Explain why Martin Heidegger turned German philosophy towards existentialism without referencing his patrons’ obvious discomfort with traditional ethics.
Also, Carmina Burana.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.
Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.
Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?
Shut up, hissy kitty!
If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.
Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.
fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)
We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.
I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.
Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.
When we show up, we win.
We will not go back.
Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?
Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard
Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.
Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.
The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.
I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.
Peak wingnut was a lie.
There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.
Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.
Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.
My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.
When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.
dr. bloor
To get to the other side?
Dennis - SGMM
Because Heidegger knew what the meaning of "is" is.
Jeff
Quite honestly, because God is dead. That’s actually the correct short answer. Add in some Holderlin, and I don’t have to reference his patrons one bit. (Also, too: Nietzsche).
SGEW
Um. By his "patrons," do you mean the University of Marburg, or the German Kaiser, or the Nazis? What era? When he wrote Being and Time or the post-war years? And did Heidegger really "turn[ ] German philosophy towards existentialism," when he repeatedly attempted to disassociate himself from the latter existentialist philosophers? Is there really a "why" here? Isn’t that imputing motive upon. . .
Oh fuck it. I’ll take the question as rhetorical, in the finest sense of the word.
And a chance to link to this, of course.
Joe Lisboa
What is: "The Question of the Meaning of Being," Alex?
jrosen
"Carmina Burana"? Poor man’s "Oedipus Rex". The only thing I liked about it was that it used 3 keyboard players, so I always got some extra $$$ for playing it. Having to listen to it 8 times in one week and keep a straight face on stage was barely worth it.
However, very effective in NBA’s commercials featuring Kevin Garnett.
Comrade Reverend Stuck
I ran this by the surly denizens of the Funhouse, and they were of a single mind, as only one has an actual brain. They offered the thesis that it is better to be un-dead than un-alive. But then again, that is their answer to every question.
Laura W
Waiting Is.
~Valentine Michael Smith
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Because he was ripping off Nietzsche. He was a derivative Nazi hack.
neill
martin heidegger was an idiot when it came to politics. and his dance with death and the fuehrer and his party left him bereft, with a nervious breakdown, and very few teaching jobs.
however, it also allowed him the insight to turn his philosophy completely around (known to heidegger devotees as the "kehre") and that tunring can be traced thru the 2 vol german (4 vol english transl.) volumes on Nietzsche.
Basically, and essentially, heidegger came up with a theory in reaction to the modern era that runs like this: metaphysics = technology = nihilism = the total mobilization of all beings toward the arbitrary ends of humanity. so, he was pretty sure the rest of the world would just follow up more efficiently what the nazi thugs did barbarically. (and so far right on target, marty…)
after that, he spent the rest of his time thinking about and interpreting poetry and language, looking for a new way of thinking — oh, and the nazis weren’t his patrons… they tolerated and then eventually hated him. they had a bunch of guys hot to trot with the sieg heil bullshit, and martin was a little too fruh fruh with a coming golden age…
Ash Can
Whee, Carmina Burana! Years ago I saw it live at Ravinia. James Levine conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Margaret Hillis the CSO Chorus and the Glen Ellyn Children’s Choir. It brought down the house.
Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony do a dandy job with the piece as well.
Bostondreams
Personally, I just think he was seeking the Anti-Life Equation.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Comrade Reverend Stuck: lolz
Fern
@jrosen:
I dunno. I am somewhat fond of the un-Orffified version.
Dennis - SGMM
Forty years ago I avidly read the better-known Existentialist philosophers and writers. The only one who left a lasting impression was Martin Buber.
Comrade Reverend Stuck
my PBS station and many others didn’t air this documentary on Cheney/bush torture crimes. It’S now online called "Torturing Democracy", for anyone interested.
Dennis - SGMM
Rachel Maddow just publicly invited Joe Lieberman to appear on her show for a fair interview. Anyone care to speculate on the odds that Lieberman will take her up on her offer?
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Because the campaign was over, also.
nabalzbbfr
Barack Hussein Obama can’t but help himself from revealing his true colors.
Most recent glaring example in point – he picked "renegade" as his Secret Service codename. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, renegade’s earliest meanings had to do with deserting one’s religion, coming from the Spanish word renegado, originally Christian turned Muslim.
Eventually in the not too distant future, even the most clueless Americans who voted for him are going to catch on. Obama’s putative presidency is soon going to hit the shoals.
Just Some Fuckhead
Wouldn’t a public challenge like that indicate that Joe the Fluffer has already spurned a private invitation?
Punchy
Reality check:
My company, a profitable pharmaceutical company, just announced no raises for anyone. No cost of living increases, no promotions, bonuses, no travel, no hiring. Until — get this — April of 2010. Yes, 2010. And we’re actually very profitable and surpassed our numbers this year.
