No time to Being
25
Apr
Neither the pandemic, nor the Home Office, nor the intriguing series
(personally I still prefer to go out and go to the movies) have made men calmer, more serene and happy, everything needs to be accelerated.
The “Aroma of Time: a philosophical essay on the Art of Delay” (2016) is nothing more than a counterpoint to this destructive stigma of our time that culminates in desires to exclude the Other, hatred and violence without borders, in short, an ever-increasing war. cruelest on a dark horizon, there is no time to be, just to have, to satisfy the simplest entertainment, not just games. The essay originally published in Germany in 2007, Byung-Chul updates what is not only an acceleration of time but also a temporal crisis based on a desynchrony not only of reality in a nobler and more poetic sense, whose discontinuity leads to something without direction, order and impossibility of a synthesis or conclusion that allows our lives to last in an “aroma”, as its “delay” should be understood.
He quotes and analyzes “Marcel Proust “In search of lost time” (Proust, 1913) what he calls a “temporal crystal” or his vision of aromatic time: “silent, sonorous, fragrant and clear hours” (in Han, 2016, p. 59 ).
There is a time of temporal anguish, it seems that the time spent slips through the fingers and is lost.
What is substantial and essential in our lives, essence and substance are the main forms of desynchrony in our being, they are referred either to an angelic delirium (false essence) or to a sculptural, decorative and unreal physical form (false substance).
As Byung-Chul deduces: “it presupposes that existence is historical, that each of us has a trajectory. The aroma is that of immanence” (Han, 2016, p. 59).
In philosophy and practice immanence is something that has an end in itself, as opposed to transcendence that something or an end outside and superior to itself.
Such is our lost “aroma” of time, to contemplate experiencing Being-in-time as having an end beyond, as Byung-Chul ends and concludes in his essay the necessary correction: “a large measure of strengthening the contemplative element” (Han, 2016, p. 186).
Han, Byung-Chul (2016). O aroma do tempo: um ensaio filosófico sobre a Arte da Demora. transl. Miguel Serras Pereira, Lisbon: Relógio d´Água.
The War and its Consequences
24
Apr
We have already emphasized here, outlining a crisis (before the war) that
it begins in a way of thinking about the world and consequently the economy, politics and society as a whole, so it is not a question of this or that world, but of all worlds together.
Economics is not separate from them, however it is the most sensitive and the one that is most thought about.
Russia’s oligarchs, those who didn’t migrate or were killed in strange situations, remember the news of Sergey Protosenya, found hanged in Spain and Pavel Antov who fell from the third floor of a building in India, oligarchs there in general do not criticize the government.
However, at a meeting of the Economic Forum in Krasnoyarsk, in March in Siberia, Oleg Deriaska declared that the economy could last a little over a year and that afterwards there would be many crashes, in the West it is no different, the European and American economies are already feeling the consequences , as world leaders of capitalist countries, every economy must face serious problems.
The American Department of Defense has just asked for a budget of 842 billion dollars, increasing the already high 816 billion of the previous year, which means an increase of 3.2% and a perspective of even greater war on the horizon this year, and the economy already shows serious damage.
The attempt to form a third bloc, of which Brazil is one of the protagonists and France’s Makron tries to be another, is a crossfire, since both sides want unilateral adhesions, there are analysts, such as Rodrigo Ianhez, who claims that the Russians have a reading of the Brazilian position that is “overestimated” for a bilateral position, China on the contrary is clearly unilateral.
There are no innocent people in these facts, this is the political action of our days, confusing or even distorting the facts, a really serious press, its art is called investigative press, for being independent, it tries to do this work, but until then, sometimes find suspicious news.
Nobody is apolitical, of course, but it is necessary to face the truth through the facts it reveals.
If we analyze the consequences of a war, in the economic aspect that generates more poverty and hunger and the most fragile are the most affected, we begin to have a serious position before the truth.
Looking at things from above
21
Apr
Miracles or prophecies are not necessary for us to understand that even in
the most earthly realities there are things from above, and they respond to the most earthly realities, without them we cannot find exits and paths to a full, happy and peaceful life.
