Jason/Immanent Transcendence and Michael/Archive Fire have been continuing the discussion that began almost two weeks ago HERE and HERE. In his latest response to me, Michael writes: Matt wants to think the Absolute (unity), with an eye towards cultivating the existential implications which flow from an acquaintance therein, while I want to think the Possible (multiplicity), with a wonky fish …
The Beginning and the End of Positive Philosophy
In the Theaeteus, Plato has Socrates say that "wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder." In his Metaphysics, Aristotle echoes this by writing that "it was their wonder, astonishment, that first led men to philosophize and still leads them." In the Phaedo, Plato has Socrates say that "those who really apply …
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More Reflections on James Hillman’s Archetypal Psychology
Building on what was said here last week: James Hillman’s psychology, above all else, aims to remind the modern Western psyche of its roots in the Renaissance. To illustrate his methods, he dwells upon the lives of Renaissance figures like Petrarch, “the first modern man...perhaps...the first psychological man.”1 Most cultural historians focus on Petrarch’s …
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Thinking While Naked
Here is an intriguing article in Wired magazine by Jonah Lehrer. He reflects upon the implications of an experiment attempting to gauge the cognitive significance of nakedness. It looked at how our attribution of agency to others is effected by what they wear and how attractive they are. The results: Pictures of the faces of …
Esotericism and the Academy at the American Academy of Religion in San Francisco
Phoenix Rising at the AAR Meeting Saturday Nov. 19th!. Some of these papers look great. The problem of how to traverse the disciplinary boundary between esoterica and academia is one I will face in my own dissertation. Is it possible to integrate imaginal and rational modes of consciousness, to harmonize sacral and critical attitudes of inquiry? Can one study …
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The Cosmological Powers
This is a presentation I eventually gave during one of Brian Swimme's courses at CIIS. Watching it again now, I detect thinly disguised Christian apologetics in what I've said. That doesn't necessarily make it bad cosmology.
Taste the Sky, Swallow the Horizon
I screamed so loud, I could taste the sky. The stars became buds of light on my tongue, And the clusters of galaxies Poured into the tangled sinews of my brain. I became one of billions of sons, All circling the heavens In praise of our life. And yet, I was alone; My father …
