Quote of Heraclitus

"The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way."

Πάντα ῥεῖ (panta rhei) "everything flows"


Heraclitus.

Openness and emotional duality

As spring is blessing us with all her peaceful beauty, life is sweeter than honey. Flowers are blooming, opening to keep life alive. It is not just about beautiful colors. It is about survival and procreation.   Flowers beautifully represent our emotional duality and desire to be open.  Openness is crucial to our crystallized intelligence. According to Wikipedia, Crystallized intelligence is described as a person's depth and breadth of general knowledge, vocabulary, and the ability to reason using words and numbers. It is the product of educational and cultural experience in interaction with fluid intelligence.

I definitively love spring because it encourages everyone to open up. It is a peaceful time to reflect about life.  Open can be synonym to naïve. However, naivety in children blesses them with a profound openness that adults tend to envy.  Even the naïve flower after opening up to release her scent to attract insects, she will close back to conserve resources at night. She will not waste her delicate perfume and will compete with others flowers to attract wandering insects. So openness does not always equate to credulity. 

Duality is the essence of life. Our terrestrial, emotional and moral lives are all about duality. Openness is a personal approach to life. In my opinion it gives a better chance to reach balance. We are trained to appreciate all natural dualities such male and female, light and dark, and positive and negative. 

However, we are scared to embrace our emotional duality while secretly praying for neutrality.

In high school, I start liking physics when we did learn about Newton’s law of action-reaction. “The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear”. It made sense; life is a succession of actions-reactions.  Ironically, I became aware of the multitude of reactions for my actions. Nevertheless, I realized that being aware did not prevent me from being open. Later in college, teachers always preached the famous “think outside the box”. After years of formatting fluid reasoning, openness was required to solve problems from the “box”. I realized that “my box” was diverse, eclectic and messy. So for me the “think outside the box” meant “open your box”. Openness did allow me accept my emotional dualities. Of course being blessed with many spring, helped me mature. Time is a blessing. Enjoy your spring, live and love your dear life.

Peace…

Pride of Baghdad written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon

I finished this graphic novel this weekend. It is a great fictional story based on a true story of four African lions that escaped from the Baghdad Zoo after an American bombing in 2003. It is a captivating allegory on freedom, humanity, community and survival. The illustration is the soul of this masterpiece!  Seriously, the illustrations are breathtaking. The plot is good: Baghdad in decline during the American invasion and four African lions in quest of freedom. The plot starts slowly  then it goes into a mind blowing "fictional dystopia allegory"  like  the animal farm of Orwell. That is why I love the story. According to Wikipedia, a dystopian society is also often characterized by mass poverty and brutal political controls such as a large military-like police. I like how fiction challenge our critical thinking.  Pride of Baghdad is an allegory on domesticated wild animals escaping a zoo in an urban jungle at war. Fighters or hunters, captives or servants, we are all starving for freedom.  One of the character says  "There's an old saying, Zill. Freedom can't be given, only earned".
 Thank you to K.Vaughan and Niko Henrichon for this masterpiece.
A must read, specially in our current revolutionary climate....
Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Economics of Happiness: content or fulfill?

With the current economy, there is a shift from pursuing to creating happiness.For the longest time the ultimate goal was to be fulfilled in order to be content.  However we can all remember that someone told us to be content to reach happiness. Happiness has no price but it is becoming a new economical field. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness renewed discussion about the concept of happiness economics. According to Wikipedia: “The statistical relationship demonstrated is between happiness and the logarithm of absolute income, suggesting that above a certain point, happiness increases more slowly than income, but no "saturation point" is ever reached.” The evidence is that happiness is determined by relative and absolute income.

Coming from immigration, the most important lesson I received is that everything is relative. You may not have a private pool but you have access to a pristine beach. You may not have cupcakes but you have one mango tree. You may not have fancy but you have enough. The crucial silent message is that sacrifices made for better future and financial stability should not alter the fact that happiness is about being content. Being content is what makes people happy. For example children in refugee camps and war zones still find ways to be happy because material is relative. 

