If you dream you can do it, begin it.
There is power and magic within it.
For the genius of Man
Is his boldness — he can
Bring to life such a dream and then win it!
In his 1951 book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, William Hutchinson Murray (1913–1996) said, "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: 'Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.'"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is often quoted as saying this final couplet, as a loose paraphrase of some words that Goethe did write in Faust : "Der Worte sind genug gewechselt, lasst mich auch endlich Taten sehn!", i.e., "Enough words have been exchanged; now at last let me see some deeds!" Nevertheless, if you're bold enough to believe it, perhaps the spirit of the phrase is Goethean!
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Thinking Outside of the Box
"You just cannot think outside the box,
Since you have no perspective," he mocks.
But that's harsh and not fair
Since I live as a Square —
Depth perception gives hypercubes shocks!
The English schoolmaster and theologian Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926), in his 1884 satirical novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions wrote about a world (Flatland) of two-dimensional beings. Abbott, in part, intended its use as an allegory of certain emerging mathematical, sociological and metaphysical ways of thinking.
The hero of the novella is the Square who has a dream about Lineland (a one-dimensional space) and his conversations with its inhabitants who cannot perceive of a world of two dimensions. This opens his mind and the Square is then visited by the Sphere, a three-dimensional being of Spaceland. To the Flatlander's concept of nature the Sphere is a supernatural entity.For a conventional Flatlander that lived as a Square, the description of a Box would be metaphysical nonsense, according to his natural perception of reality. To entertain the concept of a Box requires the ability to transcend the limitations of two-dimensional perception (in this case depth perception). The Square's real three-dimensional shape might be a Cube (a 3D Box).
Since you have no perspective," he mocks.
But that's harsh and not fair
Since I live as a Square —
Depth perception gives hypercubes shocks!
The English schoolmaster and theologian Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926), in his 1884 satirical novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions wrote about a world (Flatland) of two-dimensional beings. Abbott, in part, intended its use as an allegory of certain emerging mathematical, sociological and metaphysical ways of thinking.
The hero of the novella is the Square who has a dream about Lineland (a one-dimensional space) and his conversations with its inhabitants who cannot perceive of a world of two dimensions. This opens his mind and the Square is then visited by the Sphere, a three-dimensional being of Spaceland. To the Flatlander's concept of nature the Sphere is a supernatural entity.For a conventional Flatlander that lived as a Square, the description of a Box would be metaphysical nonsense, according to his natural perception of reality. To entertain the concept of a Box requires the ability to transcend the limitations of two-dimensional perception (in this case depth perception). The Square's real three-dimensional shape might be a Cube (a 3D Box).
George Berkeley
Bishop Berkeley subjectively thought
That objective existence is naught.
And he therefore conceived:
"That which is, is perceived."
Thus God's forming power is wrought.
George Berkeley (BARK-lee, 1685–1753) was an Irish philosopher who developed the theory now known as subjective idealism. He summed this up in his dictum, "Esse est percipi" ("To be is to be perceived"). In this he states that individuals can only directly know sensations and ideas of objects, not abstractions such as "matter". For the bishop, the sustaining power of subjective existence was evidence for God.
That objective existence is naught.
And he therefore conceived:
"That which is, is perceived."
Thus God's forming power is wrought.
George Berkeley (BARK-lee, 1685–1753) was an Irish philosopher who developed the theory now known as subjective idealism. He summed this up in his dictum, "Esse est percipi" ("To be is to be perceived"). In this he states that individuals can only directly know sensations and ideas of objects, not abstractions such as "matter". For the bishop, the sustaining power of subjective existence was evidence for God.
Civilisation
In his art man seeks forms of perfection
Through order imposed by selection.
This creative expression
Leaves a telling impression
In man's civilisation's complexion.
The British art historian Kenneth Clark (1903–1973), was the author and presenter of the BBC landmark television series Civilisation. In the episode, The skin of our teeth he reflects, "It means that at certain epochs man has felt conscious of something about himself — body and spirit — which was outside the day-to-day struggle for existence and the night-to-night struggle with fear; and he has felt the need to develop these qualities of thought and feeling so that they might approach as nearly as possible to an ideal of perfection — reason, justice, physical beauty, all of them in equilibrium. He has managed to satisfy this need in various ways — through myths, through dance and song, through systems of philosophy and through the order that he has imposed on the visible world. The children of his imagination are also the expressions of an ideal."
Though Clark's series was focused on the the role of art in man's civilisation, this expression "children of imagination" may apply equally to how science has supported the ascent of man.
Through order imposed by selection.
This creative expression
Leaves a telling impression
In man's civilisation's complexion.
The British art historian Kenneth Clark (1903–1973), was the author and presenter of the BBC landmark television series Civilisation. In the episode, The skin of our teeth he reflects, "It means that at certain epochs man has felt conscious of something about himself — body and spirit — which was outside the day-to-day struggle for existence and the night-to-night struggle with fear; and he has felt the need to develop these qualities of thought and feeling so that they might approach as nearly as possible to an ideal of perfection — reason, justice, physical beauty, all of them in equilibrium. He has managed to satisfy this need in various ways — through myths, through dance and song, through systems of philosophy and through the order that he has imposed on the visible world. The children of his imagination are also the expressions of an ideal."
Though Clark's series was focused on the the role of art in man's civilisation, this expression "children of imagination" may apply equally to how science has supported the ascent of man.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Beauty's Core
At heart's core winds a thread that sustains,
Binds the centre, unites and remains,
Giving constant support
Throughout lives, though cut short,
In which love that is true and good reigns.
"That thread of the all-sustaining Beauty which runs through all and doth all
unite." James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal, Part 1st.
Binds the centre, unites and remains,
Giving constant support
Throughout lives, though cut short,
In which love that is true and good reigns.
"That thread of the all-sustaining Beauty which runs through all and doth all
unite." James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal, Part 1st.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig
Ludwig Wittgenstein famously taught
About language, its meaning and thought:
"Whereof speech will not serve,
Thereof silence preserve."
Of yourself it is best to say naught.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) was an Austrian philosopher who, after completing his major work Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) outlining a theory he labelled logical atomism, considered philosophy to be a finished piece and so he became a gardener. Finding that too hard, he went back to Uni. His famous expression "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen" translates as "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." Wittgenstein's view was that no meaning could be taken from language of a personal, subjective nature—that is, about one's inner dialog (for example, expressions such as "I believe in God" or "I am in love").
Perhaps this is so - yet a poet, through his art, attempts to communicate this inner dialog on the assumption that we have a common nature. The web the words weave is one that holds us all together.
About language, its meaning and thought:
"Whereof speech will not serve,
Thereof silence preserve."
Of yourself it is best to say naught.
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) was an Austrian philosopher who, after completing his major work Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) outlining a theory he labelled logical atomism, considered philosophy to be a finished piece and so he became a gardener. Finding that too hard, he went back to Uni. His famous expression "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen" translates as "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." Wittgenstein's view was that no meaning could be taken from language of a personal, subjective nature—that is, about one's inner dialog (for example, expressions such as "I believe in God" or "I am in love").
Perhaps this is so - yet a poet, through his art, attempts to communicate this inner dialog on the assumption that we have a common nature. The web the words weave is one that holds us all together.
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