Without ethical, moral and responsible values, finding safe ways out of conflicts, situations of insecurity or injustice is almost impossible, as one error does not correct another error, and only an action of love and solidarity resolves a conflict of hatred and division.
From division to division, from hate to hate, we walk with an earthly look at our difficulties, it does not mean that we should take our feet off the ground and have rational decisions, it means that without serenity and serious and proactive attitudes we only make what is wrong worse.
It is common even for people of good will to appeal to violence and force, even if the side of justice and solidarity is the right side, acting with recklessness and cruelty takes away the value of this act of force, the greatest act of force is responsibility. act with firmness, education and truth.
If we are troubled, anxious and out of balance, we cannot find the path of wisdom, hear that inner voice of common sense, clarity and truth.
It also serves as well as for questions of justice and right for the true cultural and religious values, the use of authoritarianism, which means in this context false authority that many want to have before the office or position they have, they make the mistake of the authority argument and fall into the easy trap of too much power.
They want to be imbued with a halo of goodness when they invest themselves against simple people, but the grace to raise hearts to higher values and remove them from difficult situations is not achieved.
For Christians, one of the most significant passages after the Passover of Jesus that we recall a little while ago in Christian culture is the episode of Emmaus in which, while Jesus was walking among them and they did not realize it, they were still ruminating on the violent death of the Master, but they were blind and did not understood correctly the victory of the one they crucified.
Jesus asks: “What are you talking about along the way?” They stopped, with sad faces, and one of them, named Cleopas, said to him: “Are you the only pilgrim in Jerusalem who does not know what has happened there these last few days?” (Luke, 24, 15-18) and gave their earthly version of the Passover.
And Jesus (still without being recognized) how to explain the meaning, already reviewed by the prophets: “Wouldn’t the Christ have to suffer all these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24,26).
Gradually their hearts warmed up and in the end they understood that they were walking with the Master and then they asked them to stay with him because the night was coming, but Jesus disappeared.
It is not necessary to have this vision or even to have this faith, it is necessary to listen to the voice from above, of healthy values.
If you want peace, collaborate with your values
20
Apr
There were not few tyrants who said that to keep the peace make war,
this is very old that it will be difficult to determine its author, the contemporary philosopher Jean Paul Sartre said something important about this: “When the rich are at war, it is the poor who die”, would update there is no interest in the weakest when empires clash.
The book Art of War by Sun Tzu (5th century BC): “the true objective of war is peace” is already a paradoxical phrase, the three types of peace on this concept were historically unmasked: the pax Roman was submission of the vanquished, the Kantian Eternal Peace assumed an internal balance between the three republican powers, the balance between nations and respect for human rights, just look at the current international framework in which these assumptions were violated and did not guarantee peace. The third is the Peace of Westphalia (1648) of religious toleration
The phrase is also from Sartre: “you are never a man if you don’t find something for which you would be willing to die” and certainly for him it would not be war, perhaps something valued from Above, since he did not say “someone for whom you would be willing to die”. to die”.
We would be willing to die to ask for peace and sustainable progress for peoples, without values that build this building, Edgar Morin says in a certain way even utopian, we cannot create a lasting and sustainable model of peace that does not place us in new crossroads and traps.
A utopia is achievable if we think that without it we are not treading a safe path, we are sitting on a powder keg, not only nuclear weapons, but also the number of nuclear power plants across the globe, more than 440, remember that Fukushima was a natural disaster and Chernobyl was a human oversight.
Thus, not only war, but also the development of technologies and equipment that were not created for destruction, but without really altruistic ethical, moral and social codes and values, we will not walk towards a lasting and safe peace, first it is necessary to defuse the bombs.
Do not feed any kind of hatred (where there are enemies on both sides), return to the serious discussion about weapons and the use of atomic energy, safe and durable environmental control, in short, the agenda is extensive for us to waste time with unproductive hatred and which works towards opposite.
