Category Archives: philosophy

culture, philosophy, politics

>Know thyself! – The criticism of life

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Matthew Arnold, author of Culture and Anarchy, claimed that art is the criticism of life.

In our society people are viewed through a lens which magnifies wealth, power and bloodlines, where instead it should magnify the moral qualities of character. We tend to praise those who perform great deeds, but neglect those who aren’t that very explicit or ”successful”, the ones who lead their ”hidden lives”. The world only cares about status, and is completely blind to the worlds within us. This dependency on status is all we read and hear about wherever we go.
Art, literature and music may help us notice, understand and appreciate those hidden lives that are waiting to be born. Most of the times, the hidden values being offered through culture are those of most interest to the ones interested in moral qualities. This is where we find philosophy and radical ideas rarely talked about in the mainstream arena. This is where spirit and man collide, as opposed to society where spirit and man collapse.
Society teaches us to judge a book by its cover, to depend on status for credibility and to look up to the rich and famous. Culture might help as a cure to society’s sickness.

I do not wish to see men of culture asking to be entrusted with power; and, indeed, I have freely said, that in my opinion the speech most proper, at present, for a man of culture to make to a body of his fellow-countrymen who get him into a committee-room, is Socrates’: Know thyself! and this is not a speech to be made by men wanting to be entrusted with power.
Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (1882)

Earlier posts related to this subject:
Intelligent misanthropy – Part 1
Intelligent misanthropy – Part 2

interview, literature, philosophy, quotes

>Humanism without humans

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Peter Sotos – controversial writer, thinker and musician, probably most famous for being arrested for obscenity because of his fanzine Pure (1984), as well as being a member of the power electronics group Whitehouse – is a man I’ve taken great interest in, pretty much because of what he says in interviews and what you can read between the lines in his explicit works.
Total Abuse is a collection of nearly all of Sotos’ texts between 1984-1995 (including Pure, Tool. and Parasite), and what I find most interesting with this book is the interview and introduction made by Jim Goad. I wrote about this in the paper issue of Ny Moral #1.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview where he talks about humanism and humanity.

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Jim Goad: I’d like you to comment on this [line] from PARASITE #5: “Like most humanism, it conveniently doesn’t include humans.” Where has humanism gone astray? What are they not understanding about humanity?

Peter Sotos: Well, I think we’ve been talking about it, really. These people have these dreams and fantasies, it’s like people who decide when they’re two, or when they’re going to their first prom, they decide, “You know, mom, I wanna have a really high-paying job, and I want to have two kids, and someone who loves me, and go out on Friday nights to balls and dances”, whatever they think, I don’t know. And just their whole life shows you that that’s not gonna happen… And they still cling to these things, not as sort of dreams or fantasies, by the end they’re just these sorts of religious beliefs… And humanists, people who are just so concerned with the human element, with others and everyone’s care and concern, so boggled by the actual information that exists. But once again, you say this sort of stuff, and you sound as if you’re – as if I’m – upset. When, you know, the opposite is true. I’ve come to this from – it just seems obvious to me… People aren’t going to have these rosy little lives.

It seems like it’s wishful thinking that gets misunderstood as some kind of ontological verity.

Yeah, right. They’re dedicated to, you know, “Well, this was promised to me.” And they drive themselves crazy. But the thing is, I do like what life has to offer. I don’t want to sound like, “Nah, this is terrible. Why don’t these people wake up?” I mean, it really isn’t like that. I just think it’s a much more realistic viewpoint.

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Read more about what Peter Sotos has to say right here.
And then read some more on the Fanzine site.

movies, philosophy, religion

>Religion and its influence on society

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You probably know this one already: Tom Cruise, famous Scientologist, is quite scary in this clip – and he’s not acting… It pretty much shows how indoctrination rules in religion. Nothing new, but it seems like a lot of us need to be reminded about this blemish on humanity every once in a while. I’m not saying all religions are crap, they might be of good use to a lot of people, but when religion and faith becomes business and tools for power we’ve failed once again.

