Up@dawn 2.0

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Quiz March 24

Image result for spinoza quotes on god

1. Spinoza's view, that God and nature (or the universe) are the same thing, is called _______. LH 76

2. Spinoza was a determinist, holding that _____ is an illusion. LH 79

3. Susan James says Spinoza's "main claim" is that we're always striving to make ourselves more ____. PB 73


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4. Anglo-Austrian philosopher ________'s "family resemblance" view implies that there's no single quality held in common by all art. P 159

5. The view that something is art just because it's exhibited in an art gallery fails to distinguish good art from bad, according to one criticism of which theory? P 164

6. The trouble with art forgeries is their attempt to ______. P 174

BONUS: What was Spinoza's definition of love? OR, What is love's proper object? PB 79

BONUS+: Who created "The Fountain"?


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BONUS++: Who said the sources of art in everyday life can be discerned in "the tense grace of the ballplayer"?

DQ:
1. Are you a pantheist? Why or why not? Do you see any important differences between pantheists and atheists? If God includes everything, does that mean nothing is truly bad or ungodly? What's the status of evil and suffering, in a pantheistic world?

2. Would it make any difference in how you live, day to day, if you changed your mind about free will? Would you behave differently? Why or why not?

3. Are you happy? Would it make you happier to embrace a different view of how you are related to the rest of the universe, or a different definition of God? If so, what's stopping you?

4. What's your definition of art? Do you know it when you see it? Are there rules or "community standards" (etc.) that distinguish real art from pornography  (Mapplethorpe etc.) or propaganda ("socrealism")?

5. Are there any "arbiters of taste" whose opinions you value? Do you read or listen to reviews of books or movies before deciding to read/see them? What qualifies anyone to legislate taste or aesthetic standards?

6. What makes "The Fountain" art (or non-art)? What makes anything art? Have you ever created a work of art? How much does institutional or public recognition matter, in the determination that something is artistic?


The lovable* God-intoxicated philosopher is back

The author of Betraying Spinoza and other works of literary philosophy rejects his Rationalist armchair approach but still finds him an intriguing and ethically-sophisticated thinker. (Russell called him lovable*, Novalis "God intoxicated")

So, he seems to have foiled the curse.
Cursed be he by day, and cursed be he by night; cursed be he when he lieth down, and cursed be he when he riseth up; cursed be he when he goeth out and cursed be he when he cometh in; the Lord will not pardon him; the wrath and fury of the Lord will be kindled against this man, and bring down upon him all the curses which are written in the Book of the Law; and the Lord will destroy his name from under the heavens; and, to his undoing, the Lord will cut him off from all the tribes of Israel, with all the curses of the firmament which are written in the Book of the Law; but ye that cleave unto the Lord God live all of you this day! We ordain that no one may communicate with him verbally or in writing, nor show him any favor, nor stay under the same roof with him, nor be within four cubits of him, nor read anything composed or written by him.
To which Spinoza is said to have replied: "Very well, this does not force me to do anything that I would not have done of my own accord, had I not been afraid of a scandal." OSU

Does that sound like a philosopher, or what?
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From pantheism.net-

If I accept pantheism, what difference would it make?

You would acquire the most positive attitude to existence on earth in a human body that any religion or philosophy can offer. You would focus your religious energy on nature and the universe. Instead of admiring these as evidence of a creator God's glory, you would love them for themselves. You would gain a much stronger basis for concern about the environment than any Western religion can offer.
You would overcome all sense of separation from the earth and from your own body. If you belong to a traditional religion, you would replace faith with common sense and science, and reconcile the religious and the everyday parts of your thinking. You would express Pantheism through seasonal rituals which would link you to the earth and universe of which you are part, and through meditation techniques which allow a direct mystical experience of nature and matter.

Is pantheism just theism in disguise?

No. Theism means belief in a personal God who is greater and older than the universe. This God may or may not be present in the universe.
Pantheism says simply that the universe is worthy of the deepest reverence. This is a statement about the attitude we should adopt towards the universe and nature - an attitude which we have no choice but to adopt if we open our eyes to the full awe and mystery of reality.
The universe has some features in common with the God of traditional religions - its power, immensity, and mystery. But it is not personal. It has no mind apart from the minds of intelligent species within it. It is neither loving nor vengeful. It does not sit in judgement over us and mete out rewards and punishments in an afterlife.
Before we can really understand the "numinousness" of the cosmos, we must forget everything we have learned about traditional gods, and learn to look at what is in front of our eyes with an open mind. More pantheism FAQs 
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Spinoza is led to a complete and undiluted pantheism. Everything, according to Spinoza, is ruled by an absolute logical necessity. There is no such thing as free will in the mental sphere or chance in the physical world. Everything that happens is a manifestation of God's inscrutable nature, and it is logically impossible that events should be other than they are. This leads to difficulties... Bertrand Russell
But in his Philosophy: the Classics, Nigel dilutes the claim.
More subtle interpreters stress that Spinoza is only saying that all God's attributes are expressed in the world, not that God is nothing more than the world. So if Spinoza is a pantheist, his is not the crude pantheism which declares that the 
world simply is identical with God.
Report topic, anyone? 
 

2 comments:

  1. Group 1 - H01

    FQ: Spinoza believed that his philosophies had the same relentless logic as _____. (LH 77)

    FQ: From Spinoza's perspective, he had a(n) _____ love of God. (LH 79)

    FQ: (T/F) According to Spinoza, conatus is the capacity of an individual thing to maintain itself as it is. (PB 72)

    FQ: The ______ ____ theory begins with the assumption that all genuine works of art produce an aesthetic emotion in the spectator, listener, or reader. (P 160)

    ReplyDelete
  2. H01
    FQ: (T/F) Spinoza was excommunicated when he was 24 because of his unorthodox views about God. (LH 76)
    FQ: Rationalism emphasizes _______ rather than experiment. (LH 77)
    FQ: Spinoza described bondage as being at the complete mercy of your emotions. (LH 80)
    FQ: (T/F) Spinoza suggested we are passive to the way passions affect us. (PB 74)

    ReplyDelete

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