RE: Thomism: Then & Now
October 21, 2021 at 8:56 am
(This post was last modified: October 21, 2021 at 9:03 am by Belacqua.)
(October 20, 2021 at 10:58 am)DLJ Wrote:(October 20, 2021 at 9:14 am)Belacqua Wrote: ...
I don't think the essence of anything can be boiled down in this way, to something showable or transmittable.
How about to something receivable?
I can see what I have to work on now! I'll have to do more reading on essence, and what exactly is meant to be happening in the Second Way.
It's tempting to think that essence is information, because that would be graspable by us moderns. And we are accustomed to the idea of information (e.g. a blueprint or code) manifesting itself and getting changed into something concrete. At the same time, I'm wary of translations like this -- ancient concepts that slot too easily into modern grooves.
Partly I want to make sure we don't conflate essence with form. In the Aristotelian system, form is a kind of information, I think. So that when we perceive something, we get the form of the thing mentally without its material substance (which wouldn't fit in our skulls). But form would only be part of the essence, I'm pretty sure. But I confess I'm working on the fly here, and need to study up.
(October 20, 2021 at 5:11 pm)Oldandeasilyconfused Wrote: It's a nineteenth century Japanese woodblock print.
Ukiyo-e is wonderful! And about the only genre left where non-zillionaires can still get top-quality stuff. I'll bet you got a good one!
(October 21, 2021 at 5:51 am)vulcanlogician Wrote: Here is a thread he created a while back wherin he defends the position that objective valuations can be made of art.
This thread was really useful for me. Looking back, its conclusions seem sort of self-evident, but it took a lot of work to get there. It's nice to think that discussions here can help so much.
Quote:Diotima pointing up in the air like Plato which I love. I saved it to my computer and enjoy looking it over from time to time.
It's kind of you to remember my Diotima picture. Every time I have a show I decide I'm not ready to part with her, and put on a ridiculously high price tag, so she's still with me here.
By the way, I'm pretty sure that Neo is a painter, also. And from the glimpse of his work that I saw apparently a really good one.
Maybe doing art all day disposes one to metaphysics?
