Editorial notes: This is Shai’s first reference to the French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, Emmanuel Levinas. Levinas’ ideas appear to have made an impact on Shai’s outlook as he refers to him 11 more times in the following three and a half years, most notably in a post entitled “Perceptions of wisdom in the Talmud with Emmanuel Levinas“. Levinas[I] says that we come to be ourselves...
Quotes from Bentham’s[I] An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation[II]: Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to...
This list contains the Philosopher Briefs written up in the black notebook. Those crossed out (e.g.) have been copied (with details to be provided in brackets). “MM et al.” refers to what is broadly a MM, but in any case, is located in the same folder. Thomas More 10-12 Thomas Malthus 19 Susan Sontag 23 John Locke 31-25 (MM et al.) Nicholas Malenbrache 36-37 J.S. Mill 38-39...
Classics (of literature) provide a (recommended) baseline for communication about the majority of books whose reading-status must, by all likelihood, not be shared. Philosophy is a means for each generation (it’s a particular medley of culture, technology, and world events) to communicate with another (in its moment in history, past present, or future across each network made from...
Meta: Two days previously I had been writing about my study of Bentham. Before continuing I wish to bring attention to two points related to this effort. The first is tangential, and concerns this project perceived from a more generic stance. What I have code-named “Philosopher Briefs” is a didactic monad I’ve wished to establish against a temporal framework extending...
Meta: Before I continue onto my target subject, let me acknowledge that it has been more than a few days since I was last a frequent writer at this local. The fault, guilt, responsibility… they’re all mine to bear and label within the paradigm of my reality. That said, there is no final sin here. In fact, I would hazard to posit that the worst that has happened has been a loss of...
Meta: Writing this note during week one: My plan is to complete week one (i.e. first) and then try to use a holistic perspective to see if I can get some sort of MM-type [Mind Map] notes going. The final goal by the end of this course will be to have an intellectual framework for astronomy. 2: The Celestial Sphere Modern astronomy recognizes 88 constellations as areas (with defined boundaries)...
I woke up from a passing loss of conscious motor control. I had dreamt, which is one thing I have severely preferred to avoid. Oh my, how time does pass me by as I stare off into the dreamless horizons, which promise stagnant vistas and microcosm by which one could lose themselves for sheer anonymity (viz. the anonymous nature of those who do nothing, aim for nothing, and by heaven’s grace...
Before I conjure the writings that this “place” deems cut off by the delineations (as if there were such a thing) of time, let me pause. First to orient myself (here and not there) and then to suggest some directions. All that really has purpose from “there” (a label and mode of description that could be translated by reference {wait: you want to hear something funny [cf...
When I look at the moon I think of you. You know that feeling – falling through the stars? Sitting in the park (the vacuum of the cricket field, the silence seeps from cedar benches bereft of players) or along the beach (I hope you’re there now, the ocean’s lapping is like a heartbeat and it follows us into sleep, through dreams), gazing upwards (the land becomes lost, and...
