Arash's World

RSS Feed Homepage

Being versus Acting:The Ethical Dilemma of Morality
2009-09-23 18:55:00
When we hear that so-and-so is a ?good? person, we automatically assume that the person in question is a virtuous and moral being. But is it enough to simply "be" a good person? Can we simply equate being good with a moral being? Plato would probably say yes. We should strive for the Good and from this state all else would flow naturally. It is a state of spiritual enlightenment where all the "good" qualities would be reunited in the person. As Socrates put it, evil exists only because of people's ignorance; illuminate them with knowledge of the good and they will act less out of self-interest and more for the common good. Is such a stance valid? Aristotle disagrees. For him, morality is less a state of being; it is rather action-based. One is, as the existentialists tend to say, the "sum total of one's acts". In such a view neither intentions nor dreams or wishful thinking are of any practical value. That a person always dreamed and meant to become a humanitarian does not make th...
More About: Morality , Acting , Versus , Dilemma

Sophistry, Flattery, Art and Philosophy in a Commercial World
2009-09-13 20:00:00
In the modern understanding of the word, ?sophistry? has a decisively negative connotation. It refers to people who envelop, even purposely trick and deceive you with words. Nonetheless, the original sophists were a group of wandering philosophers; they would charge money for sharing their knowledge and were known for their reasoning skills as well as their manners of persuasion.The ancient Greek sophists, and often Socrates is mixed up with them, were said to be ?corrupters of youth? as their teachings often clashed with the conservative and age-old traditions of the Greek forefathers. By providing youth with a different definition of truth - away from the mindless following of rules and a more sharpened awareness of one?s own impact on the world ? these philosophers must have caused resentment in a society that preferred the already established morals and values.In this case, one should, however, point out that Socrates (and his pupil Plato shared this view) did not necessarily li...
More About: Philosophy , Commercial , World

An Ancient Greek Sense of Female Beauty: The Platonic Aspirations of an Aes
2009-09-01 18:53:00
A true aesthete is concerned and fascinated by beauty itself, by beauty for its own sake. It could be nature, an object of art, a real person or even a life-style. It may have its roots in the eyes of a beholder yet mostly it manages to transcend the perspective of one unique being and becomes a sample or carnation of its absolute ideal and immaculate (Platonic) form.It is the answer to the question what is beauty and how it is represented. What makes a face or body appealing or attractive? Although one?s personal standards are different, when we agree on and sum up each particle of beauty we will manage to conceive a picture of the whole, the ?big picture?. A perfect beautiful woman would be the perfect proportions of all beautiful features combined and enmeshed with a beautiful soul.Beauty by today?s standards is less that quest for the ideal, but rather a quick and hasty appropriation and supposed ownership of the object of beauty. A work of art that appeals to our senses that we...
More About: Sense , Female , Greek , Ancient

Why Submission - and Islamic Thought - seem so Foreign to Western Thinking
2009-08-25 07:16:00
Our Western world seems to be obsessed with winning. Try and be your best, we are told. Never give up. Fight for your dreams and ideals. There is an air of invincible force over the North American spirit that thrives on obstacles and competition; everyone is always on the look-out for self-improvement. ?Second-best? just doesn?t cut it; it?s the consolation price; it?s the price invented for losers only.Although these are great principles that can move forward both the individual and the nation, it also has its peculiar drawbacks. Success becomes often defined and measured by ?material success?. Businessmen compete with each other in size and money. Athletes break their necks to break world-records. Bestsellers and blockbuster vie over how much cash they can bring in.The other drawback exists in the limits we each face. Ignoring them does not make them go away. No matter how much time I may spend on learning an art that is contrary to my talents and abilities ? such as drawing - I j...
More About: Islamic , Thought , Foreign , Submission

Adam in Paradise and Calling a Spade by its Correct Name
2009-08-15 06:54:00
A name is important indeed. For better or worse, we identify with the name we are given by our parents. Few of us actually legally change it; it?s something that we have grown accustomed to, that has become a stable core of who we are, despite the fact that we personally and physically keep changing; sometimes we may even become a completely different person yet our name always remains the same.That?s why when parents name their children it is a difficult matter. The poor child is going to be stuck with it for the rest of his or her life. It is a great responsibility. People may later make fun of him or her.The same responsibility must have weighed heavily on Adam ?s shoulders when God assigned him the task of naming all those creatures in front of him. By giving them names he also might have felt a sense of control, a kind of life-giving. As an author we feel proud to have created an interesting character with an interesting name; as a parent, others may compliment us on the choice ...
More About: Paradise , Calling

