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To be the Fountain, to be the Rain
If He makes me a goblet, I become a goblet, If He makes me a dagger, I become a dagger, If He makes me a fountain, then I shall give water, If He makes me rain, I’ll bring forth the harvest, If He makes me a needle, I pierce the body, If He makes me…
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Appreciation and Preparedness
11.26 in the Analects of Confucius tells of a conversation between the master and his pupils, where the former asks what each would do if accorded the proper appreciation. The answers which displease Confucius are ambitious plans for statecraft; what pleases him is Zengxi’s answer, that spend a pleasant Spring afternoon bathing in a river.…
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Emergence and Relativism
All things have some value inherent in them, particularly if we realise that value is situational, functional. There are contexts within which the valueless becomes valuable, and gems turn to ash. One man’s trash and all that. This clear-minded perspectivism can lead us to think that we must take all viewpoints as equally valuable, as…
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Motivation and Examination
The motivational view of the human mind transforms the very concept of intellectual pursuit, of interrogation, of the adoption of new ideas. If we accept that human actions and decisions emerge from a radical calculus of internal motivations, then the concept of purpose becomes extremely important- that is, everything is deemed to have a purpose,…
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The Possible Gravity of Morality
Probability and scale go a long way towards solving the question of how morality can exist- the question of the importance of morality. Kant noticed this problem, though likely not alone or first, that the likelihood of moral success is linked fundamentally to the existence of morality. That is, if one’s ability to act morally…
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