BOOK XI CHAPTER XIV

But, then, how is it that there are the two times, past and future, when even the past is now no longer and the future is now not yet? But if the present were always present, and did not pass into past time, it obviously would not be time but eternity. If, then, time present--if it be time--comes into existence only because it passes into time past, how can we say that even this is, since the cause of its being is that it will cease to be? Thus, can we not truly say that time is only as it tends toward nonbeing?

-St. Augustine

INTERNATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

SPECIES OF PHILOSOPHY

The mere philosopher is a character, which is commonly but little acceptable in the world, as being supposed to contribute nothing either to the advantage or pleasure of society; while he lives remote from communication with mankind, and is wrapped up in principles and notions equally remote from their comprehension.

-David Hume

TYPOLUTION

Film of minimalist typographical animation with environmental taste created by Olivier Beaudoin.......simply amazing

C0E716 = (12 × 163) + (0 × 162) + (14 × 161) + (7 × 160) = (12 × 4096) + (0 × 256) + (14 × 16) + (7 × 1) = 49,38310

boredom is the reflection of objective dullness

IN RESPONSE TO THOMAS NAGEL'S ARTICLE "DEATH"

(Most of this argument is based on the assumption that one understands Epicurean philosophy)

Nagel asks a simple question in relation of death being an evil: it is the question whether the non-realization of this possibility is in every case a misfortune, or whether it depends on what can naturally be hoped for. He states that the ideas can be illustrated by an example of deprivation that approaches death, such as an intelligent person that incurs a severe brain injury resulting him to a mental condition such as that of an infant. Most people would consider this a misfortune for himself, as well as others and society. But this does not mean that the individual is unfortunate. We as an outside observer feel bad for him and his situation, but the person themselves does not mind their condition. It is the same condition that he was in at the age of infancy which he did not mind then, except that the body size is different. If we do not pity an infant then, why pity a person at an infancy state of mind.

If we use Nagel’s argument in relation to the fear of death, then you would find that any fear of death is irrational. Upon death we lose our conciseness, making us unaware or not able to realize what is going on. Since our soul, according to Epicurus, dissipates throughout the cosmos and we do not have to worry about an afterlife, death does not affect us once you are dead. Once dead we can not realize that we are dead, and if things such as death being an evil are about the realization of them, we do not have to worry about death being an evil since once dead, realization becomes impossible. Therefore death is nothing to us, since one can not realize that they are dead.

FITTER HAPPIER

concerned (but powerless)
an empowered and informed member of society (pragmatism not idealism)
will not cry in public
less chance of illness
tires that grip in the wet (shot of baby strapped in back seat)
a good memory
still cries at a good film
still kisses with saliva
no longer empty and frantic
like a cat
tied to a stick
that's driven into
frozen winter shit (the ability to laugh at weakness)
calm
fitter, healthier and more productive
a pig
in a cage
on antibiotics

MISSLE ++

this is not right

MANIFESTO

An extract from the diary of Lieutenant Colonel Mervin Willett Gonin DSO who was among the first British soldiers to liberate Bergen-Belsen in 1945.

I can give no adequate description of the Horror Camp in which my men and myself were to spend the next month of our lives. It was just a barren wilderness, as bare as a chicken run. Corpses lay everywhere, some in huge piles, sometimes they lay singly or in pairs where they had fallen.

It took a little time to get used to seeing men women and children collapse as you walked by them and to restrain oneself from going to their assistance. One had to get used early to the idea that the individual just did not count. One knew that five hundred a day were dying and that five hundred a day were going on dying for weeks before anything we could do would have the slightest effect. It was, however, not easy to watch a child choking to death from diptheria when you knew a tracheotomy and nursing would save it, one saw women drowning in their own vomit because they were too weak to turn over, and men eating worms as they clutched a half loaf of bread purely because they had to eat worms to live and now could scarcely tell the difference.