 In my opinion happiness is based on the ability to adapt and accept that the norms are relatives. For all children issued of immigration, the concept of happiness can be a cultural and an emotional conundrum. You love your heritage but you have to incorporate your environment to create your own happiness. At the end it is all about experiencing, appreciating, sharing and staying true. And if you are blessed, you have the opportunity to travel and learn from others. And remember that we are all different but the same. And under the same moonlight we have common dreams of happiness

Dreamer Tribes in a Perfect and Imperfect World

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz did define the monads as the ultimate elements of the universe. According to him, Monads are "substantial forms of being", eternal, individual, subject to their own laws, un-interacting, and each reflecting the entire universe in a pre-established harmony. The bottom line is that each human being constitutes a monad. I like the metaphor of each monads being a little mirror of the universe. Leibniz classified monads in three groups. We have vegetale, animal and human monads. I understand that God is the monad of all the monads. And that he is the master of the pre-established harmony.

I believe that we have glimpses of the pre-established harmony in our dreams. Besides our memories shape our experiences as well as our experiences shape our memories.  However Leibniz made the distinction between soul and monad. Souls are mortal and have memory of their perception while monads are immortal and have no memory of their perception. So I made the conclusion that our soul guides our monad and body through our dreams. Even Aristole did defend a certain level of lucid dreaming- “often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream”. 

In my opinion, humans are forming multiple and diverse dreamer tribes because our monads cannot interact. And even if the monads cannot communicate they are aware of the others. At the end it is the same moonlight for our dreams, and God is orchestrating the pre-established harmony. No matter what kind of instrument we are playing: we are following the same melody.  I do not think of God as mathematician but it is my way of accepting that the Universe is neither perfect nor imperfect. Therefore the World is not perfect or imperfect. And I am not perfect or imperfect.  I am a monad among monads. I am a dreamer among dreamers. We are different but the same. And we have common dreams under the same moonlight.

Thank you for reading my little discourse!

Let me offer you a note from an old friend of mine:

Everything is perfect. Everything is imperfect.

If everything is perfect and imperfect.

Then nothing is perfect. Nothing is imperfect.

Thus everything just is.

Therefore just be yourself.

Be your beautiful self.

By Charles H

Peace to you all.Same moonlight for our dreams.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

 Artist: Luís Noronha da Costa

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Zen: images,texts and teachings by Miriam Levering.

Among our many pursuits, we are all wondering how to find contentment and peace. This book is an illustrated selection of “the Gateless gate” and “the Ox-herding pictures” with verses. Dr Miriam Levering wrote “This book is intended as an introduction to the enigma and subtle harmony of Zen and as a contemplative aid for the lay reader.”  However my favorite quote is on page 12“ Verse has long been vitally important in Zen, As Truths that cannot be expressed in doctrine or prose can be hinted at in poetry.” After this sentence I was hooked on Zen.   I also found out that the sky is an image of the uncluttered nature of the “awakened mind”-aware of spirituality and oneness with the universe. Also the Moon represents one’s enlightened true nature!!! This definitively explains my fascination with the Moon!! And the attainment of enlightenment is the realization of one’s true nature! According to Wikipedia, “The aim of Zen practice is to discover this Buddha-nature within each person, through meditation and practice of the Buddha's teachings. The ultimate goal of this is to become a Completely Enlightened Buddha” Just cruise through the book and take any fruitful inspiration. It is a perfect combination that appeases the mind and cajoles the imagination.It is Zen.

Thank you dear friend for this book...

Same Moonlight for Our Dreams

On Zazen Pratice page 34

The Moon abiding in the midst of serene mind;

billows break into light.

Dogen (1200-1253)

Allegory of Plato's cave -Animated version

This is a perfect animation for children. Oh yes, a little philosophy will not hurt!!!Use a little Starwars' analogy with Luke Skywalker learning about the force from Obi won Kenobi. Luke's knowledge of the force did forever change his knowledge of the world. Do not forget to mention that members of the republic, the senate and even the Jedi order are only looking forward at the shadows on the cave walls while Palpatine “Darth Sidious” manipulates the shadows. And of course the Siths are people driven  by desires of power rather than reason!!To conclude bad guys are immoral because they are ignorant and do not see beyond the force..That will be enough. If you need more quote Master Yoda's wisdom!

