Disembodied... Never Disengaged!
Philosophy, Politics and Society, all in one place.
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Book Review: Civilization from Alfred North Whitehead’s The Adventure of Ideas
Posted on October 13th, 2009 No commentsIn Whitehead’s discussion of civilization in the book The Adventure of Ideas he argues that “[t]he most un-Greek thing that we can do, is to copy the Greeks. (353)” This argument comes from the historical look at all civilizations looking towards perfection by trying to copy the past. For Whitehead, this is a great perversion of the real point of civilization, which is not a static system that is called perfect but rather a system constantly in flux that is perfection. Whitehead explains that a civilized society exhibits five basic qualities and then goes on to explain these qualities, although he does so in an awkwardly ordered fashion – explaining three before he even talks about civilization. The five qualities are Truth, Beauty, Adventure, Art and Peace.
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Violent Interpretations: Nietzsche’s Take on Environmentalism
Posted on February 18th, 2009 No commentsAccording to “European” existentialist Friedrich Nietzsche “our whole attitude toward nature today is hubris, our raping of nature by means of machines and the unthinking resourcefulness of technicians and engineers” (Geneaology sec. 3.9). Despite this seemingly explicit call for a radical environmental ethic, his philosophy has continually been criticized as “elitist” and, in the eyes of the ecologically embraced Martin Heidegger, Nietzsche’s philosophizing represents the culmination of metaphysical thinking, one which is subjectivistic, anthropocentric and voluntaristic and that affirms technological domination of the natural world (Hallman 99). Against these contradictory claims about one of the world’s most influential philosophers it seems important to explore Nietzsche’s contributions to the human-nature debate and bring together both the use and abuse of Nietzsche for environmental ethics. This task will take place in three main sections – first, an exploration of Nietzsche’s rejection of metaphysics and “grounding” of the human being; second, by exploring the concept of the “will to power;” and, finally, through reexamining Nietzsche’s most controversial concept, the ubermensch.
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The Ethic of Life: Process Philosophy and Environmental Stewardship
Posted on February 17th, 2009 No commentsAccording to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, “when we view reality in terms of dependent origination… [i]t challenges us to see things and events less in terms of black and white and more in terms of a complex interlinking of relationships” (41). Dependent origination, and process philosophy in general, forces us to look beyond the egoism and anthropocentrism so rampant in our world today and instead recognize the intrinsic value of all life. This recognition is more than just an intellectual endeavor, however, as it must become a driving force behind a new ethical system, an ethic of life. If events are defined by relationships and if relationships are defined by life, then the entirety of the world and of our own, individual experiences are predicated upon life existing. By exploring the notion of dependent origination and process philosophy’s take on life, I will begin an investigation of a new ethical system. This ethical system will certainly apply to all parts of our lives, but I will specifically look at the impact on environmental ethics and animal rights in order to give a perception of just how much of a change this process ethic would be from our current system.