Watch 'Cephalus' (Plato's Republic, Book I) in action...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Within Every Temple of Joy, Melancholia Has Her Sovereign Shrine
The more you love something, the greater your desire to retain it always.
But the greater the desire, the greater the fear you have of losing it.
Happiness tempered by perpetual feelings of fear. Seems like the natural fact of life.
But the greater the desire, the greater the fear you have of losing it.
Happiness tempered by perpetual feelings of fear. Seems like the natural fact of life.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Sky News Anchor Gets Trashed
Watch and enjoy Galloway trash the news anchor in an interview on the current invasion of Lebanon by Israel.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Thrasymachaean Politics
Having had time to consider what I've been saying in my recent posts, I've just realised that I enjoy slapping myself and eating my own words. Lol. Allow me to explain.
After having read Plato's Republic I kept feeling the need to defend Thrasymachus. In a nutshell, he embodies the notion that justice is the advantage of the stronger and that it is just on the part of the ruled to obey their leaders (337c, 339c). This is essentially the story that our government has been trying to sell us.
And there I was lamenting how they always try to take the moral high ground.
Of course they had to. Only by taking the moral high ground can one anchor one's power so firmly such that it becomes authority. And only when the citizens of the polis feel deeply that they are unjust in questioning the incumbent will they practice self-censorship of their behaviour. This saves the government time and resources to further its own aims.
I don't like it.
Somehow my academic self and actual self differ from each other. When others were telling me that Thrasymachus' position is a crazy position to defend, I disagreed vehemently, arguing that it is a natural fact of life. Just deal with it I thought.
I thought wrong.
I was being wilful before. How am I going to square reality and theory? I don't know. Anyway having said all this, I do realise that, as the main villian in the Republic, Thrasymachus stands for something very important. What exactly does he stand for I'm still not sure. But I'll figure it out somehow.
And I'll continue to let my academic and actual selves continue to do battle.
After having read Plato's Republic I kept feeling the need to defend Thrasymachus. In a nutshell, he embodies the notion that justice is the advantage of the stronger and that it is just on the part of the ruled to obey their leaders (337c, 339c). This is essentially the story that our government has been trying to sell us.
And there I was lamenting how they always try to take the moral high ground.
Of course they had to. Only by taking the moral high ground can one anchor one's power so firmly such that it becomes authority. And only when the citizens of the polis feel deeply that they are unjust in questioning the incumbent will they practice self-censorship of their behaviour. This saves the government time and resources to further its own aims.
I don't like it.
Somehow my academic self and actual self differ from each other. When others were telling me that Thrasymachus' position is a crazy position to defend, I disagreed vehemently, arguing that it is a natural fact of life. Just deal with it I thought.
I thought wrong.
I was being wilful before. How am I going to square reality and theory? I don't know. Anyway having said all this, I do realise that, as the main villian in the Republic, Thrasymachus stands for something very important. What exactly does he stand for I'm still not sure. But I'll figure it out somehow.
And I'll continue to let my academic and actual selves continue to do battle.
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