The Buddhist Concepts of Right Thought and Right Speech and the Perception
2009-08-04 00:34:00
Our thoughts color our perception of reality. Whatever we see is filtered through the lens of thought and it often becomes twisted and transformed into something else. The great German philosopher Kant reminds us that we can never see ?how things really are?, all we are left with is our version of how things may appear to us yet it would never be on purely scientific criteria. Even science then would be limited by our undeniable subjectivity.Yet all of this is not a real problem. It often can be used to our benefit. Existentialism underscores this unique capability of ours something that as Descartes has observed truly sets us apart from other kinds of beings: Our capacity to create meaning, our ability to look for an underlying reality, the reality behind the veil of reality.Religions have dealt with such ideas extensively. Whether it be the ?City of God? as idealized by St. Augustine, or ?Maya?, the world of illusion of Buddhism, or the Nirguna Brahman versus the manifested Saguna...
More About: Concepts , Thought , Speech

What are you on (about), dear Socrates?
2009-07-26 01:49:00
Socrates is an enigmatic, highly influential figure of Western philosophy. Although we see him through the eyes of his admiring student Plato, Socrates has been accredited for creating his own method, the elenchus.The elenchus is a constant and rigorous questioning of values. In fact, it is so intense and rigorous, sharpened by the merciless stiletto of logic that his friends and fellow philosophers are left baffled and speechless on numerous accounts. In Plato?s Dialogues there are several instances where his friends cry out that they do not understand or have great difficulty following this brilliant philosopher?s speeding train of thought. Socrates is often asked to clarify what he means by this or that and how he jumps to certain conclusions ? most of which are indeed not self-evident.In the end, however, almost anybody who comes into contact with this famously ?ugly-looking? thinker will leave the conversation in a state of perplexity and utter confusion. Socrates, to their gr...
More About: Socrates

Zoos, Habit(at)s and Thoughts on Animal and Human Freedom
2009-07-13 05:46:00
In Yann Martel?s acclaimed book ?Life of Pi? the first person narrator defends the case for zoos and discusses notions of freedom from the point of view of animals. Some people criticize zoos for being confined spaces as opposed to the natural habitat and forms of life and it boils down to questions of freedom and happiness. Are zoos a form of jail for the animals and are they unhappy there? Are they stressed because of all the human attention and the clicking cameras and the pointy fingers?A zoo is indeed a confined space, but it comes with various advantages. One of them is safety; another is a steady supply of food. In the wild it is literally a jungle. All the animals need to hunt for food in order to avoid starvation, but with it there is the constant danger of becoming prey to other stronger and fiercer animals. In the zoo they may lose some of those killer instincts, but they are fed and protected by humans.In the book, there is an analysis of how animals are actually very co...
More About: Freedom , Animal , Human , Thoughts

You are what you do: Job Impressions, Serial Killers and our Different Selv
2009-06-27 18:47:00
What you do for a living often reflects of how you are seen and responded to in society. It is an immediate quick judgment that one makes on the other and so the question of what one does becomes what one is. Most of our judgments on professions are based on stereotypes that we and society have accumulated over time. It even spills over to personal characteristics that we attribute to the person. For example, when we think of an accountant or lawyer there are various characteristics immediately triggered. Meeting psychologists makes us extra-cautious as we assume they may analyze us and dig out our flaws and emotional problems. And a clown or comedians ought to be funny at all times and we are shocked when we see them in their serious and bad moods.It really comes down to age-old philosophical questions of appearance and reality. In Plato´s Republic Socrates is asked how one can recognize a just person, how one knows for sure that he or she is just; they can be evil and unethical an...
More About: Killers , Impressions

Know Thyself and the Dangers of Too Much Knowledge
2009-06-12 19:59:00
?Know Thyself? was the inscription in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. However, its meaning may have been quite different from today?s understanding of the phrase. We live in a world where individualism and self-assertion and ?expression are inbuilt mechanisms and have become the lens through which we see and understand the world. It seems we are breastfed this kind of knowledge and it is reinforced and emphasized during the school years and through the mass media of television and the movie industry. It may not be so in various other collectivist cultures and traditions, often collectively referred to as the ?East?, but through globalization and the popular entertainment industry this information or paradigm has been seeping through and influencing other cultures to a strong degree.If we put the meaning of ?Know Thyself? into the Greek conception of humanity and the world, we will realize that they understood this in quite a different manner. Whether the Greeks actually believed in ...
More About: Knowledge