The allegory of the cave inside our homes, communities to Chilean miners

After the condemnation to death of Socrates for impiety and corrupting the youth, Plato wrote many dialogues hoping to describe a perfect government. I guess a government that would have spare Socrates. In the Book VII of The Republic: It starts with an allegory on ignorance and knowledge. Socrates imagines male prisoners since their childhood in a cave. They are chained so they only see the walls of the cave and the shadows projecting the reflections of people and objects that are outside. The men never knew that these shadows are taken for reality. When the first prisoner is freed, he is forced to look toward the light. At first his eyes were burning. He preferred the darkness, and comforting shadows. Slowly he locates people, the moonlight and stars. Finally, the man looks at the sun; he understands that it is the cause of all the shadows projected.  This allegory expresses all of Plato’s philosophy. It is about the soul, morality and idealism of a supreme good. We as a community are supposed to join for the supreme Good.  According to Plato evil is only a mistake done due the ignorance of Good. That is why the republic should be a reflection of a thriving community under the leadership of the philosopher “elected” by us.

Once again, the allegory of Plato's cave is at the core of the long and painful rescue of Chilean miners.  In contrast, this men know reality,  the have a raw  knowledge of life under the republic. The are miners!!! Everyday, they go down the cave and risk their life to live without chains. However there are already enchained  in the invisible cage but they have chosen to fight for their children and families. According to news, now that they are close to freedom, nobody wants to be the first. And everyone wants to be the last.The ruff accession to reality scares them. And this seclusion must have exacerbated their sense of communities within the community. The wisdom they gained  makes it unbearable to pretend otherwise because it is equally difficult to  acquire and transmit such knowledge. I want to believe that their altruism and compassion is catalyzed by the refusal of being the first out.  Of course, their unity is a stellar symbol of the supreme  good. We should be humbled and inspired by them!!Nevertheless, deep down you know that they have to faced reality with a new mind, different  fears, and dreams. They have changed. And their realities did not. At the end, no one will care and they probably will have to go down the cave again. While many pretending leaders will have time to contemplate more ideas.

For the rest of us that are not locked miners. We  tend to enter caves as well. Our caves can be internet, television, shopping, consummation, recreation, name it and even dreaming. It can definitively be pleasurable because we have access to so much rights and goods. However let us not be enchained in our realities, and find comfort in the communities within the community. The allegory of the cave is even inside our homes, now and then do not forget to stare at the moonlight and the stars. And keep on worshiping the morning sun because this is it! Let us pray for them...

Same Moonlight for our dreams.

From Wikipedia:
After "returning from divine contemplations to human evils", a man "is graceless and looks quite ridiculous when – with his sight still dim and before he has gotten sufficiently accustomed to the surrounding darkness – he is compelled in courtrooms or elsewhere to contend about the shadows of justice or the representations of which they are the shadows, and to dispute about the way these things are understood by men who have never seen justice itself?"

Metamorphosis to the butterfly within our soul

On Sunday, we walked to the farmer market for a last farewell to summer before fall moves in. It seems that everybody decided to do the same. My son was gazing at a yellow butterfly in a busy parking lot. Then a lady in her hybrid SUV drove over the butterfly… And right there, I had to go find the butterfly for a proper burial. It was a fast ceremony. My son made a hole, put the fragile body in and covered it with soil. Then we said our goodbyes. As a mom, I told him that the butterfly's energy was transfered to him because he tried to rescue it from the car…Yes, I did!!! Over dinner, he shared his story. To make it easy, we said that it just happened and a butterfly life spam is so short anyway. He was relieved and said he was happy that he is not a butterfly.Yes, indeed… We pulled the “it is life” card!!

In introspective, we are butterflies. We see ourselves as magnificence divine nymphs getting ready for an astonishing triumph in our lifetime. However we used to be eggs and wandering caterpillars.  In our chrysalis stages were reluctant to see the world because we are just too busy getting ready for that fabulous journey. Our gradual metamorphosis is a beautiful and painful stage. It requires awareness and consciousness. When the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it rests while pumping the blood to the wings. It takes three to four hours to master flying. And then it is time to explore, find a mate, reproduce, live and die. If the butterfly is lucky, it will die in peace at the end of a spectacular journey.

