Philosophy Now Forum

Sunlight the universal author of all things can be see only with great effort, the parent of light, power of the beautiful and right in the visible world.

But the archetypical prism is the diamond of the earth in which every eye rejoices, the first first-born of sunlight and darkness is air. The prism of the earth is air, the subordinate passivity to sunlight and transparency, free from earthy flaw, free, unrestricted, embracing both whole transparency. Though the prism of earth does not shine, air is so much akin to sunlight almost reaches a stage of shining. To be transparent air must be free of from earthy flaw, otherwise it it is simply opaque.

The opaque is like lime and silica they are opaque. They were chemically neutral substances that are opaque, but not perfectly crystallized silica without acid or clay in mica or magnesia in talc or lime to have transparency.

Even water when crushed is opaque; transparency is destroyed and converted into plurality. This phenomenon ice is more transparent than water and when crushed is opaque. But there was yet another thing, which is affirmed, there are also color such as the transparency of precious stones, these are not perfectly transparent because of called the metallic principle to which are owe to color.

That power and capacity of learning exists in the mind already; and that just as the eye is unable to turn from darkness to light without the body, so too the tool of knowledge can only be moved by the whole mind to be able turned from the world of becoming into that of being. Learn to endure the sight of true being and the brightest and best of being, in other words be good.

Happy New Year to all.

BB

Come brave philosophers construct a deductive rational way of observing nature’s unchanging scheme of things, come do away with opinions s and go directly to the first principle of nature.

There is a perfection which all knowledge ought to reach, and which all students ought also attain, and not to fall short of, the hymn of dialectic; when a person starts on the discovery of the absolute by the light of reason mind only and without any assistance of the senses, and perseveres until pure intelligence arrives at the perception of the absolute good, at last students find knowledge at the end of the intellectual world, as in the case of sight at the end of the visible.

Socrates believed dialectics is the release of the prisoners from chains, the translation from the shadows to the images and to the light, and the ascent from the underground den to the sun, while in his presence they are vainly trying to look on animals and plants and the light of the sun, but are able to perceive even with their weak eyes the images in the water all divine), and are the shadows of true existence.

The contemplation of that which is good in existence, has the power of elevating to the highest principle in mind Socrates compares it to the raising of that faculty which is the very light of the body to the sight of that which is brightest in the material and visible world, this power is given by all that study and pursuit of the arts described. For when a person knows not his own first principle, and when the conclusion and intermediate steps are also constructed out of he knows not what, how can he imagine that such a fabric of convention can ever become knowledge.

Hegel’s dialectic process goes directly to the first principle does away with hypotheses in order to make his ground secure gently aids lifts upwards; uses as handmaids and helpers of science . Custom terms them sciences, but ought to have some other name, implying greater clearness than opinion and less clearness then science: called understanding.

Come brave philosophers construct a deductive rational way of observing nature’s unchanging scheme of things...

You are asking us to observe.

..come do away with opinions..

Doing away with conclusions allows us to focus fully on observing.

...and go directly to the first principle of nature.

When we focus fully on observation...

Observation for itself, not as a means to reach conclusions....

The first principle of nature is experienced....

It is.

Any better?

What?

Politics and government I would rather not have them. Being self-taught, I cannot be expected to show any gratitude for a culture I have never received, no forty acres and a mule promised then there would be gratitude for a culture.

I educated myself far better than any government or private school system could have I bought my books second hand and better able to share in the double duty too down here with the general underground abode of dwellers have got the habit of seeing in the dark more than the inhabitants of the abode.

The philosophic spirit when they come within sight of dialectic the great difficulty of the subject, take off or in most cases the subject is extinguished more truly than Heracleitus' sun, never lights up again.

If I showed dialectic philosophy as it really is who could be at enmity has a power of knowledge of military and philosophical; for in war must be learned the art of number to array the troops, and the philosophy also, because the philosopher has to rise out of the sea of change and lay hold of true being, and therefore must be an arithmetician. They must carry on the study until they see the nature of numbers with the mind only; for the sake of their military use, and of becoming to truth and being.

Arithmetician compels to reason about abstract number, and rebelling against the introduction of visible or tangible objects into the argument. Steadily the masters of the art repel and ridicule any one who attempts to divide absolute one if you divide, they multiply, taking care we are lost in fractions. reasoning, each one equal, invariable, indivisible they answer?

The author of knowledge reason attains by the power of dialectic, using the hypotheses, metaphysics not as first principles, but only as hypotheses, that is to say, as steps and points of departure into a world which is above opinion in order that we may soar beyond that first principle by successive steps descends again without the aid of any sensible things, mind only from ideas, through ideas, and in ideas dialectic ends.

This is no easy task but whether easy or not, here lies the difference between philosophers and other orators, philosophers have nothing to do with legislators, inscribes no laws, always starts on a clean slate; absolute justice and beauty and temperance, and again look at the human copy; and will mingle and temper the various elements of life into the image; and thus conceive according to other images what Homer called “the form and likeness of God. “

Through some inherent goodness and reason I was taken captive by philosophy, by some sympathetic and kindred power or some power drawing near and mingling and becoming incorporate with my very being I never ceased from the travail.

Today the students of philosophy are young; hardly past childhood, saved from work pursuits for four years at least; and even those of them who are reputed to have most of the philosophic spirit, when they come within sight of dialectic science a great difficult subject leave the premises.

But if philosophy is shown as it really is and described is its true character and attributes to knowledge, and viewed in this new light, students will surely change all in order moving according to reason; not to matter these I imitate and to these I will, as far as I can, conform to.

