Aphorisms and Observations – Page 42

A Reason to Take Care of Oneself

It may be that moral and intellectual progress is possible only here. After death it may be too late, either because one no longer exists, or because one continues to exist but in a state that does not permit further progress.

It is foolish to think that believers in post-mortem survival could have no reason to value their physical health and seek longevity. Even a Platonist who believes that he is his soul and not a composite of soul and body has reason to prolong the discipline of the Cave. For it may be that the best progress or the only progress is possible only in the midst of its speluncar chiaroscuro.

Philosophia longa, vita brevis. It is precisely because philosophy is long that one ought to extend one's earthly tenure for as long as one can make progress intellectually and morally. And this, whether or not one has the hope that Vita mutatur non tollitur.

The Afterlife of Habit upon the Death of Desire

Desire leads to the gratification of desire, which in turn leads to the repetition of the gratification. Repeated gratification in turn leads to the formation of an intensely pleasurable habit, one that persists even after the desire wanes and disappears, the very desire without whose gratification the habit wouldn't exist in the first place. Memories of pleasure conspire in the maintenance of habit. The ancient rake, exhausted and infirm, is not up for another round of debauchery, but the memories haunt him, of pleasures past. The memories keep alive the habit after the desire has fled the decrepit body that refuses to serve as an engine of pleasure.

And that puts me in mind of Schopenhauer's advice. "Abandon your vices before they abandon you."

Transhumanism

The hubris of humanism achieves its apotheosis in the absurdity of transhumanism.

On Taking Pleasure at the Death of an Enemy

Schadenfreude at the death of an enemy presupposes that being dead is an evil state of affairs. The decedent, however, might express, if he could, Schadenfreude of his own: "I have been released from all evils while you remain trapped."

Is being dead an evil? See article below.

Seeker and Finder

"Seek, and ye shall find." (Matthew 7:7) But better to be a perpetual seeker than a premature finder.

Grace

One cannot count on it, but one ought not discount it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth." (John 3:8)

LINOs

Contemporary liberals are LINOs, liberals in name only.

Introvert or Extrovert?

Do you need solitude to recover from society or society to recover from solitude?

The Night Life

The night life ain't no good life, nor is it my life. Morning is to night as virtue to vice.

Addendum

This bit of substantiation just swam into view.

Man and God

To believe in Man is to believe in what is necessarily nothing; to believe in God is to believe in what is at least possibly something.

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See this post for explanation and exfoliation.

Of Meaning and Meat

No matter how you squeeze and beat, you won't get meaning from a hunk of meat.

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Addendum (12/27). It occurred to me that the above aphorism can be read in two ways. I intend that it be read in the first way!

Sexuality and Sex Organs

Can one learn all about human sexuality by studying the human organs of generation? The very notion is risible. Can one learn all about human affectivity by studying that most reliable and indefatigable of pumps, the human heart? Risible again. It is similarly risible to think that one can learn all about the mind by studying that marvellously complex hunk of meat, the brain.

Benefits of Belief

The benefits of belief accrue whether or not what is believed is true.

Human Predicament

Standing on the corner of Flesh and Spirit, deciding which way to go . . . .