We have a longer spam life but we are all going trough the metamorphosis within our soul. No matter what lays a head we must have faith, hope and believe in life.  We must get ready to live and inspires all the wandering caterpillars, and fragile chrysalis about the ultimate audacity to just be. So let us rest, master flying, and keep on dreaming of many amazing flights. Life is a satirical prose. It is life.Just live because you never know when a hybrid SUV will interrupt your flight!

Same Moonlight for our Dreams.

by pageofbats

 

Relativity, cyclical time in a linear temporality.

The Western notion of time is mostly linear and progressive. The Eastern notion is cyclical and infinite. If you are a following one of the three major monotheistic religions, you must view the concept of time as being linear.  From creation to our absolute end of creation, time is limited and finite. In my opinion, our individual life is a singly infinite sequence but we must remember that Life is a double-infinite sequence. It means that “it has neither a first nor a final element” So I do believe in a cyclical time in a linear temporality.  In some way we are avatars of “Life” in our very own linear temporality.  If you look at your parents, relatives, or children, that very individual temporality is extended to a greater cyclical dimension.

 Each generation implies a succession of deaths, births or rebirths. The movement is eternal. Besides we must accept Einstein’s theory of relativity as a testament of creation. Our cosmos is not static, so our temporality is flowing but it is indeed linear. The universe expansion indicates the direction in which time flows.  With Einstein’s famous equation E = mc², which reveals the equivalence of mass and energy. It is implies that the universe is not eternal because the thermal distribution in the cosmos is uneven. In a way, our differences in this global community are proofs that our universe is not eternal. And as cyclical as linear it is this is it. Moreover, time itself does not exist without space and matter. Then in my linear temporality: I am here because I am and this is my eternity. And in my cyclical time I accept my place and its infinity.

According to Descartes in the discourse of the method on God existence is a fifty-fifty gamble but either way you will die. And if you reason… only a God, a creator transcends infinity and eternity. Personally I must believe in God to trust science. And I have faith in humanity. I am enjoying my relativity in my cyclical time in my linear temporality.  I am also proud that I do not forget how time is relative. Honestly what is the point of having a watch if you never have time? Time is a precious gift! I want to take this instant to say Thank you!! Thank you, to everyone for everything you done, did, doing, do and will do. Thank you!!!

Within the Four Seas: Introduction to Comparative Philosophy by Ulrich Libbrecht

 Oh my! Oh my! I just found this book online!! I will look for it at the library. Seriously, comparative philosophy!!! I am so exited I had to share... Ulrich Libbrecht is a belgian philosopher and a writer in comparative philosophy. He started as a math teacher. I understand how a math lover did fall for the beauty within the different models of thinking. I hope to find out that we are united in our differences.

"Our world has evolved in such a way that we can no longer reduce it to just a market - it has also become an «agora», where philosophers exchange world-views in order to understand one another. Europe has lost its position at the centre of the world and should stop pretending it holds the one true religion, philosophy, economy and science. Instead, we should turn our attention to fulfilling the dream of Erasmus reflected in his statement: "I wish to be a citizen of the world". First and foremost, we should learn to play fair when comparing different cultures and not rely on exlusively western criteria. This book explains how a comparative model, based on the paradigm-free axes of energy and information, accommodates the current world-views of Taoism, Buddhism and Rationalism - representing Chinese, Indian and Western heritages respectively - and shows how science and religion interrelate within such a global framework"

Book of the week: Artist of Life by Bruce Lee

Oh yes!!Master Bruce Lee had a degree in philosophy!! By fusing Eastern philosophy, gung fu ,and  western philosophy, he was revolutionary. Bruce Lee was an artist. In an article, he said that “to be a martial artist means also to be an artist of life.”  “All knowledge ultimately means self knowledge”. This was following Socrates maxim “Know thyself.” Bruce Lee was a perfectionist dedicated to discipline, self improvement and change.

 The logic of his philosophy was labeled Jeet kune do. According to which, the martial artist must inquire two questions. “1) What is it that I want to accomplish? 2) What is the quickest, most efficient and effective way to reach my objective?” In my opinion this applies to all artists of life. We all need to adapt, be flexible and flow like water.  We need to let our emotions flow like water. Even if our emotions make us weak, they are also our strength.  Here a passage from the Tao Te Ching about the nature of water: Nothing is weaker than water, But when it attacks something hard, Or resistant, then nothing withstands it, And nothing will alter its way.