A chance for civilization
19
Apr
At the height of almost 102 years (he will complete it in July) in an interview
given to Cesare Martinetti in the newspaper La Stampa, Edgar Morin talks about his new book Di Guerra in Guerra (From war to war, editor Rafaello Cortina, 2023) where he reflects on an endless 20th century that lives as a witness, for him there are still things to be digested:
“I wanted to remember not only the terrible physical evils, but also the intellectual evils caused by wars, that is, lies, one-sided views, Manichaeism, hatred for all enemy people, for their culture, their language, their literary and artistic works, and I wanted to help myself and readers to develop this awareness, in the face of a war that risks taking us to the worst, through the process of escalation and radicalization.
His synthesis of this war is that it is militarily localized, but globally globalized, but he has hope that we can escape it.
Remember that in the first years after the fall of the wall, Putin himself came to Germany and made a very pro-European speech, but NATO advances on Russia’s borders irritated him and already in 2015, when there was an agreement on Crimea, the Donbass region broke out in hostilities.
On the other hand, he emphasizes “the wars of reconquest led by Russia in Chechnya and Georgia led the United States, moreover at the request of countries close to Russia, to extend NATO to a siege that the leaders perceived as a threat”.
A shared Donbass suggests the centenary thinker, he knows that his position seems more utopian than realistic, but he thinks that this is the role of thinkers: to mix utopia and realism, after all it is necessary to awaken hope and serenity.
Coldness: from essence to appearance
18
Apr
Empathy, patience, true love and true feelings seem distant, bodies adorned,
made up and tattooed, minds distant and cold, empty and lacking in inspired ideas.
I read in the book “The book thief” (2005): “perhaps this is a fair punishment for those who do not have a heart: only realizing this when you can no longer go back”, is a harsh sentence, but it was important to analyze my social, personal and friendship context.
My inspiration to read, write and search within institutions, environments and social media for something intelligent, inspired and sweet, productive where I can find different paths from what I see and feel around me, made me understand and admire Markus Zusak’s book, at least unless I remember the 2013 edition (year of film), she was looking for a refuge, an escape from the contextual situation.
I wonder if this situation about the tension of a possible large-scale war is different, I see a lot of hypocrisy and manipulation in the air, while innocent people die in a stupid war, others prepare for an even bigger confrontation that slowly spreads across the globe.
I remember a biblical passage (Thessalonians 1,5:3) when they say: “There is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them, like birth pangs on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape”, but for those in a hurry I remember that it is written that this will not mean the end.
Sincere efforts for peace are lacking, armed spirits cannot promote any peace, they want allies for their temporal power, a timeless message is lacking, beyond immediate interests.
This is how hearts walk, and schools and the everyday life of the simplest and most fleeting life have already arrived, I saw a housewife from a small town excited in the supermarket speaking against that politician who ruined everything and a child who cried over a political situation that I didn’t quite understand.
You can’t put out a fire with gasoline, says popular wisdom, but poetry is no longer in the air, there are no songs that speak of pure love, only immediate interests of an erotic drive, in a society that actually lives “The agony of Eros”, a profound book by Byung Chul Han.
It is not a certain popular singer who speaks against teaching and good education, society echoes these hymns and there is almost no way to succeed without emotional and passionate appeals out of tune.
The dismantling of the human vision as Being and its transformation into the utilitarian vision of Having had a historical origin in Western thought and now penetrates and tries to destroy its meaning.
Zusak, Markus. (2005) The book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
What is actually the current war
17
Apr
Increasingly, the Russia-Ukraine war is revealed with the clear contours of the
interests of great empires in conflict: on the one hand, Russia, which did not accept the reduction of its territory and influence after the end of the Second World War, on the other, NATO as an arm of capitalist forces and their world influence.
In fact, the great emerging empire is China, and it has roots in the great cultural revolution, an attempt made by Mao Tse Tung, the first leader of the Chinese revolution, but the attempt to industrialize the country by taking people out of the countryside in the 50s was a failure causing more than 20 million people to starve to death.