How can anyone help imitating that which is held so reverential?

The pleasure of knowing is my pursuit, ever learning to me is not so far from heaven. The sweetness of learning and knowing truth.

Pythagoras of Samos had a strict rule for each day in which each hour had reason. For example in the morning directly after rising he would set aside for recalling to memory the history of his previous day because what was to be done in the day depends chiefly on the previous day to find out whether the deeds in the day was done if they were right or wrong.

There are two sorts of knowledge, one that is seen, the other which is unseen or one part body and the rest mind, then to which class may we say that the body is more like? And the mind is it seen or not seen? And by seen and not seen I mean that which is or is not visible to the eye. Then mind is more like the unseen, and the body the seen.

When we perceive something by either sight or hearing there is no difficulty in getting a conception of some other thing like it or not like it, therefore, two alternatives follows: either we have knowledge before , and continue through life; meaning those who learn only remember, consequently learning is mere recollection.

The science of dialectic contemplates, are clearer than the notions of the arts, as they are termed, which proceed from hypotheses only: these are also contemplated by the understanding, and not by the senses: yet, because they start from hypotheses and do not ascend to a principle, those who contemplate them appear to you not to exercise the higher reason upon them, although when a first principle is added to them they are cognizable by the higher reason. And the habit which is concerned with geometry and the cognate sciences I suppose that you would term understanding and not reason, as being intermediate between opinion and reason.

There are four faculties in th mind-reason answering to the highest, understanding to the second, faith (or conviction) to the third, and perception of shadows to the fourthlike a scale and suppose that the several faculties have clearness the same degree that objects have truth.

Knowledge excludes everything that is not grasped conceptually. The same in all spheres of science and art it takes a considerable amount of time and discipline spent on reason As the charioteer drives a pair of winged horses into the sky, one of them is reason and the other not.

The driving gives both winged horses a great deal of trouble to the charioteer, they will fall down if fed upon ignorance and meanness but if fed on knowledge, beauty, and goodness soars upward.

My chief aim is to make a society of the greatest good. Can there be any greater evil than discord and distraction and plurality where good ought to reign?


A community where all the citizens are glad or grieved on the same occasions of joy and sorrow pleasure and pain? Private society are always disorganized . I mean when you have one half of the society triumphing and the other plunged in grief at the same event happening to the society and citizens all in disagreement about the use of the terms 'mine' and 'not mine,' 'her' and 'not his.'


Socrates believed one of us is hurt, the whole frame, drawn towards mind as a center and forming one kingdom under the ruling power therein, feels the hurt and sympathizes all together with the part affected, and we say that the man has a pain in his finger; and the same expression is used about any other part of the body, which has a sensation of pain at suffering or of pleasure at the alleviation of suffering.

Then Socrates believed that when any one of the citizens experiences any good or evil, the whole society will make that citizen’s case the society’s own and we will either rejoice or sorrow with that citizen.

A well-ordered society these are the fundamental principles.

Here our society the language of harmony and concord will be more often beard than in any other. A unity of feeling Socrates admitted it to be the greatest good, when affected by pleasure or pai a well-ordered society.

Then the community does not need houses or lands or any other property; no private expenses; for we intend here philosophers to preserve their true character.

In the first place the philosopher has to be in such a union of qualities as possible, and lover of all true being loving knowledge of a sort which shows nature more akin to knowledge not as some varying from generation and corruption.

From philosopher's earliest youth there is a desire for all truth. This desire is strong, like a stream which has been drawn off into another channel. drawn towards knowledge I mean, if we be true philosophers and not shams.

The philosophical nature from the unphilosophical youth by whether a person is just and gentle, or rude and unsociable; these are the signs to distinguish even in youth.

Today the good are treated in their own society so grievous that no single thing on earth is comparable to it; Socrates used a parable a ship in which there is a good pilot who is more handsome and stronger than any of the crew, but he is a little deaf and has a similar problem of sight, and his knowledge of navigation is not much better.

A true pilot must pay attention to the year and seasons and sky and stars and winds, and whatever else belongs to the art, if the pilot intends to take command of the ship, must and will be the pilot, whether other sailors like or not.

Truth as you will remember philosophers follow always in all things; failing in this, are impostors, and had no part or lot in true philosophy. And when truth is the captain justice and health of mind will be of the company, and temperance will follow after.

Simply beautiful, Barbara!

artisticsolution,

The fairest is the loveliest and you are certainly one.

Then no intemperance or madness should be allowed to approach here. For our purpose should not to be guilty of coarseness and bad taste because of lack of knowledge.

Thales believed the universe is an all embracing whole developed germ like we animals are and that water is the most powerful giver of life. Scholars in those days had already considered the sun, mountains, earth, sea, rivers as powers to be revered but Thales believed water is God. He was one who introduced geometry, measured the pyramids and the distance from shore of ships at sea using calculus.

The sea is cometary a celestial object, land is lunary. The Sea has a higher vitality than air; water is the subject of bitterness and neutrality. The sea contains common salt and sulphate of magnesia, salinity soil; these are organic beings.

Hegel writes mountains are regarded as the genuine springs which generate rivers like the Ganges have an interior life, a striving and a stirring; the earth's process of evaporation, the earth discharges its abstractly fresh water which hastens to the sea.

The sea and earth invade and volatilize air individualizes partly into the universal atmospheric process, which resolves water and earth into odors; which generate aerolites. Equally the sea is the ebb and flow, a composite resulting from the changing positions of sun and moon and from the shape of earth.

Thank you for those kind words I went to bed smiling.

BB