Marriage and Being in Favor of Open Relationships, But ?
2009-05-30 01:28:00
The tradition or rather ?institution? of marriage seems to make intuitive sense. Husband and wife form a union and have children and it becomes the nucleus of a family. As parents they take care of each other and their children and the latter grow up in equilibrium of male and female guidance.Of course, there are various criticisms with this traditional and conservative definition of marriage and family. We must not overlook that in fact many of it may seem logical and intuitive but that ? alas - human nature follows its own logic. Part of it may be the fault of our libido, or sexuality, something that has come into the forefront especially since Freud has made sexuality the focal issue of his psychoanalysis. And no matter how much we may stress that we are essentially good and moral, that sex is lust and leads us into temptation and strays us from the correct path, that sex may be even filthy, that sex is unnatural and even abnormal among same-sex partners and whatever else many pe...
More About: Marriage , Relationships , Open

The Color of Paradise and Reading God?s Wor(l)d
2009-05-09 22:17:00
The Iranian film ?Color of Paradise ? by Majid Majidi, which in its original title literally translates as ?God?s Color?, is an impressive and genuinely moving spiritual portrait of a blind boy who is rejected not only by society but by his very own father. Mohammed is a creative, generally content and ingenious boy who despite of his visual impairment manages to climb trees, run through fields, and study literature and poetry with fervor and enthusiasm. Yet his father, a widow, sees him as a source of embarrassment especially since he would like to remarry. As a result, he keeps Mohammed?s existence hidden from the family of his bride-to-be. He only mentions his two daughters and wants nothing to get into the way of his impending marriage. This cruel and calculated behavior does not remain hidden from the kind and observant eyes of his mother, Mohammed?s beloved grandmother.The movie manages to give us a heart rendering glimpse of this blind boy?s life. With him we hear the myriad s...
More About: Reading

Mexico?s Swine Flu Crisis: A Time for Literary Reflection amidst Fear and P
2009-04-28 02:17:00
It is a strange image to see people roaming the streets with their faces covered by masks to protect themselves from this mysterious and ominous influenza outbreak. It seems like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. In ?28 days later? one had to beware of contact with infectious blood, in our case, we are paranoid of each other, no matter if it?s a friend or a stranger especially when they start sneezing or coughing. A common cold today equals ostracism in these troublesome days.Whether the whole level of fuss and panic is really necessary remains to be seen in the near future. Yet that it poses a tangible threat for most of us, especially if you are living in Mexico , is evident in daily life. Schools all across the nation have been suspended for a week; public events, including soccer games, are either canceled or take place behind closed doors to avoid spread of the virus among multitudes of people. The whole country is on its way of turning into a ghost town soon enough.Various...
More About: Time , Fear , Reflection , Crisis

Why Empires Crumble : The Downfall of Rome
2009-04-19 19:18:00
What causes the downfall of large and invincible-seeming empires like those of the Romans? The Romans had almost the entire world in the palm of their hands. So what happened?One of the crucial reasons for their downfall has been the lack of political and national unity. On the level of government, the Romans began to break apart when they divided their territory into even parts. The Second Triumvirate turned out to be a veritable headache for the Romans. Augustus had a deal with Marc Anthony and Lepidus. The latter was stripped from office due to usurping power in Sicily and spent the rest of his life in exile, whereas the ambitious and power-hungry Marc Anthony defied the much younger and less battle-experienced Augustus. From the East Marc Anthony was causing so much trouble that Augustus decided to fight against him and regain the territory he had allotted to him. Such intense internal strife, capable Romans against other Romans, is a dangerous undertaking because there were alw...
More About: Rome , Empires

Meditations on God?s Nature and Existence and the Origins of the Universe
2009-04-14 03:58:00
In two previous posts ?God?s Omnipotence and the Rules of the Game of Existence? and ?Nothing can come out of nothing - or can it?? I attempted to tackle questions on apparent contradictions of God?s nature and powers. Now I shall try to elaborate on these issues however under a different set of circumstances and with the aid of the French philosopher René Descartes.First of all, we humans are firmly situated in both time and space and are not fully aware of the consequences of our actions at any given time. For example, we have certain wills (or desires, needs), but the results are usually separated in space and time. I will (or have a sensation) that I am hungry; depending on the level of hunger my response can happen quickly or can be delayed, at least for a while. Nonetheless, it is absolutely necessary to satisfy this need for survival and the outcome will have to be food at some point of time. The question is not whether or not I am going to eat, but when.On the other hand, I ...
More About: Nature , Universe , Meditations , The Universe

