depressing narrowness of outlook.
ReplyDeleteNo dispute.
But occasionally, a retreat into pure science, away from the chaos and the crass of the rest of the lived experience, is tonic for the soul.
Indeed. There's much comfort in "repeatability"... :)
ReplyDeleteThe meaning of a statement is its method of verification. Except that statement.
ReplyDeleteAll legitimate fields of endeavor are branches of the same tree. All stem from the same root and are thus inseparable from one another at the highest levels of understanding.
ReplyDeleteQueer Studies, Black Studies, Women's Studies, etc. are not legitimate fields of endeavor, since they are inherently divisive, contentious, and tend to foster the exacerbation of resentment, malice, spite and antagonism.
Alas! I have no head for higher Mathematics and most aspects of Science and Technology, but do know a fair amount about the other fields cited. Sincere assiduous study of any of the legitimate fields inevitably leads to enlightenment and an enhanced sense of harmony with the cosmos –– what the eastern philosophers and religionists call Nirvana.
Learning for the pure joy of acquiring greater understanding is solitary, non-competitive, and free of egoism and the Siren call of sexual desire. It is the essence of what prayer is supposed to be all about.
The meaning of a painting is its' method of verification... ;)
ReplyDelete