This economy is FUCKED. I"m actually getting scared.
Dennis - SGMM
@Just Some Fuckhead:
You’re correct, thus the public invitation.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Dennis – SGMM: Well then, no, he won’t be visiting her show.
Nylund
I had to sing Carmina Burana in high school and I’m pretty sure at some point we read a translation of the lyrics, but wow, I don’t remember them being THIS emo.
burnspbesq
@Nylund:
Had to sing? You must be a tenor.
I also sang it in high school, and for baris it is tons of fun. "In Taberna" rocks!
Clarification: I didn’t sing it with my high school chorus, or with the all-State high school chorus. I sang it with a semi-pro outfit conducted by John Nelson. My voice teacher called in a favor to get me a chance to audition. Got to do the Bloch Sacred Service, Carmina, and the St. John Passion (at Lincoln Center on Good Friday).
Comrade Reverend Stuck
The extent of my Philosophical training came from the brilliant essays of Carlos Castaneda as told to him by Don Juan Matus in The Teachings of Don Juan and subsequent books. Oddly enough, at the time, the higher grade reefer I was smoking the higher was my understanding. I’ve since been assimilated however, by the great mindless beast of American politics. Life ain’t fair, but there you have it.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Punchy: At least we can enjoy the irony of fightin off the communists and socialists and terrorists so the capitalists could stick a shiv in our backs.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Punchy: At least we can enjoy the irony of fightin off the communists and soc- ialists and terrorists so the capitalists could destroy us.
Kdrtoona
"patrons be trippin’"
–Martin Heidegger
John Cole
Odd. I always heard he was a boozy beggar.
jenniebee
S,N! has found a fascinating piece of wingnut lit that takes the usual Obama is a Marxist Fascist and throws in a cute little twist – she blames his ascendancy on the inadequate manliness of conservatives.
I’ve got a question for my fellow juicers: does the "Obama is a Marxist/Fascist" thing put you in mind of the lines from Cabaret where Michael York confronts one of the other boarders in the house asking him, "if all the Jews are bankers, how can they all be communists?" Because every time I see that idiocy, that’s all I can think of.
Comrade Darkness
I couldn’t get past Spinoza, so I’d like to reopen the cat vs. dog discussion and I offer this lolpic (one of my favorites) as evidence.
Dennis - SGMM
@Comrade Reverend Stuck:
Damn, I’d forgotten all about The Teachings of Don Juan – probably because I fell for the whole charade like a ton of bricks. It was amazing how a few tokes of Thai stick could pull Castaneda’s work into a seamless tapestry with Burroughs’ and Ginsberg’s The Yage Letters.
Jeffrey
@nabalzbbfr: The Secret Service picks codenames. You stupid fuck.
TheHatOnMyCat
I dunno, which is crazier?
(a) the earth is 6000 years old
(2) a center-right white country elects a marxist black president because it was fooled by the media
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anything can top (a), so (2) is really not that big a leap IMO.
Indylib
@nabalzbbfr:
I hate to feed the trolls, but what the hell.
nabalfrickzer, the object of Secret service protection does not pick his own code name, it’s a nickname developed by his detail.
jenniebee
@Punchy:
My company is huge, international, lots of steady contracts, lots of work in stable sectors (I’m on a medicaid-related project), and lots of cash on hand. Just got an email today announcing that all holiday parties were being canceled as a cost-saving measure.
Crazy days.
demimondian
@noballsboffer: Listen, you need to slow down on the meth, guy. It’s making you paranoid.
kommrade jakevich
42.
Just Some Fuckhead
Sigh. If only we had a President who could inspire us to get out there and shop til we drop, we could beat this recession.
Comrade Reverend Stuck
@Dennis – SGMM:
Those were the days!
Svensker
In what respect, Charlie?
jenniebee
@Indylib:
Isn’t it cute the way they’ve all just discovered the word "putative" though?
And it’ll be just darling when they figure out what it means and how to use it so that it makes sense.
Just a hint, troll dear: "putative" isn’t really the right word to use here. Try "incipient."
Svensker
But this makes it even worse — this means the Secret Service is IN on the takeover of the government by Islamomarxists. OMG!
Dennis - SGMM
@jenniebee:
I haven’t had so much fun watching words get drained of their meaning since the Bush administration discovered "fungible."
Laura W
@Svensker: Personal Fave!
Tattoosydney
@Indylib:
Oh hell, I can’t believe I am actually going to stand up for nozzleboffer…
According to several news sources (Google: President secret service code names), Obama did have a say in his secret service name. For example, from the UK Daily Mail:
Nozzleboffer – Please don’t take this suggestion that one of your factual claims may be correct as any sign of support for your conclusions… This:
just means you are a paranoid wingnut freak…
TheHatOnMyCat
Putative: supposed, presumed.