A pretty good documentary on the subject of religion and faith is The Root of All Evil? where biologist Richard Dawkins, author of the very readable book The God Delusion, takes on religion and its influence on society.

philosophy

>Intelligent misanthropy – Part 2

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Jan Stenmark: Some people are too stupid to feel anxious. That’s smart.
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First you might want to read Intelligent misanthropy – Part 1.
Then you might pose the question: Is being misanthropic really such an intelligent thing?

Well, misanthropy is a way of looking at humanity that probably will emerge over time. The more you learn about this world and its inhabitants, the more you would want to distance yourself from its craziness. At least that’s how I look at it, because I see no change to the better in the long run.

Alain de Botton writes in his book Status Anxiety:
“The disadvantage of this otherwise usefully clear-eyed view of humanity is that it may leave us with few friends.” I don’t necessarily agree with that few friends thing. I’m more in agreement with what Chamfort said:
“Once we have resolved only to see those who will treat us morally and virtuosly, reasonably and truthfully, without treating conventions, vanities and ceremonials as anything other than props of polite society … the result is that we will have to live more or less on our own.”

To spend time alone is essential to me. That’s what keeps me going. But:
“It is sometimes said of a man who lives alone that he does not like society. This is like saying of a man that he does not like going for walks because he is not fond of walking at night in the forêt de Bondy”, as Chamfort said. In other words: I have a desire for company, not just 24/7.

What disappoints me though is that I often have to wage wars alone as well. People may agree with what I say, but I’m the only one saying it. That’s awfully tiresome sometimes, the lack of support. And people say I am the one who’s lost all hope! At least I’m still fighting/writing. Seems to me like you – the passive masses – are the hopeless ones…

philosophy

>Intelligent misanthropy – Part 1

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”Intelligent misanthropy” is a way of looking at people that I stumbled upon when reading Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton. I believe it suits my personal philosophy perfectly, since it’s free from pessimism and pride. After all, I’m a pretty happy guy, you know.

Once you start dissecting the opinions of others you’ll soon realize that the vast majority are very confused and most of the time in total error on the majority of subjects. “Public opinion is the worst of all opinions”, as the great philosopher Nicolas Chamfort put it.
Common sense is actually common nonsense, since it suffers from simplification, prejudice, unintelligent thinking and a supreme lack of knowledge. People usually tend to rely on emotions, old habits and intuition, instead of rational examination. Thus “one can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be an idiocy, because it has been able to appeal to a majority”, in Chamfort’s words.

In today’s sick society it’s obviously very important to be looked upon with love and respect from just about everyone you meet. If people despise you, you will not feel great. It will hurt your status. This is when the intelligent misanthropy philosophy comes in handy.
Before you let them hurt you, examine their opinions, their behaviour, their intellect, and most certainly you’ll come to the conclusion that they are fuck ups not worthy of your respect. Only when their words are damning and true is when you should start worrying. If they curse you with false and unintelligent bullshit, why bother? Instead, without aggression or pessimism, just sit back and let misanthropy rule. They suck.

Arthur Schopenhauer said: “Whoever attaches a lot of value to the opinions of others pays them too much honor”.
When we realize that most people’s values in life are futile, superficial and plain stupid, we’ll become uninterested in what’s going on in their minds and concentrate on our own thoughts and what people we respect are discussing. As Voltaire put it: “The earth swarms with people who are not worth talking to”.
Schopenhauer again: “Would the musician feel flattered by the loud applause of his audience if it were known to him that, with the exception of one or two, it consisted entirely of deaf people?”.
In short, why take the majority of people seriously? Why waste the energy and space? They are the ones who rely heavily on traditions and shallow thinking, and yet they ask themselves “Why do the Hottentots eat grasshoppers?”. Because it’s tradition, baby. Once again it’s you who are the ignorant fool.
As the old saying goes: “Never underestimate the power of people in large groups”.

philosophy, quotes, religion

>E.M. Cioran: The Lure of Disillusion

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In the Talmud, a stupefying assertion: “The more men there are, the more images of the divine there are in nature.” This may have been true in the period when the remark was made, but it is belied today by all one sees and will be still further belied by all that will be seen.
E.M. Cioran, The Lure of Disillusion
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To withdraw indefinitely into oneself, like God after the six days. Let us imitate Him, on this point at least.
E.M. Cioran, The Lure of Disillusion

movies, philosophy

>Into The Wild and the ego

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Photo shot in Sweden, way up north, summer 2006.

