Philosophy Now Forum

Joel Marks Just Can’t Stop.

http://philosophynow.org/issues/95/The_ ... hilosopher

Dance, as a social phenomonen is more complex than Joel Marks suggests. You may feel compelled to dance, but if the dance floor is empty and getting on it and getting down to it gets you those 'you should be in a straightjacket' looks, then you are likely to be inhibited. When the floor is full and they clear a space for you and cheer you on, you are emboldened. When they try to copy your moves, but they aint got da funk like you got da funk, you just gotta show 'em how it's done.

Historically, there have been dancing plagues, in which folk would literally dance themselves to death, the most severe of which occured in Strasbourg in 1518. It is believed to have been an example of mass hysteria. Sounds like a great way to go if, like a lot of people at the time, you had little control over your life and little to look forward to.

What I don't understand is how it can be that there are people who apparently never feel compelled to dance at all.

Dunce wrote: What I don't understand is how it can be that there are people who apparently never feel compelled to dance at all.

I don't think I ever feel compelled to dance, dancing has never felt particularly pleasurable to me.

I'm a musician, I play Irish traditional music on the fiddle, it's dance music and I love playing for people to dance, having a room full of people dancing to my music is a huge pleasure, but I never want to join in.

I play badminton, which is all about footwork and movement, so it's not that I dislike moving around in a dancy sort of way.

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...................................................................................Dancing! ...PURE JOY!







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The real dancing philosopher is Professor Guzman, who is still alive and in prison.

I wonder if he has ever concluded that he wasted his life since he is going to end it in his cage..
"In 1992, during the first administration of President Alberto Fujimori, the National Directorate Against Terrorism (DIRCOTE) began casing several residences in Lima because agents suspected that terrorists were using them as safehouses. One of those residences, in the upper-class neighborhood of Surco, had been operating as a ballet studio. The DIRCOTE operatives routinely searched the garbage taken out from the house. The house was supposedly inhabited by only one person, the dance teacher Maritza Garrido Lecca, but it was soon noticed that the household produced more garbage than one person could account for. Furthermore, agents found discarded tubes of cream for the treatment of psoriasis, an ailment that Guzmán was known to have. On September 12, 1992, an elite unit of the DIRCOTE raided the Surco residence. On the second floor of the house, they found and arrested Guzmán and eight others, including Laura Zambrano and Elena Iparraguirre, Guzmán's female companion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abimael_Guzm%C3%A1n

A movie about the professor: http://www.amazon.com/Dancer-Upstairs-M ... r+upstairs

The book: http://www.amazon.com/Dancer-Upstairs-N ... 0002&sr=1-
1&keywords=the+dancer+upstairs

I recommend both the book and the movie.

After reading Joel Marks' article, I decided to check out his book, Ethics without Morals, on Amazon.

Alas, it is available in hardcover for $104.12. And all 98 pages are available on Kindle for just $98.91!

No wonder that no one has reviewed the book.