"Palin referred again to Obama’s putative association with Ayers."
TheHatOnMyCat
Who do we need to contact to get some decent spoofs and trolls around here?
And why is there no wine spoofing?
Come on, surely somebody out there can talk about a wine that doesn’t show up regularly on the Safeway discount bay end? Anyone?
Brick Oven Bill
Life, in any form that I can think of, derives from gravity. An interesting point to consider is that fission or fusion of planetary materials can actually divorce life from gravity. But it takes millions and millions of years for life to get to this point, at least in our case. Heidegger wasn’t trained in nuclear physics.
The German mind is very creative, and it is only logical that he would ‘gravitate’ (ha ha) towards questions regarding the more complex relationships offered by metaphysics as the age of oil began to give men the time to pursue interests beyond farming and warfare. I don’t believe that there is a close correlation between ethics and metaphysics, other than possibly the question of free will.
The American mind, while arguably as creative as the German mind, was busy in the 19th and 20th Centuries harnessing the resources offered to it by North America. It may have been too busy to think about things like metaphysics.
jenniebee
@Dennis – SGMM:
I’m still relieved that "they" don’t have to spend all their time "flagging molecules"
Comrade Reverend Stuck
By God, BOB is channeling Sarah Serendipity.
Drill Baby Drill!
Indylib
@Tattoosydney:
Well, hell.
That’s what I get for listening to American media coverage, the story has been around for awhile and no one mentioned that part.
And nabalfrickzer don’t you think his choice of codenames might have had more to do with chafing at the idea of being surrounded by a contingent of Secret Service agents from very early on in the campaign because his life was in danger for having the temerity to run for President in America while black?
Tattoosydney
@TheHatOnMyCat:
I can only really talk about Australian wines…
I recommend this place – particularly their reds… I’m getting about a case every month delivered at the moment.
The 2007 Cab Merlot (their cheapest at about AUD$19 in orders over 6 bottles is spectacular for the price).
I’ve even started ordering their annual cab sav release, which comes in at $88 a bottle, but is absolutely spectacular for the price…
with the Aussie dollar sitting at about 62c against the USD, our wines start to look pretty cheap and they deliver internationally…
The other one worth a look is Cape Grace wines….
Tymannosourus
Dasein is like bad shrooms… it makes humans do some f*ed up stuff.
BTW, I did my senior thesis on Being and Time, and remember almost nothing about it.
TheHatOnMyCat
Gemütlichkeit!
Er, could I get a kleenex?
Brick Oven Bill
The correlation between life and gravity can be assigned a value. One Human Life Above Baseline (~1 billion people) equals 4.5 Barrels of Oil Production per Year. Those who talk of limiting fossil fuel use have not thought through the consequences of their proposals.
Mandatory sterilization is one option, warfare-starvation is another, a new petroleum source is a third. People do not understand the limitations of ‘renewable’ sources of fuel. Renewable sources represent one year of gravity, in comparison with the million years of gravity we burn through each year.
A new petroleum resource will be revealed to you within the next few years, which will change the world as we know it for hundreds of years. America will be a much stronger country. America has a lot going for it, I am very hopeful for the future.
Dennis - SGMM
Is that straight from the Mothership or are you just joshing us?
Brick Oven Bill
That is straight from the Fathership.
protected static
nablfucknut is engaging in some hit-and-run copypasta – this is like the fourth time today that I’ve seen that exact same turd plopped into a comment section.
Comrade Reverend Stuck
Another sign of deep thinking from the wingnuttosphere aiming to build a better GOP
From the Astute Astute Bloggers
That’s right. Drop a Nuclear Bomb to kill one person.
Giddy the fuck up!!
Tim F.
…and the source of this petroleum will be: TIME CUBE!
Tattoosydney
@Tim F.:
Te Republicans have started burying dead moose in a remote part of Alaska… We only have to wait a few million years.
Hidden oil reserves, bitches!!
Ecks
On the bonus topic (music) I’m a big fan of Bach’s little fugue in G minor.
Eh, talk among yourselves :)
jenniebee
OK, nobody panic, but I think Lyndon LaRouche spiked BoB’s liquor.
Galen West
Carmina Burana is one of my favorite pieces. Too bad you didn’t show the full clip. over 5 minutes of musical goodness. Carl Orff was a freak, but a talented freak.
Tattoosydney
@TheHatOnMyCat:
Fuck it, I am reposting my initial comment (sans links) which is stuck in moderation:
Dennis - SGMM
@Ecks:
I still play and revere the E. Power Biggs version. I first heard it forty-four years ago and it remains, for me, an inspiring gem.
Comrade Darkness
St. Supéry is having a 30% off sale. We just ordered a case in addition to our regular wine club deliveries. Their unoaked Chardonnay is rather nice, and I’m not fond of whites, in general.
