The Self as God in German Philosophy

Book: Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx | 1961 | Robert Tucker

[cornelis]

Bullets and typos are mine.

[John Farson]

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[IronJack]

Absence of compulsiveness is the basic mark of the experience of freedom. It is the experience of spontaneity in activity, of voluntariness, of not being coerced by anyone, including one's self.

Without opening too big a philosophical door, Camus certainly disagreed with this statement. He found freedom in the Sisyphean tasks that were so numbing and so controlling that they liberated their victims from the necessity of thought. All one's life was ordained, thus, no volition was necessary. In some sense, it is the ultimate freedom. Not freedom of being, but freedom FROM being.

Of course, Camus could have been full of crap; most existentialists are.

[Hobsonphile]

Bump for later.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[A CA Guy]

THE SELF AS GOD IN GERMAN PHILOSOPHY

It is also called the religion of secular humanism. They usually practice a politics called "progressive".

[saradippity]

Thanks.Interesting article.

[tictoc]

Of course, Camus could have been full of crap; most existentialists are.

Love your dry wit!

What was the secret in Britain that kept them safe from infatuation with an all-encompassing edifice of thought, unlike the "continentals"?

[PGalt]

bump for later read

[IronJack]

I don't know. You'd think the Brits would be more isolated, coming from an island and all. And certainly you see a certain uniformity of thought there, but, as you've observed, to a lesser degree than on the continent, where you would suspect diversity would dilute any concentration of ideology.

I imagine it has to do with the historic British reserve. They don't tend to be a people who give themselves wholeheartedly to any particular cause, and always maintain a measure of cynicism.

[Mmmike]

BTTT

[chilepepper]

A critique of Kant's position might well start at this point. Something is radically wrong with a doctrine which tells us that the more compulsive a person's conduct is, the freer he is, that life in a subjective autocracy of the moral "ought" is the true life of freedom. Such a doctrine does violence to our understanding of freedom by divorcing it from the experience of freedom. This is no less foreign to a subjective feeling of compulsiveness or involuntariness than it is to a sense of acting under compulsion of an external force or authority. Absence of compulsiveness is the basic mark of the experience of freedom. It is the experience of spontaneity in activity, of voluntariness, of not being coerced by anyone, including one's self.

The error in THIS statement is that it presupposes that, in so many words, you are your rational self, everything you think and know is what you rationally believe and ponder.

This of course means you have FALLEN for Karl Marx and his dialectic materialism. We humans run on MANY more levels than just what we can rationalize. This is why it is SO absurd to believe "we are god". I do believe, that we are god-like, closer to God than animals in any event. I also believe that it is wonderful to strive to be even MORE god-like: paradoxically, the more we advance in being more god-like, i suspect the LESS we will believe we are God!

The beauty of what the supreme architect has wraught will make our pitiful creations all the more modest, and the more clearly we see these things, the more be will appreciate this beauty that surrounds us. None-the-less, the striving towards being more god-like, rather than to be mere sheep who cower in wonder, is one of the architects most treasured gifts to us monkeys...

[martin gibson]

Western culture bump...

[martin gibson]

Faust, Hegel, Kant deadwhitemale bump...

[cornelis]

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[cornelis]

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[cornelis]

philosophy ping

[cornelis]

In some sense, it is the ultimate freedom. Not freedom of being, but freedom FROM being.

Obviously, freedom is a wildcard.

[KantianBurke]

thanks for the ping. Great article