And here more from Artist of Life:

The rivers and seas are lords of a hundred valleys. This is because their strength is in lowliness; they are kings of them all. So it is that the perfect master wishing to lead them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, he follows. Thus, though he is above them, men do not feel him to be an injury. And since he will not strive, none strive with him.
The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble. They want to get ahead, to stand out. Such ambition has no use for a gung fu man, who rejects all forms of self-assertiveness and competition:One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk. One who advertises himself too much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him. One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated. These are condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity. Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremes. 
Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.
Stop your sense, let sharp things be blunted,
Tangles resolved, the light tempered and turmoil subdued;
For this is mystic unity in which the wise man is moved
Neither by affection nor yet by estrangement,
Or profit or loss or honour or shame.
Accordingly, by all the world, he is held highest.

Laissez nous pleurer (Let us cry) by Monsieur Nov feat Al Peco.

Even if "the world is full of trickery", Max Ehrman insisted on its beauty by “let not this blind you to the virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.” Lakota spiritual leader, Nathan Chasing Horse said that being a warrior is not about showing your strength, power, or knowledge but it is about learn how to cry. “When a Man learns how to cry, he is learning how to understand. He is learning compassion.” Let us cry a little. We are all connected. We have the same dreams and tears. Let us cry a little for our high ideals, dreams and unsung heroes. Let us cry a little to become wiser warriors in the struggle within our souls.
This song is for my sisters and my brothers.
I am missing you all...Soon...
Laissez nous pleurer (Let us cry) by Monsieur Nov feat Al Peco.

Morality, Virtue and Us.

Albert Einstein states that "The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our action. Our inner balances and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life."In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s practical philosophy is based on moral action, which is opposed to the intellectualism of Plato. For Plato virtue appears to be a high level of knowledge. While Aristotle has a practical and social approach for whom virtue is a mean between two vices, deficiency and excess. Plato ethics defines the essence of virtue while Aristotle ethics shows how to become virtuous. Aristotle offers a real concept applicable in society because individual are rational and social animals. Through the analysis of pleasure as virtue in Aristotle’s ethics and his divergence from Plato, I will demonstrate that his ethics is not relative to an individual and his subjective experience of pleasure.

In his first book Aristotle justifies that for most people; pleasure is the best measure of whether we achieve the end of our action. He says that most men seem to “identify the good, or happiness, with pleasure” (BookI,).And the good is the final goal to “which all things aim” (BookI,).For him the proper end of human beings is the pursuit of good and happiness. In his first book, he defines “happiness as something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action”. Which concurs whit his argument stating that the end for all that we do, will be the good achievable by action.(BookI) What  he indicates as the proper end of human being is the “activity of soul in accordance with virtue”.(BookI). This activity of the soul is linked to pleasure because he claims that pleasure is a state of soul. Adding that pleasure and pain are measures acquired by all in childhood. “And we measure even our actions, some of us more and others less, by the rule of pleasure and pain” (Book II). By analogical examples, such as “a good shoemaker makes the best shoes” he explains that pleasure must be the result of the achieved appropriate action.

            Then, Aristotle clarifies his argument, with the example of the doctor: who does not study health on itself but the health of man, in order to prove that moral action is directed at proper ends.   And it should be in accordance with appropriate excellence. (Book I). And his term of “appropriate excellence” also refers to the mean between two extremes.  An important justification was made in (Book II) about virtue. He says that “virtue is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean…relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle and by that principle by which man of practical wisdom would determine”.(BookII) The principle of moral action is also based on the deliberated choice. A deliberated choice required critical thinking, morale disposition, and good habit. According to Aristotle, virtue is a disposition to act voluntary. And the chosen action must be guided by the “right rule”. (Book III). This statement shows that pleasure is not sufficient to indicate a virtuous action. By “pleasure appropriate to an action completes it”, he means that a completed voluntary action guided by the “right rule” will creates pleasure (happiness). Aristotle makes clear that we do not deliberate about ends but about means. (Book III) So by acting in accordance to the “right rule”, one will choose the best mean. Aristotle clarifies that the virtuous act can only be done in a unique way, which must conform to the “right rule”, which I believe is related to the intermediate temperance. “men are good in one way, but bad in many.” (Book II) Therefore the pleasure will result from the activity of the soul in accordance to the appropriate excellence.

