The Consolations of Philosophy
Last year after reading Alain De Botton's 'The Consolations of Philosophy' it made me think about my school days of trying to decipher to the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Then suddenly I had a thought:
Could philosophy be just another form of poetry?
It can appear to have little logic or reason, and may perhaps have the same point as modern art.
I believe that my favourite philosopher Socrates (like many Greek scholars) had very much in common with poets. Emily Dickinson for example did not tell the world how it should be, but more the way it might be - just like Socrates. We can all remember how Socrates swallowed his punishment of hemlock knowing he'd secured his legacy for those that might live in the future.
Philosophers like poets awaken us from The Matrix of life to make us examine our own place in the universe and how we might live better lives in the future. Socrates used imagination to argue with people on the streets of Athens just like many poets who write with metaphors and unforgettable characters.
Can philosophy make progress?
Philosophy is the king of the sciences, but it's also an art form like poetry in that we don't need to fret about whether there has been any progress made - because this isn't the point of philosophy.
Poetry can indeed awaken us from our chained slumbers and help us see life with a fresher eye. Good philosophy can do that too. Remember that next time you read a good poem on Steemit.
P.S. Just for reference: Socrates was mandated to commit suicide by hemlock after the Greek government found him guilty of spreading philosophical hearsay amongst the young.
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An interesting comparison. I wonder if the same part of the brain is accessed when developing a poem as to a philosophical thought.
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Since we work 95% from the emotional subconscious mind I'd say so ... though I might be wrong??
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Thanks for that my friend @mindhunter! I also write short stories and poems, I even published two of them here, but I don't know if it causes people something or not. Sometimes it seems the world is spinning so fast that people do not have the time to spend on a good literature reading (and even if it is bad, doesn't matter, the literature was there and it had a meaning for the writer and we might give it some credit) or to even think about life at all. It is all about money, money, money... I think we should see it in a different way, but I fear it can get worse, and I am not talking about Steemit, I am talking about a general situation happening everywhere. I am sketching some lines and will publish them here and let's see what happens. I also paint and would love to publish this too. Let's wait and see! Wish you a great morning dear friend! =)
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In such an ego-centric world it's so easy to overlook the work of others. I promise I will pass by one of your poems for philosophical musings :)
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...and thanks for the RS :))
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Excellent Socratic work @mindhunter
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Thanks for taking the time to read my #nuggetized article.
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Could poetry be another form of philosophical introspection and expression?
Flipped your question around a bit. :)
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Clever switch. Opposite sides of the same coin I believe ;)
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I guess this might be a chicken and egg question. Which came first? :)
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Is it the weekend yet?? :)
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In all seriousness when I hit one of my poetic phases my brain feels a bit different than it does when I am writing up a piece on philosophy (which I seem to do quite a bit). I tend to express poetry on my @chaospoet account, and it comes in moments of inspiration, and waves. Yet when I am writing as ChaosPoet I feel quite different.
Not sure what that means, other than my mind feels different when I am in the poetry zone/groove than it does when I am writing a philosophical piece.
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I'd say philosophy is the logical brain and poetry the emotional brain. They are different left/right brain hemispheres - hence you feel different.
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I think it can go a bit beyond that. I've been told by people before I am one of those people that seems to be good at using my left and right brain, sometimes at the same time. I actually have quite a few different topics I can discuss as well that my mind seems to kick into another gear.
My poetry can have some emotion, but that actually is not my focus. In fact I'd almost say it is more like temporarily linking my subconscious mind with my conscious one as I like to intentionally stream my poetry into existence. I tend to write it very fast and as a stream of consciousness as doing it that way makes me come up with unexpected things.
I have written poetry other ways where I spend a lot more time crafting a piece. Yet it turns out those are not the pieces I personally enjoy the most, and I can very clearly see me in such pieces.
My stream of consciousness ones I can look at them and think "Who in the hell wrote that?", "Where did that come from?", etc.
Which is also why I chose the handle @chaospoet for when I do that. Though what friends and I called Chaos Poetry when I was in my early adulthood was even a bit more freeform than that.
I do get what you are saying, and there likely is something to it. I also get that our physical brain actually has two hemispheres. So left, right is a very physical and tangible thing as well. Yet, I suspect/speculate that our use of left and right can go beyond what we normally think.
Bascially here are the modes I can think of that feel different that I can recall at the moment to me in my mind:
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I find in my subconscious mind musings that a superconscious mind element enters the fray too ... a mind beyond space and time - the universal mind of EVERYTHING! A true @mindhunter indeed.
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Interesting post dear friend @mindhunter, congratulations on this excellent post
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I tried my best here @jlufer :)
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