There might be something to be said for viewing vast swathes of the enquiry into truth known as philosophy as occuring as a monologue within the mind of an individual seated within a rather shabby room and engaged in the smoking of a regular intake of hashish.
It occurs to this individual that he would like a cup of tea. However, instead of this leading to what one might imagine to be the straightforward, uncomplicated process of getting up to turn on the kettle and the other prosaic processes leading to the desired conclusion of having and drinking the desired cup of tea, certain trains of thought are set in motion within his intoxicated and perhaps somewhat paranoid mind. Key thoughts might include:
Are the asking of this question and the physical activities it may lead to independent acts of a free-thinking and willing individual or is all this determined by processes of which I and the very concept I are mere elements?
To what extent can I consider the thought of the kettle to coincide with the actual kettle in itself?
If my experience of this external reality is received through the senses, and my senses place me at an inevitable distance from what I perceive, to what extent can I in turn speak of a kettle in itself existing in a universe within which I also exist?
Do I dare undertake the conjectured tea-making processes, thus embarking on one particular life, and sending to oblivion all the infinity of other lives that I could have embarked upon were I to choose a different course of action.
The above thoughts are simply some key points from which the vastness of the resulting philosophical enquiries could ensue. In this ever expanding monologue, for the sake of clarity within the individual's mind, various tributaries of these lines of enquiry could be labelled under headings such as "Heidegger says" or "Kant claims" or some such. This helping him to keep track of the endless arguments and counter-arguments in the various discussions, such as to what extent it is reasonable to have thoughts about a kettle and tea within the broader context of one's language having a foundation in truth, as opposed to a kind of linguistic hallucination of convenience.
Ideally, having solved all the self-created problems, our hashish consuming individual would then with an easy mind make himself a cup of tea. The chances of such a happy, & dare one say it, sane conclusion are however almost infinitely remote.
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4 comments:
I might have little money but surely just a little class?
Thank you, however, for the link. I feel quite honoured to have been included in such an important list of contemporary thinkers. I've added you to my interplanetary blogroll, in the belief that you are on a different planet to the rest of we mortals.
If you see Bruce Forsyth around here, please give him my best.
Bruce hasn't seen fit to visit these parts as yet, Chip.
I did say you were possessed of little class which admittedly isn't especially complimentary but isn't all bad. Maybe that is unfair, but a Welsh stripper...it's not especially dignified.
I see what you're saying but if you could only see my thong act you'd recognise a man of class, bearing, and pedigree.
Perhaps when Bangor University make me a man of letters you could see fit to change you description to something along the lines of 'one of the great minds of this or any century'. You know... something humble but fitting.
I'm open to change, Chip, but perhaps for the sake of any unsuspecting souls who see Chip Dale in the blog list, they should have at least some kind of prior warning that the the virtual land they are about to enter, should they choose to, is one of astonishing vulgariity and crassness. Which isn't to say there isn't a place for such vulgarity in this world, but I'd hate to be responsible for any trauma on behalf of any clickers of sensitive disposition.
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