tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post8024687161354063468..comments2023-10-01T14:37:09.159+01:00Comments on Maysaloon - ميسلون: Thoughts on PhilosophyMaysaloonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826378383173206624noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-8618512674968122752009-12-24T11:16:47.584+00:002009-12-24T11:16:47.584+00:00Dear Sole,
Thank you for taking the time to write ...Dear Sole,<br />Thank you for taking the time to write the many comments you have left on this blog. This comment is probably the only one I'd agree with you outright and yes, I did not mention Hume simply because of time constraints and that during my course it was not possible to go through many thinkers and their works in any kind of meaningful depth. Thank you for stopping by.Maysaloonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06826378383173206624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-12746654789097155432009-12-24T06:35:45.588+00:002009-12-24T06:35:45.588+00:00No mention of Hume? I would imagine he would chall...No mention of Hume? I would imagine he would challenge your views far more than the other philosophers you mentioned. Philosophers challenge conventional wisdom and Hume has a lot of challenging questions for anyone religious.<br /><br />I agree with you about the dryness of how it's taught at universities, I also found the classification of modern western academic "philosophy" to be tedious as hell. I think the difference is that in the ancient Greek/Roman times, philosophy was a living discipline with a purpose - to answer the question how are we to live, what should we do with our lives. Nowadays the purpose of philosophy seems mainly to be to demonstrate that you know about "philosophy", the sole pragmatic application of which is to have the letters BA or MA appended to your name and CV. Accumulation of rote knowledge has supplanted philosophical innovation and investigation. Theory for theory's sake has supplanted usefulness.<br /><br />There's also the major problem of western modernism's obsession with logical inference and intellectualism. One good thing about the Greeks and Romans was that they used empirical investigation rather than exclusively relying on abstract intellectual reasoning. When you read Rawls or Nozick, you realise you are reading someone who has never run for political office in their life, or tried to govern so much as a small hamlet - yet they are sounding forth on political philosophy. This is like writing a medical textbook on brain surgery when you haven't ever performed so much as an incision. A remorseless logician can reach some interesting conclusions but there's the problem of flawed axioms which can render the whole edifice worthless - consider speculation on astronomy circa 1000 AD. Working backwards from empirically verifiable truths and trying to derive axioms from them has shown to be more reliable - it's certainly closer to the scientific method. It appears no coincidence then, that philosophy when it followed the latter method seemed to work better than when it became the former.<br /><br />Given the barren nature of the field in academia, I think it's far better to follow your own path and make your own investigations, perhaps finding a few kindred spirits interested in a similar questioning approach. The best way to learn about life and reality is to engage with it, not just think about it. Action and thought combined work better than one or t'other alone.R.Solenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-91397108967180789812009-10-02T23:29:08.101+01:002009-10-02T23:29:08.101+01:00All philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato a...All philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato and Aristotle...because our world is a series of footnotes.<br /><br />The love of God makes one an original, an author, not an annotator.<br />Short of that, all is footnotes.Montaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017648070522030951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-82453173243456744322009-09-06T01:34:13.583+01:002009-09-06T01:34:13.583+01:00Mabrok on completing your masters thesis! although...Mabrok on completing your masters thesis! although I have not even read any books on philosophy your post makes me want to know more. <br /><br />By the way are you in syria?MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07033362506621810183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-439530589402962242009-09-04T23:36:32.587+01:002009-09-04T23:36:32.587+01:00Thank you Jimmy, though I do not think I will be d...Thank you Jimmy, though I do not think I will be doing a phd anytime soon. Maybe in a few years...<br /><br />As for my recommendations for beginners, and I count myself one of them. I think the Gorgias, the Republic (book V in particular), oh and the Phaedo. For Aristotle, De Anima is a good one to chew on, and the Nicomachean Ethics, his Politics is a good read, but I for obvious reasons it is far less beautiful to read than Plato's stuff.<br /><br />The guys you recommended, I have not read yet, but Seneca in particular I need to read when I get a chance. <br /><br />I will draw from this well slowly - I have all the time in the world :-)<br /><br />Thank you for stopping by and for the kind words.Maysaloonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06826378383173206624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-87293983992036492362009-09-04T09:14:52.610+01:002009-09-04T09:14:52.610+01:00great to know you're drunk on philosophy, and ...great to know you're drunk on philosophy, and that you've found your home. maybe now you should start searching for the fireplace.<br /><br />which of aristotle's and plato's books would recommend for starters on the subject?<br /><br />you don't mention seneca, epictetus and the other greek giants. how would you rate those in terms of how their philosophy feeds into the overall picture? aren't they also as much of a source of inspiration to modern western philosophies (spinoza, etc) as aristotle and plato? <br /><br />mabrouk w 3a2bel el phd thesis.jimmyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02574622376348280395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-54231511826525674262009-09-03T09:39:57.942+01:002009-09-03T09:39:57.942+01:00Wow! Thank you for the tips and for the insight. I...Wow! Thank you for the tips and for the insight. It is funny but I was just thinking yesterday that some of the stuff I was reading from Nietzsche really shouldn't be read by anybody who hasn't read Plato or Aristotle first. It was just a thought but it is interesting to see somebody else also thinks so! Thanks for the links on Simone Weil, I'll have a look.Maysaloonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06826378383173206624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30984739.post-89260220085860374802009-09-03T07:52:22.542+01:002009-09-03T07:52:22.542+01:00"Political Philosophy was focused almost excl..."Political Philosophy was focused almost exclusively on the writings of the dreadful John Rawls, Robert Nozick and a dash of Mill. In short, it was absolutely awful."<br /><br />; )<br /><br />I agree so much with that.<br /><br />It reminds me of some really boring moments... Even if they probably don't have in the French syllabus a place as important as in the British one. <br />Now, I love Plato's dialogues but i used to blindly reject so-called idealism - hate and despise all what Nietzsche hated and despised when i started philosophy. pfffff... <br />Nietzsche should be allowed ONLY to people less than 8 year-old and to those over 80. In between, he's most of the time adored but completely misunderstood. I'm not saying at all I am among those who understand - I'm neither less than 8 year-old, nor over 80: that's why ; )<br /><br />Plato's dialogues are some kind of maze in which you can find yourself standing in a different place, each time you read them (especially Phaedon).<br /><br />Have you studied Simone Weil?<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Weil<br />I think she's the greatest among modern philosophers. It's a pity she died young and was unable to further her interest in non-European philosophies. I read her writings along with the Qur'an and it's really challenging to understand her from an islamic perspective. It's like being at the closest point of truth in her thought.<br /><br />Best wishes for the continuation of your studies and readings!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com