The opponents led by Liu Shao-Chi, in 1959, removed Mao, his family and his allies, who were isolated within the Chinese Communist Party, and promoted a re-education of the population, preparing a new industrial revolution, this time attracting capital and companies from abroad. , cheap labor and the idea that it could be an opening to capitalism, Hong Kong was until recently not controlled by China, boosted this model.
Speaking about what would be the desired peace for Russia, Putin declared that it would be a “new world order”, and in it talks with China are involved and explain Russia’s recent military maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean near Japan, the Kuril Islands which is disputed by Japan.
It was a clear nod to the partnership with China, although it, together with Brazil, is trying to form a third bloc to negotiate peace, because the Brics are closer to Russia, and this includes India and South Africa, which are also part of this economic bloc. .
On the western side, the Scandinavian countries: Finland, Sweden and Norway carried out joint maneuvers with NATO forces, the geopolitical picture is drawn with a dangerous warlike picture.
There is a fracture in the European bloc, as Macron says that France will not be a “vassal” of the American allies, however it can also be a force for the third “peace” bloc.
A peace without surrender and without winners seems the only possible way out, difficult but possible.
Art, the awareness and the divine
14
Apr
Art is an expression of the human soul, “it says the unspeakable, expresses the
inexpressible, translates the untranslatable” it is a phrase attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, without it we cannot humanly express the beautiful and we are not opposed to the destructive and reductive vision of the simple look only what we see.
Humanity has built devices to see and feel further and further away, the James Webb telescope is making us look and study the deepest part of the universe, but an entire universe exists in each human soul and even the most advanced technological device can translate it or imitate her.
This indeed is the great human delusion, the myth of machinic intelligence that surpasses human intelligence, called the singular point, the desire for eternal life transporting human feelings to machines, the human delirium built advanced technologies, which is good, but imagining it as endowed with human soul and emotions is a delusion of those who do not believe that in the mystery of the infinite universe there is a consciousness of a Being and not of rocks and chemical compounds.
The fact that we got confused in the course of history, reducing it to idealist subjectivism, is not worthy of the human journey, not even of science that for Edgar Morin it is necessary to return to the point where we see and admit uncertainty, after all this is one of the quantum principles.
Recently an Integrated Information Theory (ITT) term created by Giulio Tononi, created the idea that it was possible to calculate a “phi” number representing the connectivity of networks, be it the brain, a circuit or the atom, now this idea has advanced and scientists claim that it is possible to calculate this “phi”,
Researcher and cognitive scientist Susan Schneider, told New Scientist. “I believe that mathematics can help us understand the neural basis of consciousness in the brain, and perhaps even machines, but it will inevitably leave something out: the quality of that experience, felt internally.”
For Christians, even the disciples found it hard to believe what they saw after the resurrection of Jesus, they went to the tomb and saw “a gardener”, they walked to Emmaus and did not realize that they were accompanying him and finally Thomas wanted to “touch his wounds” so that to believe.
In John 20:27, Jesus tells him: “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Extend your hand and place it in my side. And be not unbelieving, but faithful”, to those who believe this is a fact.
For a philosophy of the look
13
Apr
It already exists, I even looked for the roots and couldn’t find it and that’s where
the problem lies, dialoguing with what is present in culture, philosophy and art about what the look is and how it is possible to develop it from there onwards in order to dialogue with contemporary culture.
For example, a good reading of Schiller we have already mentioned this week his “Aesthetic education of man”, in art I did not quote Gustav Klimt on purpose, he has elements of symbolism and all art literature recognizes it, but his “art nouveaux” brings something again (photo of his work the hug).
Edgar Morin, when analyzing “Mass culture of the 20th century”, emphasizes the multiple meanings of modern man: “the language adapted to this anthropos is audiovisual, the language of four instruments: image, musical sound, word, writing. A language that is all the more accessible insofar as it is the polytonic involvement of all languages” (page 45) and thus this look can be both dispersed and integrated, giving this new language a new look.
