First Paragraph
This is going to be a difficult year. I am both excited and nervous at the prospect of beginning a thesis for the Philosophy department here at Reed. A part of me is reluctant to begin while another part is pressing forward with anticipation at a world of discovery. Tonight, I began my work for the school year with perhaps the most apt paragraph a philosopher could read to begin his year. It comes from Berkeley's 'Treatise Concerning Human Knowledge':
"Philosophy being nothing else but the study of wisdom and truth, it may with reason be expected that those who have spent most time and pains in it should enjoy a greater calm and serenity of mind, a greater clearness and evidence of knowledge, and be less disturbed with doubts and difficulties than other men. Yet so it is, we see the illiterate bulk of mankind that walk the high-road of plain common sense, and are goverened by the dictates of nature, for the most part easy and undisturbed. to them nothing that is familiar appears unaccountable or difficult to comprehend. They complain not of any want of evidence in their senses, and are out of all danger of becoming Sceptics. But no sooner do we depart from sense and instinct to follow the light of a superior principle, to reason, meditate, and reflect on the nature of things, but a thousand scruples spring up in our minds concerning those things which before we seemed fully to comprehend. Prejudices and errors of sense do from all parts discover themselves to our view; and, endeavouring to correct these by reason, we are insensibly drawn into uncouth paradoxes, difficulties, and inconsistencies, which multiply and grow upon us as we advance in speculation, till at length, haveing wandered through many intricate mazes, we find ourselves just where we were, or, which is worse, sit down in a forlorn Scepticism."
I can think of nothing better to kick off the year. I think it's time to start getting elbow deep in philosophy, or as the bulk of mankind might say, elbow deep in bullshit.
Many updates, hopefully, throughout the year.
"Philosophy being nothing else but the study of wisdom and truth, it may with reason be expected that those who have spent most time and pains in it should enjoy a greater calm and serenity of mind, a greater clearness and evidence of knowledge, and be less disturbed with doubts and difficulties than other men. Yet so it is, we see the illiterate bulk of mankind that walk the high-road of plain common sense, and are goverened by the dictates of nature, for the most part easy and undisturbed. to them nothing that is familiar appears unaccountable or difficult to comprehend. They complain not of any want of evidence in their senses, and are out of all danger of becoming Sceptics. But no sooner do we depart from sense and instinct to follow the light of a superior principle, to reason, meditate, and reflect on the nature of things, but a thousand scruples spring up in our minds concerning those things which before we seemed fully to comprehend. Prejudices and errors of sense do from all parts discover themselves to our view; and, endeavouring to correct these by reason, we are insensibly drawn into uncouth paradoxes, difficulties, and inconsistencies, which multiply and grow upon us as we advance in speculation, till at length, haveing wandered through many intricate mazes, we find ourselves just where we were, or, which is worse, sit down in a forlorn Scepticism."
I can think of nothing better to kick off the year. I think it's time to start getting elbow deep in philosophy, or as the bulk of mankind might say, elbow deep in bullshit.
Many updates, hopefully, throughout the year.
posted by Fish at 10:36 PM
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