Sean Penn’s latest feat, the beautiful and astonishing film Into The Wild, really gets your mind going. In itself the movie might not be that amazing in what it shows (even though there are some truly breathcatching scenes revealing Mother Nature in her true majestic pride) – it’s what the film plants in your mind that’s the most interesting aspect, I think. But in a way, there’s nothing new here. People have always broken up from their daily lives and sought out a more meaningful existence. I guess it happens everyday, with the exception that most of us who have those wild ideas of living alone in the middle of nowhere never turn those ideas into reality…

Based on the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer the film tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young gifted university graduate who leaves everything behind (parents, sibling, friends, money) to live alone in the Alaskan wilderness. This is his reality and this is his choice – as opposed to enduring the Spectacle, a consuming reality chosen by others. Freedom and moral inquiry are the keywords here, and Chris was widely influenced by the works of Henry David Thoreau, Jack London and Leo Tolstoy – like so many others before and after him. Hell, I’m reading Thoreau every now and then and every time I start to think about life in a cabin besides a pond in a forest unknown, where I can read, write, walk, listen and explore my freedom. I guess everybody have those thoughts when reading that book.
However, I’m so deeply rooted in the consumer’s society I probably wouldn’t make it through the first night, but I’ve made some choices that will sort of pave way for a more genuine life style a couple of years ahead. That’s my great plan anyway.

After having rented shitty apartments in shitty neighbourhoods and shared flats with friends for over eight years (which was kind of hell for me at times, since I enjoy being alone, not having to socialize and attend their parties) I decided to get my very own place. When the opportunity arose – money! – I bought an apartment in an area which suited me perfect. It’s close to the city, but it’s got all the nature you could ask for and that’s a good start when slowly trying to get away…
Also, I quit a lot of things which mostly brought me headaches. I quit doing the film club, I quit my stupid job and got another one which is awesome. Recently, even though my job is awesome, I decided to cut one day so now I work four days a week instead of five to be able to do more reading, writing and the stuff that really matters to me. I quit a lot of other shit as well, just time consuming mindless crap that I could do without. A visit to the Northern parts of Sweden living the life I’m seeking for five days also made it very clear to me that that’s the way one should live. I want to devote more time to reading, writing and exploring, preferably in an environment where I can live and dwell alone.

All this, in conjunction with the film and the books I’m reading, naturally makes me think a lot. It raises a lot of questions. Is breaking away from humanity the same as escaping from reality? Is it taking the easy way out, escaping all the problems? The ultimate egoism? Well, since I have no hope for humanity, and truly believe in a dark, sterile, dead future, why should I care about others? Well I do, because I’m a humanist as well. A misanthropic humanist. Wow…
But I guess it’s my way of dealing with reality; to be creative, dynamic and to constantly develop and nurture new “skills” and ways of thinking. To do that, one certainly needs time alone.
But hey, looking at how deeply rooted I am in this consumer’s society it’ll probably take me another thirty years to get my cabin and pond. Still, that’s what I’m hoping for. I’ll have to learn to cook first, though.

In an upcoming article I’ll hopefully relate all this to Spengler and modernity. Meanwhile, in case you missed, here’s some stuff I wrote earlier that kind of connects with these issues:

Living with the dying
Oswald Spengler – The Decline of Cultures
Här finns inget varaktigt och allmängiltigt (about Spengler in Swedish)
Great movies of the 80’s: Threads
Society’s sickness
Situationism – Part 1
Situationism – Part 2
Situationism – Part 3
Planet Earth and misanthropy
The art of psychogeography

Relevant blogs:
Oskorei
Fimbulvinter

To buy the best swedish translation of Thoreau’s Walden, click here for more info.
And to watch another great movie, check out Grizzly Man.