It is no longer specific to a single medium (sound, image and objects have existed as art since time immemorial), for Morin this is “of the game that lies on the fabric of practical life” (idem) and this symbolism in Klimt is in fact a vision integrated, but not specific to him, I also see it in Kandinsky his works also seem to have music and poetry, even though they are just pictures.
In cinema, the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, in one of the paintings of this film Life, integrates painting and cinema by giving movement to Van Gogh’s paintings, thus, more than multimedia, these artistic movements can be called transmedia, due to the fact that they integrate aspects of art .
This re-educates and stimulates the look, but there is the aspect of the possibility of dispersing the look, but nothing can do this more than modern horizontal monomedia and social “media” are not out of it, so the re-education of the look goes through the stimulation of other senses and the spiritual that is not that idealist (see previous post) that are separated.
So, despite being a symbolist, it is fair to think of Klimt as a member of “art nouveaux”, since he helped to create the Secession Movement in Vienna, whose objective was to break the conservative traditions that were rooted in history and create an internationalist and comprehensive vision. of contemporary and timeless artistic genres.
The integration of this vision in new media is the presentation at the historic Atelie des Lumiéres, in Paris, of a transmedia animation of Vang Gogh (foto), which inaugurated a series in 2018 precisely with the work of Gustav Klimt also animated.
For this reason, it is not a synthesis of opposites, but the fusion of artistic horizons in movement, the current crisis is the dualistic vision of the world, of art and of values that are timeless.
MORIN, Edgar. (1997) Cultura de massas do século XX (Twentieth-century mass culture(. trans. Maura Ribeiro Sardinha. 9th. edition. Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Forense ed., 1997.
What is beautiful for idealism
12
Apr
We contradicted in the previous post the vision of vision and beauty of
the idealist sense, but Schiller himself is a descendant of this vision, even though he tried to rebuild “the unity of human nature”, in this he is right, he thought of rebuilding in the modern idealist way.
For Hegel, aesthetics, and therefore the Beauty, is the science that deals with the artistic beauty and not the natural beauty, for him the natural beauty is a product of the spirit (Geist), and, because it is a product of the spirit, it participates in the truth and what exists in nature, see that the spirit as well as the idealist “transcendence” is linked to nature and to the human, it is far from the mystical spiritual.
For an internal revolution to idealism, three currents of art are immersed in it: symbolism, classicism and romanticism, for many modern authors, I quote Byung Chul Han, the culture of the smooth, the flat and the “transparent” (glass, glass, etc.) plastics, etc.).
This pseudo-revolution that took place within idealist art is called self-overcoming, a kind of what was called in German idealism the New Hegelians, but it makes an even deeper division in art: painting, music and poetry.
Sculpture is considered a “noble” art, says Hegel: ““Sculpture introduces God himself into the objectivity of the external world; thanks to it, individuality manifests itself externally through its spiritual side” (Hegel, 1996, p. 113), again the exterior is objective, a sculpture and not a Being, the other and with him all his subjectivity.
Symbolism, on the other hand, was the one that “seeks to achieve the union between internal meaning and external form, that classical art achieved this union in the representation of the substantial individuality that addresses our sensibility, and that romantic art, spiritual in essence, surpassed” (Hegel, 1996, p. 340).
Seeing the consequences of this “romantic” thought, Hans-Georg Gadamer will criticize Dilthey’s romantic vision of consciousness, with serious consequences for modern historicism, almost all of which are idealistic and distant from reality, thus creating the “ideal” model for consciousness is for the beautiful and not to transform it as the idealists think to do.
I consider art nouveau, mainly by Antoni Gaudí (in the photo Casa Batlló, in Barcelona) the most faithful expression because it recovers natural elements (light, color, air and nature) without “affections” and traces of symbolism and romanticism, such as for example, present in the “Style Tiffany” in the United States or the “Style Glasgow” in the United Kingdom that has elements, in my view, of symbolism, although also called “art nouveau”.
Returning to the previous post, there is a confusing vision of ethics because it is separated from aesthetics.
