The Philosophy Project

[Charbel]

Jenny wrote: "Charbel wrote: "Jenny, has this philosophy challenge introduced you to a new perspective of the world around you?"

I think I have a strong tendency for kitchen-philosophy in general (not sure if t..."

That is exactly how I felt after my philosophy class. That and a little confused.

[Bionic Jean]

Not sure where to put this... my brother has been recommending a book to me,

"I've just read a very unusual novel. Freud's mentor, Josef Breuer, surreptitiously takes on Friedrich Nietzsche as the very first psychotherapy client, before the 'talking cure' had really been invented. Very very good, but limited appeal I suppose."

So I asked for more details, and he told me it's,

When Nietzsche Wept by Irvin D. Yalom

and "'When Nietzsche Wept' is not based on any real incident. There's no record of Breuer ever having met him. But all the characters are historically accurate, very few liberties are taken with chronology, and some genuine correspondence is incorporated too. Made me wonder how much of psychology is still conditioned by uptight fin de siècle Viennese society. It's set in 1882."

Sounds interesting, I thought :)

[Jenny]

Jean, it is a great book! I've read it years ago. Brilliant if you are interested in Philosophy and Psychology as well as glorious fin de siecle in Vienna. It would be perfect as the fiction-addition to a possible Nietzsche round in this Project. Tell your brother I fully agree!!! And thanks for posting about it here!

[Alice]

I came across an interesting quote about philosophy and literature while reading Pereira Declares: A Testimony and would like to share it here:-

"Philosophy appears to concern itself only with the truth, but perhaps expresses only fantasies, while literature appears to concern itself only with fantasies, but perhaps it expresses the truth."

[Bionic Jean]

Aw, I thought it might be a "find"! Anyway, good to have put it at the front of your mind, Jenny, maybe. Thanks for responding - and I have passed on your comments too :)

It's beginning to remind me of a play by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran called "Dr Freud will see you now Mr Hitler". Sadly I can't find it here!

[Jenny]

Jean, there is this fabulous book called The Eyewitness by Ernst Weiss (brilliant author) which I am afraid might be out of print in English, about a doctor confronted with a psychologically unstable WWI veteran called A.H. who among other things suffers from hysterical blindness. Now guess what A.H. stands for! ;)

I think one could make an entire thread about famous psychiatric patients in literature!

@Alice, I like that quote! (and loved the book the quote came from)

[Bionic Jean]

I have added it, against the day when I can find it... thank you, Jenny! And I think that would be a very interesting thread, possibly as a sub-section under psychology - or a spin-off from this one. But then there's also the "memoirs of madness" thread, so maybe it's all getting a bit samey!

[Jenny]

Oh absolutely Jean, NO MORE THREADS!!! (just kidding obviously, but I do go cross eyed sometimes)

[Jenny]

I will start Pensees in about a week most likely should anyone still like to join!

[Jenny]

plus I have decided on a biography for Pascal, unfortunately it is only available in French and German I think, but here it is: Blaise Pascal ou le génie français by Jacques Attali

[Dhanaraj]

Jenny wrote: "I will start Pensees in about a week most likely should anyone still like to join!"

I will look to join. I will have to search for a copy.

[Jenny]

Great, let me know if you get a hold of it!

[Dhanaraj]

There is a week time. Hope to get hold of a copy.

[Alice]

I previously downloaded a Gutenberg Project version of "Pensees" to my laptop. Right now I'm reading The Red and the Black which will probably take a week to 10 days to finish. Timing is good for me!

[Jenny]

Perfect, I will set up a thread for a readalong then.

[Jenny]

here it is: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Leslie]

This seemed to be an ongoing challenge so I have moved it into the 2015 Personal Challenge folder rather than the archive...

[Jenny]

The next philosopher I will tackle this year is Spinoza.

I will read:

original work: Ethics by Baruch Spinoza

critical work/biography: Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Damasio
or
Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza by Gilles Deleuze

fiction/poetry: The Spinoza Problem by Irvin D. Yalom

[Leslie]

I thought you might find this amusing...

http://existentialcomics.com/comic/74

[Jenny]

LOL!!

[Bionic Jean]

*like* :)

[Jenny]

Finally (after half a year of reading) finished the Pensées by Pascal today. What a gifted writer, and one that was a pleasure to read whether or not I agreed. I very much liked his meditations on human nature, the only part I struggled with at times were his thoughts on religion. His glorification of Christian belief in comparison to others sometimes seemed to stem from a lack of knowledge of other religions, rather then derive from actual investigation.

[Leslie]

Don't you think that is true of a lot of religious writing from the Middle Ages? Although I guess Pascal is really in Renaissance times rather than the Middle Ages...

[Jenny]

That may be true. But although philosophy has been deeply intertwined with religion for long in it's history (and has often been inseparable) I think a philosopher's task is to scrape a bit deeper. I wonder though in how far any attempts at studying interreligious connections somewhat objectively have had been made at the time. I shall have to investigate that.

[Dhanaraj]

Philosophy and theology were not seen as different sciences, at least in those times. Theology was part of philosophy. It is the same with Indian philosophy (especially Vedic ideas). It can be applied to other religions as well.

It s now (owing much to scientific thinking) that theology is separated from philosophy.

[Jenny]

Dhanaraj!! So good to see you here!
Yes you are right, in fact it was one of the things that surprised me when starting to read through the history of philosophy: how long philosophy and theology (on and off) have been inseparable.
But then that's not what surprised me about Pascal, it's what I had expected, and in some ways it's why I was interested in reading him. I am really only referring to when he compares religion (or makes a point about Christianity by saying no other religion has asked believers to love and follow god for example?) when it dawned on me, that comparative religious studies with a more scientific approach were probably not as readily available then.

[Dhanaraj]

Regarding Pascal's attitude, you may be right. The interest in the Eastern philosophy/religion came in the later period. Pascal might have been influenced to say much praise for Christianity because the religions that preceded Christianity in Europe were not that straight forward in accepting the Law of Love (eg. Vikings and their beliefs). I am not sure of everything. But I am guessing it.

[Leslie]

Dhanaraj wrote: "Regarding Pascal's attitude, you may be right. The interest in the Eastern philosophy/religion came in the later period. Pascal might have been influenced to say much praise for Christianity becaus..."

When was the Spanish Inquisition? That sort of attitude certainly didn't encourage 'comparative religious studies'!! My uninformed guess is educated Frenchmen in the mid-seventeenth century would know something about Judaism and Islam but probably not much else (besides Christianity). I would be interested in learning more (or differently) if that is where your project takes you Jenny!

[Jenny]

I think though it had ebbed in intensity, the inquisition was officially abolished only in 1834. I guess comparative religious studies (with a somewhat objective approach) might have not been a good idea at the time, if you intended to live long?
Dhanaraj, would you know anything about the beginnings of comparative religious studies as such? Google, doesn't think it existed before the 20th century but I could imagine that on a smaller scale it is something the started before.

[Dhanaraj]

I am not sure of comparative studies on religions in the Middle ages. There was the possibility of knowing the other major religions (Judaism and Islam). But the attitudes were coloured by many prejudices. About other religions, there was generally no proper understanding of them by the Europeans. The earliest missionaries who came to India regarded Indian religions as Devil worship without much delving into the subject. It was the same case with South American religions. The understanding grew wider only in the 18th century. I may be mistaken as well.

[Jenny]

Thanks Dhanaraj, I will see if I can find some more on the subject.