Ok this is fun. Big fan of Christian/Enlightenment Philosopher (and scientist for his time) Blaise Pascal, born 400 years ago today. Quoted him often here (you can look it up), mainly for the following quote “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” I only realized the date because the Pope put out an Apostolic letter to appreciate Paschal today. Have only glanced at it once, and it is deep, will require much in depth consideration. But one quick comment on Twitter was that it was the “Pope affirming the Enlightenment”, which sounds reasonable based on my limited read and knowledge. Now do Thomas Merton, Holy Father
Yes - my bad. Will correct (you would think I would catch that quoting the Tweet). It is sometimes spelled that way
I guess I'm a fan too, although I have never read anything by him. He is considered by some as the Father of existentialism.
When I think "Pascal" I can only think of the computer science class I took and the programing language named after him.
No idea who that is, and I don't think I want to know, LOL. But if you are interested in Pascal, I highly recommend looking into his rivalry with Descartes. Descartes could be considered the Father of analytic philosophy. The paradigm he created views the world as an objective entity that can be chopped up, analyzed, examined, from a subject neutral perspective, e.g. modern psychology The existentialist position is a rebelion against that. The existentialists would agree that you do physical science in that way, but you can't do human beings like that. And exactly what this consists in I am not up to summarizing. But it deals moreso with deeper questions of existence that the sciences can't reach. Nietzche, Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Camus, Sartre, and Heidegger could be considered writers in that vein.
You know so much more than I do about philosophy. My knowledge is very very limited. I'm somewhat familiar with Pascal only because of his being adjacent to theological reflection and quoted by various Christian thinkers. My knowledge of philosophy overall is very limited and in no sense could compare to yours The reference to Wichita Lineman was cheeky but not intended to be disrespectful. This author is not the only one to make the observation about the 1968 country song If you ask me "Wichita Lineman" just might be the best song ever written. At the very least it's the first existential country song. Dylan Jones: If you ask me
I don't know if that's a hint you aren't interested! My wife is always pointing that out to me. But you seem like a pretty bright guy or wouldn't bother. If you are interested in Christian existentialism maybe try Dostoevsky? No prior philosophy knowledge needed. You won't regret it!
You are not the first person to tell me that. And I am interested. I'm just not qualified to discuss it intelligently. I would love to read your stuff. I can fully relate to having a wife who tells you that not everyone wants to follow your lines of conversation. It happens on this board. And I will try to get to Fyodor. No less than former President Bartlett, a strong proponent of Christian philosophy, has endorsed that view, as passed on by Jesuits, who's endorsement is all I need. Hopefully I will get to it. The actor Martin Sheen is on record as saying that The Brothers Karamazov was instrumental in his own personal faith journey. His testimony is a reminder that even though religious and literary sensibilities may have changed since Dostoevsky’s time, the way to faith has not. The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov is an excellent choice. That and the Idiot are two of the most important books I have ever read! I would recommend starting with the Idiot, it is simpler to start off with, but either is great. For the Brothers, some kind of companion would probably help a lot to get the most out of it, paricularly he famous dream sequence. Ironically it's one of the most anti-Catholic books you can read, but has been a favorite of many Catholics including the former Pope. This is my personal favorite, but the entire course is amazing:
I can't figure out how to link it. If interested, google Existentialism in Film and Literature, Hubert Dreyfus
Thanks again. Given that so many faithful Catholic thinkers love the Brothers, I suspect that it’s “anti-Catholicism” is the kind Bill Donahue rails at
There is a famous dream sequence in the novel in which the Pope is satirized as the Grand Inquisitor. Dostoyevsky was a strong proponent of Orthodox Christianity, which he believed to the purest form of Christianity. The novel was a favorite of Pope Benedict XVI, so it doesn't appear something anyone is worried about in the 21st century. But still a little ironic. The Grand Inquisitor - Wikipedia
Interesting. Petrine Primacy and the filioque clause (primary doctrinal differences between Orthodoxy and the Latin Rite) Martin Sheen also referenced that sequence with the Grand Inquisitor. Have to make time to read. And Benedict and Sheen/Estevez are from opposite ends of the Catholic spectrum.
WRONG: Vicarious, by "TOOL". Pascal? How did he avoid the inquisitors "stake" and "fire"??? He did support the scientific method, believers of which were a good source of human firewood for the Catholics in that era. But I will give props to Glen Campbell. He put out some terriffic stuff when he was getting his "buzz" on.
I will defer to you on the music issues. Full extent of what I know about country music is applied to philosophy has been disclosed in this thread. I will say that Campbell did not write, and it's been covered many, many times. And Catholic history is a bit multifaceted, even in that era. The Jesuits, then 100 years old, have a pretty strong record in that area, and did even then
The Christian Philosopher William Lane Craig made reference to the theological discussions in the Brothers Karamazov, and so I listened to the audiobook. I waited eagerly for the great theological and philosophical insights, but they never came. Turns out I had an abridged edition.
An audio book on the Brothers Karamazov sounds absolutely miserable! More power to you if you can listen through a book that dense! It is the cliche favorite novel of every Christian philosopher, including Catholic Philosopher Charles Taylor. If you are still interested, try the book. But I strongly recommend a companion book or audio companion to get a lot of it. It's deep. I don't know if you are an Orthodox Christian, but I couldn't get a lot of it on my own, and then there is the 19th century cultural stuff on top of it.
I listen to audiobooks because I’m a very slow reader, and also because I can listen at times I couldn’t read, like driving in a car. In fact, we just drove to and from Colorado and listened to Quo Vadis by Nobel prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz. It’s a novel of first century Rome about a Roman patrician falling for a Christian hostage. A friend said it was his favorite novel so I decided to listen to it. I am an orthodox Christian but not Orthodox, if you get my meaning. Audiobooks definitely expanded my literary consumption. I just finished my 121st since I started keeping track. Brothers Karamazov abridged was the second one. About seven or eight years ago someone on GC said he thought Don Quixote was the greatest novel ever written. I can’t remember who said that. I decided to listen to it — all 42 hours. I did bump it up to 1.25x, however. Better than speed reading.