A crucial distinction is made by his argument that “ we should not consider a wise man as model but a temperate man”, who is virtuous because he repetitively acts virtuously. He claims that actions are just and temperate when they are such as the just or the temperate man would do”.(Book II).  This distinction supports the fact that the pleasure is not subjective to each individual. But rather conforms to acting virtuously as the temperate man would. Because only the temperate man chose the appropriate actions therefore act virtuously. Happiness does not come from simple satisfaction of life but from the accumulation of experiences in a lifetime.  Aristotle claims the happy man will be happy all his life regardless of “Turns of fortune’s wheel”. He states “he will be happy throughout his life; for always, or by preference to everything else, he will be engaged in virtuous action and contemplation,..” Pleasure (happiness) is not subjective because it set in the time. Virtuous actions must be done in accordance to the right rule followed by the “truly good” and “foursquare beyond reproach”.(Book I).  Even if virtue is relative to us, it is a rationally determined by the right rule in accordance to the mean. So virtue is not subjective even if relative to us because it rationally determined by the “temperate man”. He his the measure that we ought all to follow, is not “ a chameleon or insecurely based”(BookI)

In conclusion, Aristotle provides a very detailed and concrete study of pleasure as measure of virtuosity. Aristotle focuses on moral action rather than moral theory, by taking in consideration the social context. It is where he diverges from Plato. In Crito, Plato says that individuals should be lead by the educated elite, because the opinion of a group is not valuable. The elite would be highly educated and would know what is “just and unjust”.  Plato promotes a moral obligation to obey to the laws of the state. Whereas Aristotle believes that the right rule is the mean of human passions and desires, and the proper of human being is to be happy in accordance to the virtue. For him, we are masters of our actions from beginning to the ends (Book III). And he adds that “the good man differs from others most by seeing the truth in each class of things, being as it were the measure of them”(BookIII)  Plato believes that there is not finality in virtue because it comes from continual self inquiry. While Aristotle presents happiness “as something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action”.  He makes clear that pleasure is not subjective to individual experience but it is determined by a rational principle, which is relative to us. “Us” stands form all rational members of society. His justifications show that his practical philosophy is not a relative because happiness requires a lifetime commitment to act in accordance to the norm. The consistency appeals to the moral duty of all members of the moral community to act as “the temperate man”.

By Aline Diop-Nkunzumwami

Philosophy break:Martha Nussbaum, Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice

CASEP conference: 
Martha Nussbaum, 
Cosmopolitanism and Global Justice,
University of Nottingham, 6-7 May 2010

According to Wikipedia, Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all kinds of human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. It is what globalization implies regardless of our nationalism, patriotism and ownerships. It requires a relationship of mutual respect regardless of differences. It is an ideal that has to go beyond practicability and be real. Even if  cosmopolitanism is a discussion for elite that do take place in economical boudoirs. We have the right to claim global citizenship. And of course discuss a cosmopolitan democracy.
Martha Nussbaum will discuss  global Justice and Cosmopolitanism.

I would love to attend that conference! If anyone passing by this page is going, please drop a comment about it! I would love to know what she thinks about the UN and the EU!

Have a great day!

From:
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/lgir/casep/news-and-events/nussbaum-conference.cfm"Martha Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. From 1986 to 1993, she was a research advisor at the World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki, a part of the United Nations University.  She is a prolific thinker and writer, with a wide range of interests. Amongst contemporary political philosophers, and against the predominance of constructivism and relativism, she stands out as a figure who defends an essentialist and universalist approach to moral and political issues. Her many publications include Aristotle's De Motu Animalium (1978) and The Fragility of Goodness (1986, 2nd edn. 2000).

Happiness

“Some pursue happiness - others create it.”

 Enjoy!!
 I love it!