Comrade Darkness
@Tattoosydney,
The McLaren Vale is my favorite wine area in OZ. I loves me some big reds and they seem to be in a competition to top each other for heaviness.
Tattoosydney
@Comrade Darkness:
We went on an extensive winery excursion in the Margaret River in Western Australia last year, and I have been a convert ever since… If you like your reds big, then have a look at the two wineries I mentioned…
Mind you, after spending time in Portugal, even Australian wines start to pale into insignificance. I spent 150 euros sending 6 bottles of wine home, just because I had to have some when I got home…
TheHatOnMyCat
Good post.
Sorry to hear about your moderation woes. The filter here is powered by a Ouija Board, I think.
Frank Sobotka
@Tim F.:
A TIME CUBE reference. Nice! No internet meme will ever die, it will just float around until it is needed again.
Tattoosydney
@TheHatOnMyCat:
Just doing my bit for the Aussie economy…
The big Cab Sav needs cellaring for another three or four years, but a case of that is going to make me very happy on my 40th birthday…
Comrade Darkness
@Tattoosydney,
Thanks. Let me know where you went in Portugal too. We have them on the list for next summer and last time I don’t remember the wine. …course, we were pretty burned out on port tasting most of the visit.
Xanthippas
I don’t mean to complain (well okay, I do) but can we roll with something other than the Top 40 of classical music? Since we’re introducing the great unwashed masses to a little culture here, how about something a little postmodern, like say, Philip Glass?
Tattoosydney
@Comrade Darkness:
The Napoleão wine shops in Lisbon were our saviour – I just walked in, told them how much I wanted to spend and they loaded me up with good bottles, and organised to courier home for me. The 150 euros I mentioned above was the shipping cost! At that price, I made sure that I only bought good stuff to send home …
The best ones we picked up were:
Brites Aguiar 2004 from the Douro – this one was the pick of all of them – huge, complex, had to be opened five hours before we drank it to let it breathe, but we only managed to find one bottle…
Conde de Jantar Reserva 2004 from the Dão – ugly bottle, fine fine wine…
2PR Gran Reserva 2005 – again from the Douro… again big and meaty and needed about five hours to develop…
Mind you, in Portugal we were very successful just by asking the owner in each restaurant what they would drink, and even when they recommended a wine that cost 6 euros, we have only had one bad bottle of wine in three holidays in Portugal…
The tragedy is that the Portuguese wine that gets exported to Australia and sold in bottle shops is the stuff that sells for 2 euros in the supermarket in Lisbon, but gets marked up to $30 in Australia, and yet tastes like oven cleaner… I’m having to be very careful preserving my limited stash of the good stuff and not drinking it all…
Just Some Fuckhead
@Tim F.: It’s dilithium crystals, duh.
Tattoosydney
@Xanthippas:
Keeping up with my Aussie promotion kick… my favourite piece of modern Australian… great when stoned with the lights out… big bangy and crashy…
Peter Sculthorpe’s Earth Cry
Ecks
@Dennis – SGMM: Sounds awesome. If only I could find a copy :/
And yeah, maybe it’s the power top 40, but whatever, I never really took to the modernist stuff… Too much clever, not enough melody for a dilettante like me. If I move forward in musical time I skip straight to the bits where the instruments get plugged in :)
Ecks
Eh, and at least we’re not getting Air on a G string (obligatory "he said G string, huh huh" reference), pachelbel’s cannon, or Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, so it’s not as screamingly obvious as it COULD be :)
Comrade Darkness
@Tattoosydney,
Thanks! I sent those in an email to myself, cuz I can always access that.
5 hours to open up…. mmmm my mouth went into a sparkle tizzy at the thought.
jrosen
Someone once said "The French live on the land, the British on the sea, and the Germans in the air." Heidegger is a great examplar of the last — except that the air was pretty foul.
His idea of the "authentic existence" was…Hitler! Lots of luck with that.
The meaning of "fungible" has become fungible.
The trolls are all listening to Rush and posting hate messages over at AOL. Don’t go there if you want to keep your appetite.
Josh
The early Heidegger was tryin to make a anti-essentialist argument without being so open about it as to be dismissed out-of-hand by the inhabitants of the uber-essentialist milieu he was operating in. I don’t think he quite succeeded.
Anne Elk (Miss)
Clearly because Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could drink you under the table…….
julatten
In what sense, Charlie?
anticontrarian
heidegger was trying to reconstitute morality and/or ethics on the grave of the christian god after his philosophical forebears had killed him, because there still has to be a reason to be nice to people or else things go bad very quickly. it used to be god that told everybody to be nice, at least to other christians, but after he was dead all heidegger could really come up with was peer pressure. later, when everybody saw how awry that could go, he turned to existentialism, cuz life sure can be a bitch.