Piles of corpses, naked and obscene, with a woman too weak to stand propping herself against them as she cooked the food we had given her over an open fire; men and women crouching down just anywhere in the open relieving themselves of the dysentary which was scouring their bowels, a woman standing stark naked washing herself with some issue soap in water from a tank in which the remains of a child floated. It was shortly after the British Red Cross arrived, though it may have no connection, that a very large quantity of lipstick arrived. This was not at all what we men wanted, we were screaming for hundreds and thousands of other things and I don't know who asked for lipstick. I wish so much that I could discover who did it, it was the action of genius, sheer unadulterated brilliance. I believe nothing did more for these internees than the lipstick. Women lay in bed with no sheets and no nightie but with scarlet red lips, you saw them wandering about with nothing but a blanket over their shoulders, but with scarlet red lips. I saw a woman dead on the post mortem table and clutched in her hand was a piece of lipstick. At last someone had done something to make them individuals again, they were someone, no longer merely the number tatooed on the arm. At last they could take an interest in their appearance. That lipstick started to give them back their humanity.

ON THE REALITY OF PERCEPTION

Objects that are believed to be perceptible are in actuality, non-existent. We take the color red for example which is a common color that undoubtedly most people would recognize. People would agree that the color is red and may even agree of the shade of the red (ie: light, dark, etc.), but in reality are actually perceiving this color differently. It is impossible to tell what the other person is actually seeing, since this is opinionated, therefore making perceiving this object impossible. None of these perceptions exist truly, but are made up of an opinion. It is by convention that we see this color as red but in truth we only know this to be “thing” or “nothing”. This brings us to the fact that the color red does not exist as a whole. It may exist to you or to someone else but to each other the same red is not a reality. This applies for all senses of all objects. Democritus argues this in part of his atomist theory: the thought that perceptibles are believed to exist but they do not exist truly, only atoms and void do. Everything exists by convention but in reality, only “thing” and “nothing” exist.

WHERE IS THE HUMANITY

Israel Continues Gaza Attack as Security Council Calls for Ceasefire
Israel continues its devastating assault on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire.

Palestinian Toll Reaches 778; At Least 200 Children Killed
Thirteen Israelis have died over the same period, four by friendly fire. The Security Council voted fourteen-to-nothing for the ceasefire, with the US abstaining.

Red Cross Suspend Relief Work After Lethal Israeli Attacks on Aid Convoys
The killings reportedly came during the three-hour pause to the bombing agreed to by Israel to allow humanitarian relief.

WHO: 21 Palestinian Medical Workers Killed in Gaza Attack
According to the World Health Organization, twenty-one Palestinian medical workers have been killed and another thirty injured in the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Vatican Official Compares Gaza to “Concentration Camp”
The Israeli attack is under increasing international criticism. On Thursday, a high-ranking Vatican official, Cardinal Renato Martino, compared Gaza to “a concentration camp.” Speaking to an Italian daily, Martino said, “Look at the conditions in Gaza. More and more, it resembles a big concentration camp.”

Senate Affirms Support for Attack on Gaza
As the United Nations and the Red Cross condemned the Israeli assault on Gaza, the US Senate approved a measure overwhelmingly supporting the attack.
Reid said, “When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel’s inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”

People need to speak up against what is happening and educate others who are not aware of this horrible situation.

WE MUST STOP THE VIOLENCE.

(all information was obtained from www.democracynow.org unless otherwise noted)

THINK

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

Many people would agree with this statement and at the same time, many people would reject it. It all depends on your outlook towards life and what you value. Many people would prefer to not know the big questions in life while others enjoy thinking deeply and attempting to figure such questions out, but we have to ask ourselves: what constitutes as living a fulfilling, successful life? At the same time, who is to tell us that the way we choose to live our life is wrong?

People need to first take time to think. Just think. Not to think about what they are doing later while listening to music and driving to work, but to just sit and process thoughts. People need to figure out who they are before they can start answering these questions or even deciding if they want to answer these questions. Figure out what you stand for and what you believe in, if anything at all.

Have I lived a good life? What is death? Is there a god? Is there a such thing as good and evil? Is there life after death? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is truth? Is there a plan for everything that happens?

These are the types of questions that people tend to avoid. People do not liked to be challenged or pushed. More importantly people do not like to be disagreed with or told that they are wrong. To ever answer any of these questions, a person must be able to accept that they may be wrong. Be open to others opinions. Take the time to try to fully understand them and be completely open to change. Society today is failing because of peoples inability to think and their unwillingness to admit that they were wrong or that they have changed their mind. Just because one may think a certain way and then decide later that they feel the opposite does not make you weak or unintelligent. Being proved wrong is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have. To have someone or something compel a person to feel so strongly that they change their mind or view on a subject is a great thing!