Philosophical Speculations

This video is so artfully and beautifully created that I first thought of posting it in the art-form section, but given its thought-provoking ideas about polarity, good vs evil, individuality><mutuality, etc, it surely warrants a place here too ... William Blake // Dostoevsky: Marriage of Heaven & Hell

I love Blake and Dostoevsky. Yes, tension drives a certain notion of progress. "Hitting the wall" brings forth awareness to slow down and pay attention and NOT to keep hitting the wall. Paying attention and slowing down causes us to carefully evaluate the costs of progress as well as its seeming benefits, which often turn out to be short-term illusions. As the Taoist sage says, "There never was a big problem that could not have been solved when it was small." Indeed, keeping things small might be a sacred goal worth sacrificing for.

Soul_of_Shu wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 11:41 am This video is so artfully and beautifully created that I first thought of posting it in the art-form section, but given its thought-provoking ideas about polarity, good vs evil, individuality><mutuality, etc, it surely warrants a place here too ... William Blake // Dostoevsky: Marriage of Heaven & Hell

That is a beautifully done video.

Blake was a breathtaking poet and painter and a profound philosophical thinker, but he does seem to fall short of a contemporary thinker like Coleridge because he views the opposites as separate forces rather than inter-weaving and inter-penetrating. Every energetic force has a creative and devouring aspect and both are necessary to move forward. I like those terms better than "good" and "evil", because we can easily confuse those for ultimate Good and Evil, which I would say are mutually exclusive rather than 'polar'. Evil being that which prevents us from integrating the polar opposite forces.

AshvinP wrote: ↑Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:56 pm he views the opposites as separate forces rather than inter-weaving and inter-penetrating.

Not how I hear The Tyger.

WOW! What a wonderful reading of "Tyger" -- THX

SanteriSatama wrote: ↑Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:48 pm

AshvinP wrote: ↑Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:56 pm he views the opposites as separate forces rather than inter-weaving and inter-penetrating.

Not how I hear The Tyger.

The Thoughts on Thinking guy was going over Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Based on my reading, I believe he had an accurate analysis. But don't get me wrong... I also think Blake may have been the best poet in the English language, right up there with Milton and Shakespeare.

His philosophy, though, was a lopsided reaction to the rise of rationalism. He went too far towards the other extreme, i.e. instinct/imagination without reason is all that really matters.