How a baby can change your life: six months later
2009-04-05 23:10:00
It is a definite and undeniable fact that the birth of my son has changed my life. Although there are great abundant joys, there is also constant fear and anguish. Anything, from the slightest inconvenience and pain on his part, let alone the frequent visits to get needed vaccinations, causes stress in each of us. There is a certain feeling of helplessness as if we were dangling without security net in the webs of fate.However, there are also psychological changes, especially concerning one?s personality and outlook on life. First of all, as a man, I must say that I have gotten "softer" and much more emotional. It is not something completely out of the blue because emotions have always been important to me, but they have become more diverse and all-embracing. Particularly tales or movies about children or father and son relationships move me much more these days. I can relate to them on a deeper level, and when parents suffer, I can understand their pain. In a similar vein, I am beg...
More About: Baby , Life , Change

Worker?s Alienation and the Desolate, Lonesome Greed on Wall Street
2009-04-01 17:00:00
I have been following some of the latest developments on the current global crisis out of necessity. Although economics is not my favorite field, I must say that understanding some of the basic principles is paramount for survival in our modern capitalist world. Economics affects all of us and almost every part of our lives is influenced by economic decisions; at the same it also powers a feeling of helplessness and alienation.One becomes a pawn in a complex and confusing game where only few profit and the rest of us simply have to suffer. Seeing the market plunge or the cost of basic products rise I cannot do anything but accept those facts, though I feel completely left out and alienated from the process. It seems that I, and that includes probably most of us, am just a plaything caught up in a capricious whirlwind of economic disaster.Marx, building on Hegel?s concept, claims that modern labor has an alienating effect on each worker for various reasons, especially when it comes t...
More About: Wall Street , Street , Wall , Greed

Roberto Benigni, the Humanistic Italian Poet caught between Charles Chaplin
2009-03-17 01:51:00
Benigni?s most famous and accomplished work is undoubtedly ?Life is beautiful?, for which he won an Oscar. At first I was stunned that someone would have the audacity to make a comedy set in a concentration camp. When I saw the movie I was highly impressed by the strong humanistic and poetic tones of Benigni?s movie. It struck me as two movies in one; the first part a romantic interlude filled with magic and poetry, whereas the second part was a touching story about the desperate attempts of a father who wants to hide the horrors of the concentration camp from his son by turning it all into a ?game? of sorts. Throughout the movie one cannot help but admire the exuberance that has become a trademark of Benigni as an actor, as well as in real life - one only needs to see his wildly frenetic reaction to the win at the Oscars. He struck me as a modern-day Charlie Chaplin who with his gestures manages to entertain not only his fictitious son in ?Life is beautiful?, but also us, the spect...
More About: Iraq , Italian , Caught , Poet , Benigni

Loving you regardless: The Difficulties of Unconditional Positive Regard
2009-03-11 17:54:00
It seems very difficult, if not impossible, to have ?unconditional positive regard? for oneself and/or for others. It is a term that Carl Rogers used for his humanistic brand of psychological counseling or adjustment. The psychologist offers absolute acceptance of the client?s ideas, who in turn feels validated and grows in self-esteem. But can the same be applied to our daily lives? Can we love people and ourselves with ?no strings attached?, completely embracing and accepting who we are and how they are? I think it would take nothing short of a saint or an enlightened being to be able not only to forgive others for the ?harm? they may cause but more importantly to forgive oneself.Most of us do end up picking ourselves apart when something goes against our desired end or plan or when we commit an act or error; it becomes hard to forgive ourselves. Some even engage in what Germans term ?Selbstzerfleischung?, meaning ripping oneself into shreds.A date that does not meet our expectati...
More About: Loving , Positive

God said to Abraham kill me a Son: Kierkegaard?s ?Leap of Faith?
2009-03-05 02:49:00
Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac on Mount Sinai. He followed God?s order and set on a three-day journey to commit the deed. Nonetheless, when Abraham is about to stab his own son, God stops him through an angel and declares He has been satisfied with Abraham?s behavior and particularly his faith. Kierkegaard uses this example to illustrate his definition of faith. Faith to him is not an easy or convenient matter; it implies pain and sacrifice. It is not enough to simply ?believe?, but it implies effort and recurring action. It would not be enough to go to church every Sunday or to read and study the Scriptures. To him faith includes suffering and being ready to renounce what is meaningful to one?s life. It means wholly embracing faith in a world where it would seem an absurdity to do so.Abraham?s example helps us to illustrate his point. Abraham was told to act on faith and to sacrifice his own beloved son because God asked him to do so. At first glance, it seems an...
More About: Kill