Dreams of our souls

According to Wikipedia, Oneirology is the scientific study of dreams. Dreams are defined as a succession of thoughts, images, sounds or emotions which the mind experiences during sleep. Many argue that dreams are illusions fructified by our imagination to escape reality. Others believe that they are only the manifestation of our secret desires. Dreams being based on memories and experiences, they created an alternate dimension that balances the intensity of the reality. In my opinion the purpose of dreaming is to rest our mind, and to connect our body and soul. I do not believe that it is an escape. It is a creative space to connect with our real self. Where, we are in control of the space and time. Where, abstracts can be defined in realistic notions. In his treatise De Anima, Aristotle defines the soul “as that which animates the body, that which quickens it to life. The soul is that which also directs the process of the body’s growth and survival. So the soul is the blueprint that directs the purpose of the material side of human nature.”  I believe that our dreams are ways to fulfill meaningful lives and connect our bodies and souls. And our memories shape our experiences as well as our experiences shape our memories. On 18/04 Paulo Coelho's  facebook status, you could read “Important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other (encuentros importantes son planificados por las almas antes que los cuerpos se vean)”! It is so nicely said! Aristotle was the first to argue that we have some sort of lucidity in our fantastic journeys in Dreams land. His point is that asleep we cannot differentiate the real from the unreal. However he says “often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream”. It is that faculty of lucid dreaming that makes us establishes realistic goals to live our dreams. Dreams are possibilities with different probabilities and the most crucial variable is dedication.

William James and Dreams

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. 
Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.

Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?

The greatest achievement was, at first and for a time, a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird awaits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs.

More on Dreams on http://www.shaman-australis.com/~claude/dreams.html

Painting by Walfrido Garcia

Dockside Dreams "The docks are a perfect place to launch your dreams. This painting was based on Lake Tahoe's shores but can easily evoke memories of other waterside retreats."

Everlasting Renaissance

           According to Zora Neale Hurston, an author and anthropologist who was part of the Harlem Renaissance, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” I believe it is true. It is a perpetual personal quest. We all have an ongoing secret battle. In the midst of years, our childhood shapes our adulthood, many years are continuous questions, and some years are delightful answers. And we are blessed with unexpected joy and magic.

I always loved the term renaissance. In middle school a rebirth seems so poetic. A conscious effort to be something else seems so brave and daring. In high school renaissance was a necessity because society needs cultural movement, new intellectual pursuits, and artistic development in the diversity. My view on renaissance with my cultural identity was a mix an African, Caribbean, European, and of course African American’s renaissance. At that time, all I knew from the African American Renaissance was coming from James brown, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Michael Jordan, NBA, movies, music and Tupac Amaru Shaku of course! Honestly, it was a burst of questioning and I was devouring books in search of answers.

Life is about creating yourself, it is not about finding yourself.  We are who we are. But we choose what we want to be in life. That is why I believe in life being an everlasting Renaissance. I did read about Buddhist, the Bible, and the Quran. One day, I will read the Torah. A Muslim scholar Mahmoud Ayoub stated that "The goal of true jihad is to attain a harmony between (submission), (faith), and  (righteous living).” And Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, said “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.”

In my opinion, religions support life as an everlasting renaissance. In my everlasting renaissance, I appreciate the answers not always gracefully but I do. I respect our elders even more because lifestyles have changed but the wisdom from years is still the same. We all strive for high ideals and fight personal struggles. Everlasting Renaissance is a struggle that we all face regardless of religions, beliefs, and origins.

Universal Justice in a Global Community

In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. states that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In this global community, justice cannot be relative to cultures and societies. Universal justice must value local needs with mixed tribunals.  The “artifice” of justice is a necessity that requires our cooperation. I want to believe that justice comes from our “innate sympathy” to our community. And even if we are social animals we can go beyond a justice for “just us” to justice for all.  

According to Hume, morality principal task is to search for ways to eliminate contradictions in the “passions” of sympathetic persons, which are “aware of their own and fellow’s desires and needs, including emotional needs”. For Hume, the passion is a primitive state without control, or convention. He claims our passions are corrected by sympathy not by “law-discerning reason.” His philosophy is based on desire and beliefs. He dissociates practical reasoning from morality. For Hume, human sentiments reflect our humanity, which determine beneficial actions. "Here therefore REASON instructs us in the several tendencies of actions, and HUMANITY makes a distinction in favor of those which are useful and beneficial."(Hume)Even if reason indicates the probable ends of an action, passions incite people to cooperate to satisfy their own desires and emotional needs. The capacity for sympathy is an anchor for morality because it offers “a general good will” acting with the concern of humanity.(Hume).  Reason according to Hume is the slaves of our passions. He writes “and that reason and sentiment concur in almost all moral determinations and conclusions.” (Hume). For him, justice is a virtue that requires both moral sentiment and reasoning. 

