To notice the unfathomable extension of the universe, the scales that can only be represented by mathematics and that the mind itself is incapable of conceiving, all the distances, magnitudes, the number of stars that border infinity, and before all this, in something less than a point, invisible and insignificant, to notice that there reside beings provided with consciousness,—apparently the only ones,—capable of identifying themselves within this unlimited whole. It is an amazing contrast. The mind, if it reflects on it carefully, will end up judging the human condition as miraculously special. A lure? Perhaps. But, indeed, it is what it seems…
Tag: philosophy
Ancient Philosophers…
Chamfort lines:
Ce que j’admire dans les anciens philosophes, c’est le désir de conformer leurs moeurs à leurs écrits : c’est ce que l’on remarque dans Platon, Théophraste et plusieurs autres. La morale-pratique était si bien la partie essentielle de leur philosophie, que plusieurs furent mis à la tête des écoles, sans avoir rien écrit : tels que Xénocrate, Polémon, Xentippe, etc. Socrate, sans avoir donné un seul ouvrage et sans avoir étudié aucune autre science que la morale, n’en fut pas moins le premier philosophe de son siècle.
Ah, ancient philosophers! Chamfort would be very sad to note the complete break with reality which, if it did not extinguish them in the West, made their appearance exceedingly difficult. Philosophy is doing today with “practical morality” what it does with all other themes: it is transforming it into an abstraction; it is wasting it as the foundation of a logical construction that is detached from the concrete. It is, in fact, the opposite movement. For this reason, it could not even be attributed to error; what happened was an absolute deviation of purpose. The désir of which Chamfort speaks no longer pulsates in the so-called Western philosophers who, certainly, would never see in a Socrates a similar one.
Taking Life Too Seriously
Says Chamfort:
Le théâtre tragique a le grand inconvénient moral de mettre trop d’importance à la vie et à la mort.
It is true… There is no denying that taking life too seriously brings numerous drawbacks, starting with the inevitable anguish. By giving too much importance to life and death and realizing that both are largely beyond its control, the spirit will experience despair. But one thing should be noted: emphasis is necessary for the theater to move; the message of a play will never have the same effect if it is devoid of dramatic exaggeration. To say with Nelson Rodrigues: fiction, in order to purify, needs to be atrocious. But perhaps these inconveniences are necessary not only for the theater, but for life itself, since in complete indifference man will always remain exactly where he is.
The Human Brain Always Ends Up Humiliated
The human brain always ends up humiliated when it yields to the irresistible temptation to order the irrational. It would be much easier if it accepted it in its unlimited manifestations, and assumed for itself its own limits. One cannot concatenate the spontaneous, the unheard-of, the exceptional, without running an immense risk of falling into ridicule. Error is the fruit of presumption. If reason demands answers, lacks logic, it must be content most of the time with the very process of analysis, with simply reducing possible mistakes through careful observation, and avoiding, as much as possible, hasty judgment. The irrational exists, imposes itself, and does not give a damn about its considerations.