Radical Hope by Jonathan Lear
by Parker · 18 things on Twos
- Socrates argues that writing can function as a form of forgetting rather than remembering: for it can lull one into thinking that one is remembering when one is only moving the phrases about. Whatever the dangers here, when ones while way of life is on the verge of collapse, the worry about writing becomes a luxury. The entire culture is in the process of being forgotten; the only hope is to write it down in the hope that future generation may bring “it” back to life
- The crow had a conception of happiness, a conception of what life was worth living for. They lived in relation to a spiritual world in which they believed God had chosen them to live a certain kind of life. Happiness consisted in living that life to the full. This was an active and unfettered pursuit of a nomadic hunting life in which their family life and social rituals could prosper
- “When we try to think ahead practically we are either thinking about how to achieve some end; or thinking about what is a fitting way to behave; or thinking about how to sustain pleasure.” - Candace Vogler
- Practical reason always aims toward what is useful, toward what is proper or appropriate behavior, or toward what is pleasant
- With the destruction of the telos, there was no conception of the good life to provide a larger context for the significance of one’s acts
- In the first horse slaughter the government said that about forty thousand head were exterminated, but the crows said it was many more, including many tame ranch horses, which the gunmen preyed on when it got difficult to find wild ones
- Pain of being forced to recognize that one’s traditional way of life was already over
- Shame is one of the basic emotions by which we regulate our sense of what is and what is not appropriate behavior. It originates in very early experiences of feeling exposed. Over time it is disciplined by the cultures sense of what is appropriate and disgraceful
- A virtuous person is one who has the capacities of character and body that enable him or her to lead ah excellent and happy life
- A virtuous person does not require the actual humiliation of others to experience shame. He or she will naturally avoid shameful acts. Virtuous people not only seek fine acts; they are highly motivated to avoid shameful acts
- If we think that in these challenging times people ought to find new ways—not just of surviving—but if living well, we need to give an account of how it might be psychologically possible to do so
- Develop your body, but do not neglect your mind. It is the mind that leads a man to power, not strength of body
- If one listens and learns from others in the right way—even in radically different circumstances, even with the collapse of one’s world—something good will come of it
- The inability to conceive of its own devastation will tend to be the blind spot of any culture
- The bird philosopher: he knows that he lacks wisdom, but he yearns for it; and thus he is led to seek it from others
- Pollyanna: someone whose hopefulness depends on her gaze from devastating reality
- “Human beings are distressed when angry and take pleasure in retaliating; but people who fight from these motives are effective in fighting, not courageous, since they do not fight because of what is fine or noble, or as correct prescription directs, but from emotion.” - Aristotle
- The value of writing memories down is that it can preserve them through times when an oral culture may be under too much stress to hold onto them