Philosophical Speculations

While I didn't find this chat between Matt Segall and his partner especially noteworthy, as an intro to a talk that Matt had with BK, supposedly to be uploaded soon, and possibly having some potential depth, some may want to check this out ... I'll post the conversation with BK here, once it's available

Though I've yet to listen to it, here is that long conversation between Matt Segall and BK ...

Soul_of_Shu wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 1:24 pm Though I've yet to listen to it, here is that long conversation between Matt Segall and BK ...

I listened to a bit. The abstractions are tough to deal with after awhile. Whitehead is especially abstract and it didn't seem like Segall was making it any easier to relate his ideas with concrete experience. That being said, Whitehead's processual ontology and incorporation of space-time relativistic science is definitely an advance over analytic idealism, which really does neither.

Early on, BK mentions Kant. We've already summed up all the issues here with BK many times. One thing I noticed was that he criticizes Kant for not positing an ontology in CPR, instead trying to philosophize from his perceptual and conceptual experience. BK feels Schopenhauer is an advance because he basically skips over much of that and just posits the Will as something he can directly know (how does he know? by Reason, of course) and something which can be extrapolated to the Cosmos as a whole. This is practically the definition of abstract thinking - prioritizing pure conceptual speculation about the "essence" of things over reasoning from first-person experience of perceptual and conceptual phenomena.

I finally finished listening to all 3 hours, which I took in slowly, deliberately and contemplatively. As a non-philosopher, I found it to be one of the richest and most rewarding dialogues that I've heard. I learned much. It was so interesting to witness what two very smart guys can achieve when the quest is for mutual understanding more than conquest. Interestingly, they end with a shared remembrance of Steiner's 1919 call for concreteness in philosophy and spirituality as applicable to our present frightful historical moment.

BRAVO! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I WANT MORE!