 By examining Hume’s concept of natural and artificial virtues, I will define his theory of utility, and discusses the value of justice as virtue, to demonstrate that his notion of justice is not relative to culture and society.  Artificial virtues are based on social conventions, while natural virtues are instinctively driven from our humane nature. Innate sympathy, friendship, natural affection, public spirit, and compassion are examples of natural virtues. Justice is one example of artificial virtue because it depends on social convention. Society imposes rules of action to which all members adhere given that it is an interested obligation. By writing “In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view; and wherever disputes arise, either in philosophy or common life, concerning the bounds of duty, the question cannot, by any means, be decided with greater certainty, than by ascertaining, on any side, the true interests of mankind.”(Hume) Hume introduces the concept of “public utility. He defines it as “the true interest of the mankind” to lay down his utilitarian philosophy. The public utility benefits the overall well being of members of a society. He stipulates that justice is a virtue because it serves “public utility”. He mentions that “The use and tendency of that virtue is to procure happiness and security, by preserving order in society.”(Hume) 

  Hume explains that in case of ‘unlimited abundance” justice is inappropriate because there are conflicts about property and necessity.(Hume) Or in case of “extreme benevolence” there is no need for convention to regulate social interactions. “nor would the divisions and barriers of property and obligation have ever been thought of.”(Hume)   The role of justice is to promote happiness and social order in accordance to public utility.  It reiterates his definition of utility and justice by stating that “public utility is the SOLE origin of justice, and that reflections on the beneficial consequences of this virtue are the SOLE foundation of its merit.” (Hume) The rules in Hume’s concept of justice are based on “observance” not on “consent” to obey. Those conventions are progressively established to fit the social interactions. People tend to cooperate in order to progress toward their overall best interest. He gives the example of the language; in all language there is common knowledge of good, used as for general maxims to act morally.  Therefore justice through public utility is natural as well as an artificial virtue because our humane nature leads us to cooperate, and conventions are tools to support justice in order to promote happiness according to utility. Hume claims that justice is an appropriate virtue only among equals; the fate of Native Americans was not based on justice or “even humanity” because Europeans felt superior to them. He writes “The great superiority of civilized Europeans above barbarous Indians, tempted us to imagine ourselves on the same footing with regard to them, and made us throw off all restraints of justice, and even of humanity, in our treatment of them.” (Hume)

Conventions to promote utility such as justice are observed by all members of society regardless there cultures. In the example of language, he demonstrates that “all languages universally express the highest merit, which HUMAN NATURE is capable of attaining.”(Hume) Moreover, Annette Baier in “Hume, The Women’s Moral theorist?” explains that the “Human artifice of justice” could not be constructed without self control and cooperation. Even if it is first selfishly directed, it progressively becomes socially coordinate to benefit everyone. She offers the example of “family cooperativeness and inventive self-interested reason” to promote a mutually beneficial cooperation.(Baier) She asserts that justice is a virtue only among equals that practice self control in the interest of all members of society.

          
  Hume believes that men desire social virtues. Men believe that these virtues are beneficial. However, justice is the sole virtue that promote “public utility”. Hume uses the term of innate sympathy to shows that this moral sentiment is not determined by artificial virtues such as society or culture. Nevertheless it is socially coordinate to benefit all. Hume succeeds to show that justice is not culturally nor socially relative for the reason that justice instinctively driven by “human nature” which universalize it. Given that the capacity for sympathy anchors morality, Hume's justice is not relative to society because it based on “a general good will” to act with the concern of humanity.(Hume) I believe that Hume's theory of utility lays down an "rule utilitarian" form of utilitarianism. Justice serves social utility, so people observe general maxims to promote the greatest happiness as a collectivity. He clarifies that "The convenience, or rather necessity, which leads to justice is so universal, and everywhere points so much to the same rules, that the habit takes place in all societies; and it is not without some scrutiny, that we are able to ascertain its true origin."(Hume) This argument supports that the necessity rather interest obligation makes justice universal in all societies.

By Aline Diop-Nkunzumwami.