tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post3947630143706952909..comments2023-10-26T22:06:11.166+11:00Comments on Metamagician3000: Keeping the humanities alive - and a bit on "other ways of knowing"Russell Blackfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-15068446299029584892010-12-01T05:54:15.952+11:002010-12-01T05:54:15.952+11:00Wow! My comment showed up — I got a screwy error m...Wow! My comment showed up — I got a screwy error message when I tried to post it and thought Blogger had eaten it.<br /><br />Edit: "on what the spark" -> "on the spark". Oops.Blake Staceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13977394981287067289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-24281118807907015682010-11-30T10:52:15.764+11:002010-11-30T10:52:15.764+11:00I've never been able to pin down what people m...I've never been able to pin down what people mean when they say that literature, for example, is "another way of knowing". So, <i>Atlas Shrugged</i> is evidence that Objectivism works in real life?<br /><br />"Oh, not like <i>that</i> — stories evoke feelings in us, you see — they help us discover things about ourselves."<br /><br />Ah, so fiction provides the <i>emotional illusion</i> of understanding. Stories resonate with the lies we already tell ourselves, or they feed us new ones. I mean, it's not like the sensation I get from personally identifying with the captains of industry in some made-up book actually correlates with how much I contribute to society, does it?<br /><br />"What do you have against Art, man?"<br /><br />Nothing. I get joy and aesthetic enrichment from paintings and music and poetry and pyrotechnic romps through hyperspace. I just think that calling that <i>knowledge</i> is foolish and, in some cases, perhaps even dangerous to the intellect. It leads us to forget that those discoveries are of an intensely personal kind. They depend on what the spark which one "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qswgf9q5lrI" rel="nofollow">can neither define nor dismiss</a>", and that spark burns differently for each living human being. I might read the <i>Odyssey</i> and say to myself, "Yes, this is how people act, this is a deep expression of human desires, there is a definite vibration within my soul" — but should I then dismiss all archaeology which differs with the Homeric picture of Mycenaean Greece? My own reaction to the Folio and Quarto texts of <i>King Lear,</i> my judgement of which variant is more complex or more textured or more evocative, should not bias my arguments about the dating of the available source documents or about the methods of composition employed in typesetting the First Folio. Of course, were I making a movie out of <i>Lear,</i> I'd have to draw on my aesthetic sense to make all my decisions; our personal sparks are hardly without value. Calling aesthetic experiences <i>knowledge</i> vastly miscasts them, even though the empirico-rational aspects of humanistic scholarship are broadly continuous with the sciences.<br /><br />"Scientism! Scientism!"<br /><br />OK, if you insist. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get about finding a publisher for my science-fiction murder mystery. . . .Blake Staceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13977394981287067289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-78954964040434129882010-11-29T17:19:55.797+11:002010-11-29T17:19:55.797+11:00Dr Blackford, I'm going to recommend that my s...Dr Blackford, I'm going to recommend that my students read this particular post of yours. Thank you very much for the lucid and entertaining way in which you've expressed your thoughts on the subject!Trebuchethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09985664863838276012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-50614222673954886492010-11-29T05:43:51.163+11:002010-11-29T05:43:51.163+11:00I found that debate frustrating too.I found that debate frustrating too.Ophelia Bensonhttp://www.butterfliesandwheels.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-49562653878803317642010-11-29T04:03:31.810+11:002010-11-29T04:03:31.810+11:00The phrase "other ways of knowing" may b...The phrase "other ways of knowing" may be hijacked by those who would try to maintain an equivalency between evidence-based knowledge and intuition, what feels good, or so-called 'revelation'. That is of course absurd. But a reasonable meaning of that phrase, and one that is sound, is that one gains a different *kind* of knowledge when using different methodologies. These knowledges are not contradictory; on the contrary they are complementary. I know water in one way, a sensate knowledge, when I dive into a cool lake on a hot day. And I know water in a different way when I read The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner. And I know water in yet another way when I know it is composed of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, elements that do not manifest the same properties as water does. These ways of knowing are very different, but there is no problem or contradiction in acknowledging and appreciating all of them. And no way to, or point in trying to, give one dominion over the other. Knowledge attained by one often enriches knowledge obtained by different means. All are fundamentally mysterious and inspire awe.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10313915191430243568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-9817787084126712372010-11-28T13:24:16.589+11:002010-11-28T13:24:16.589+11:00Mike, the ways of Blogger are very mysterious.Mike, the ways of Blogger are very mysterious.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-43246681743091151782010-11-28T13:21:25.786+11:002010-11-28T13:21:25.786+11:00I found that debate frustrating. I thought Josh Ro...I found that debate frustrating. I thought Josh Rosenau was barking up the wrong tree. In particular, I thought he showed a poor understanding of the humanities. But the debate proceeded with a pace that made it difficult for me to make a thoughtful contribution at the time.<br /><br />I seem to recall making some comments on Rosenau's blog, but the whole thing needs quite careful unpicking. It's also possible that I was away for some of it. I spent a lot of the second half of 2009 overseas.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-43736719718111190452010-11-28T11:54:59.673+11:002010-11-28T11:54:59.673+11:00Maybe I'm not remembering too well, but I wish...Maybe I'm not remembering too well, but I wish you were a more involved participant in the "other ways of knowing" debate in late 2009 between <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2009/09/on_vampires_and_ways_of_knowin.php" rel="nofollow">Josh Rosenau</a> and Ophelia Benson and others. Some of Josh's posts were just agonizing for me to read.<br /><br />And this is a wonderful response to it. I just wish you had written it then. All in all this has been a great week for Russell Blackford-related readings. Thanks!josef johannhttp://josefjohann.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-28799390841064482010-11-28T11:07:09.860+11:002010-11-28T11:07:09.860+11:00Hmmm. The subscription checkbox appears AFTER I po...Hmmm. The subscription checkbox appears AFTER I post.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16494731273916705327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-81971125848010348062010-11-28T11:03:34.346+11:002010-11-28T11:03:34.346+11:00Years ago when I was doing my B.Sc. at Sydney U, I...Years ago when I was doing my B.Sc. at Sydney U, I bumped into Julius Sumner Miller, who asked me what courses I had picked along with Physics. When I said "Applied and Pure Mathematics" he pounced on me immediately and said "why not music and literature and ....?"<br /><br />I did at least swap Applied Maths for Philosophy a few weeks later, but I did regret not being in a system with a bit more wiggle room for liberal arts flavouring at least. <br /><br />PS Why can't I subscribe to comments on this blog???Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16494731273916705327noreply@blogger.com