The Humanity of it: A Brief History of Humanism in less than Thousand Words
2009-02-27 05:01:00
It may have been the Sophists of ancient Greece who have first put humanity on the ?map? and given humans a philosophical context. It was a step away from the pre-Socratic philosophers who were mostly interested in the phusis, the physical elements of nature. Yet after Protagoras man was suddenly made the ?measure of all things? and was a subject worth studying. Socrates, in fact, realized that every human being had a universal capacity; regardless of sex or social status; everyone could reason and through logic and the constant questioning of values they could be able to attain states of truth and wisdom. One of the points Socrates may not have been completely agreeing with is the Sophist claim that truth is relative and merely depends on one?s culture and upbringing.The practical Romans were less interested in the study of humanistic values, but preferred to look for bravery and heroism in each individual, in addition to politics and rhetoric, of how to manipulate people and gain ...
More About: History , Words , Humanism , Humanity , Thousand

Within you Without you: Happiness is just around the Corner
2009-02-21 02:57:00
What constitutes happiness? It often turns out that due to our materialistic way of life and thought happiness is located outside of the self. We claim that we have been dealt bad cards but if certain circumstances were to change, we would find true happiness. If only we could meet that perfect mate, we would be happy for all time. If only we had a better-paying and more satisfying job, we would ask for nothing else in this life. If only we were rich and famous, all our problems would fade away.Happiness may be visible but it happens to be just out of reach. It is the tip of the iceberg on a wide open sea. It is the apple dangling in front of the eyes of the donkey and whenever the donkey moves, so does the apple. In fact, most of us have a similar outlook on our religious and spiritual life, a kind of glass-ceiling effect where God is located outside, out there, up there, in the canvass of open skies.Others claim to have had a vision of being ?touched? by God or a spiritual entity....
More About: Corner

Sexual Customs in Ancient Rome and the Origins of Valentine?s Day
2009-02-14 02:35:00
?When in Rome do as the Romans do?. This is one of the famous sayings concerning Rome that evolved from a comment made by St. Ambrose to St. Augustine regarding differences in church practices. But what about differences in sexuality? How did Romans do it? Did their religion condemn sexuality?Roman sexuality is an interesting phenomenon not only because part of their beliefs may seem strange and bizarre to our tastes, yet also because they represent a crossroad or transition between an ancient civilization and our modern conception of a Judeo-Christian lifestyle and morality. In fact, we would find Roman ideas about sex at least somewhat more compatible with our belief system compared with the iconographic lifestyle of the ancient Greeks.Although the Romans heavily borrowed from Greek culture, literature and religion and used the Greek language in their aristocratic elite circles, they shunned some of the sexual beliefs that came with them. The idea that the most revered form of lov...
More About: Valentine , Sexual , Ancient , Customs

The Art of Eroticism: Using your sexiness to your advantage
2009-02-08 23:38:00
It was various years ago when watching the musical Chicago in the movie theatre that I was stunned with how it was sizzling with eroticism. However, it was not a matter of arousal but an intellectual or analytic appreciation of the art of eroticism in general.What impressed me was how sexually suggestive gestures and movements, clothing and make-up all combined to create a ?body? or work of art. I am not necessarily saying that Chicago is a particularly good movie, nor do I have a particular affinity or crush on the actresses of the movie, but I realized how cunningly some people manage their body to exude sexiness.At the same time, I realized that it was indeed another form of acting or pretending. It creates a certain kind of elusive image in the mind of the spectator. In other words our reaction to such an erotic spectacle is a playing on and with our senses to augment and intensify sex-appeal.Let me give an example. A woman we might see in the streets or at work may not have any...

God in the Flesh: Jesus, the Bringer of Love
2009-02-01 22:12:00
The holy trinity has always been a somewhat startling concept for me. Does that mean that God is divided into three equal parts? If Jesus is God then is God talking with himself whenever Jesus is in prayer? If Jesus is the Son of God does that mean that the Virgin Mary is not only his mother but also God?s spouse? Or is it all meant figuratively? If so, what?s the point behind it all?In fact, the German philosopher Hegel, considered a genius by some and a schizophrenic maniac by others, has come up with an answer that is both astounding and fascinating, whether you agree with him or not. There is a common view that Jesus has died for our sufferings and with his death has given us forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal life. The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson draws out this point in excruciating detail and gets the message across. But how can the suffering and horrible death of the so-called Son of God be any kind of alleviation of sins? The ideology behind it seems to imply that ...
More About: Love