hello

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littlelady
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:04 am

hello

Post by littlelady »

I am a pessimist who is never disappointed. If I was a play writer I would be Samuel Beckett or maybe more British Harold Pinter. The latter is a person about whom I wrote an extended essay as part of my English literature degree. Both of these writers were part of what was called the 'Theatre of the Absurd' and a very gloomy lot they were! What has literature got to do with philosophy? I would say that work of fiction has at its core a philosophical basis. Whether it is Hamlet and the "To be or not to be..." , or Coleridge and his 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner', and the magnificent trilogy by Sartre 'Roads to Freedom' (or Liberty depending on which translation you read), all possess ideas that are of their time and for all time. I suspect that Sartre, during his Marxist period, would not have agreed with the for all time part of my statement. I base that assertion on the political philosophy of Marx and Engels with the utilisation of the dialectic principle. I am not sure where this leaves the "action without thought is useless; thought without action is worse than useless" statement. But, being ambiguous is preferable to being certain.
Belinda
Posts: 8034
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:13 am

Re: hello

Post by Belinda »

littlelady wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:44 am I am a pessimist who is never disappointed. If I was a play writer I would be Samuel Beckett or maybe more British Harold Pinter. The latter is a person about whom I wrote an extended essay as part of my English literature degree. Both of these writers were part of what was called the 'Theatre of the Absurd' and a very gloomy lot they were! What has literature got to do with philosophy? I would say that work of fiction has at its core a philosophical basis. Whether it is Hamlet and the "To be or not to be..." , or Coleridge and his 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner', and the magnificent trilogy by Sartre 'Roads to Freedom' (or Liberty depending on which translation you read), all possess ideas that are of their time and for all time. I suspect that Sartre, during his Marxist period, would not have agreed with the for all time part of my statement. I base that assertion on the political philosophy of Marx and Engels with the utilisation of the dialectic principle. I am not sure where this leaves the "action without thought is useless; thought without action is worse than useless" statement. But, being ambiguous is preferable to being certain.
Welcome!
If you are not only a pessimist but also a woman who will die of thirst or disease during the coming crisis then the occasion of your not being disappointed will not arise.
Veganman
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:17 pm

Re: hello

Post by Veganman »

Planet Earth has had it, the only optimists lefts are suffering from a delusional disorder. In other words Belinda, you are far from being a lonely pessimist.
Belinda
Posts: 8034
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:13 am

Re: hello

Post by Belinda »

Veganman wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:16 pm Planet Earth has had it, the only optimists lefts are suffering from a delusional disorder. In other words Belinda, you are far from being a lonely pessimist.
Let's not go quietly into that dark night !
Veganman
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:17 pm

Re: hello

Post by Veganman »

I live very near Dylan Thomas' house, the one he grew up in. He's also one of my favourite poets.
Belinda
Posts: 8034
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:13 am

Re: hello

Post by Belinda »

Veganman wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 7:01 pm I live very near Dylan Thomas' house, the one he grew up in. He's also one of my favourite poets.
Good! :D
mickthinks
Posts: 1501
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2007 1:10 am
Location: Augsburg

Re: hello

Post by mickthinks »

Planet Earth has had it

You hear this all too often, but there's no truth to it.

Humanity is destroying the environment that enables us to live comfortably. Many species will also find it impossible to survive. It looks like we are going to be the root cause of a mass extinction and that homo sapiens sapiens will be part of it.

Maybe some humans will survive. Perhaps a few small pockets of humanity will succeed in establishing self-sustaining colonies, like the moon bases of science fiction, from which they can observe the destruction their ancestors wrought.

But life will continue. The planet will thrive.
Last edited by mickthinks on Sun Oct 31, 2021 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Veganman
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:17 pm

Re: hello

Post by Veganman »

The planet probably will survive, but ultimately it will not be as we know it. The ice caps will melt and so will all the other frozen regions of the planet, raising sea levels to such an extent that there won't be much land left, possibly little more than desert. As for the remaining species, who knows how many of them will survive, although I guess that most sea creatures will probably be okay. In millions of years maybe the Earth will return to something more like what it is now, or maybe it will remain a sphere of little more than water. But yes, you're right, the expression "planet Earth has had it" is an erroneous one, if you want to take it that literally. On the other hand, planet Earth as we know it, has definitely had it.
Belinda
Posts: 8034
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:13 am

Re: hello

Post by Belinda »

mickthinks wrote: Sun Oct 31, 2021 12:53 pm Planet Earth has had it

You hear this all too often, but there's no truth to it.

Humanity is destroying the environment that enables us to live comfortably. Many species will also find it impossible to survive. It looks like we are going to be the root cause of a mass extinction and that homo sapiens sapiens will be part of it.

Maybe so humans will survive. Perhaps a few small pockets of humanity will succeed in establishing self-sustaining colonies, like the moon bases of science fiction, from which they can observe the destruction their ancestors wrought.

But life will continue. The planet will thrive.
Men have damaged the biosphere. Time has now run out for us to maintain the status quo by means of zero economic growth. We now need to consume CO2.
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FlashDangerpants
Posts: 6268
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:54 pm

Re: hello

Post by FlashDangerpants »

littlelady wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:44 am I base that assertion on the political philosophy of Marx and Engels with the utilisation of the dialectic principle.
Good luck with that. This forum is beseiged by crazed no-life right wing nut jobs who know nothing about Marx but will tell you how very naughty he was without needing any grasp of detail such as the dialectic or any other sort of context either. Half of them genuinely believe the nazis were socialists because it says so in the name.

Even if you didn't lose interest during the interregnum between posting that hello and the mods permitting it to go to the site, you will be shouted down because you cannot possibly post with the same regularity as these toothless old cadavers with nothing else to do, and also you can't really get any of them to answer any question. That's why it's easier to let them gibber about Hitler and Marx rather than explain the night of the long knives to them.
Belinda
Posts: 8034
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:13 am

Re: hello

Post by Belinda »

FlashDangerpants wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:33 pm
littlelady wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:44 am I base that assertion on the political philosophy of Marx and Engels with the utilisation of the dialectic principle.
Good luck with that. This forum is beseiged by crazed no-life right wing nut jobs who know nothing about Marx but will tell you how very naughty he was without needing any grasp of detail such as the dialectic or any other sort of context either. Half of them genuinely believe the nazis were socialists because it says so in the name.

Even if you didn't lose interest during the interregnum between posting that hello and the mods permitting it to go to the site, you will be shouted down because you cannot possibly post with the same regularity as these toothless old cadavers with nothing else to do, and also you can't really get any of them to answer any question. That's why it's easier to let them gibber about Hitler and Marx rather than explain the night of the long knives to them.
Writing as someone who is not a toothless old cadaver, I point out that the key sentence in Littlelady's introduction is
What has literature got to do with philosophy?
uwot
Posts: 6093
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:21 am

Re: hello

Post by uwot »

littlelady wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:44 amI am a pessimist who is never disappointed.
You've come to the right place then.
littlelady wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:44 amWhat has literature got to do with philosophy?
They're both in the business of telling stories. Philosophy has more rules. There are ways around them, but as long as you know at least some of them, there is a chance you will be taken seriously by people who know what they are talking about.
littlelady wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:44 am...being ambiguous is preferable to being certain.
Indeed. It's one of the rules of philosophy.
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bahman
Posts: 8791
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2016 3:52 pm

Re: hello

Post by bahman »

Hi and welcome to the forum. :mrgreen:
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