as I am now reading, “Interpreting Modern Philosophy”
by James Collins… it talks about Cartesianism…
and that got me to thinking about “Descartes Method”
or rather his conclusion…
“Cogito ergo sum”
“I think therefore I am”
I think therefore I am…
Descartes showed that we are locked into our mental state,
with no way to escape it…
we have mind… and we have body…
and never the two shall met… they exist separate and distinct from
each other…
so, we are trapped in our own minds with no way to know or to guarantee
that any knowledge we gain is valid or of use…
we have mind… and we have the physical matter which includes our bodies…
how are we suppose to know what physical matter is or how it affects us when
we cannot overcome this distinction, this separation between mind and body…
the beginning of the modern world lies here, right here…
how are we suppose to know or connect with matter when we can’t
even know if it exists or how it connects with us…
right here is the beginning of the atomization of the modern world…
we are disconnected from the material world in a fundamental way…
because we are mind… which is disconnected from matter and we
have no way to connect or know matter because of the split between
mind and body/matter…
I see in the room where I am writing, on my kitchen table because
I don’t have other place to write, I see the kitchen where I see a stove
and a fridge and in the living room, I see the couch and my bookcases with
some books I own… and several cat condo’s…
so, how do I connect with these material things?
as objects to be used…the couch, I sit on it and watch TV…
and from where I am, I can’t see the TV… so I assume the TV is there,
but I in fact, can’t know if it is actually there… I can assume it is still there…
but we in this existence assume much to be in existence without any
real way to verify that it actually exists…
how do we connect with inanimate objects? Like the TV or the couch or
the stove?
as objects to be used… and so, we are so involved in the use of objects
to be used, that we also connect with people in the same way… as objects
to be used…human beings operate by habits, biases, superstitions, myths,
as our method of dealing with the world… we have made our habits
as being the method or way we deal with the world…
if I am used to making material goods as a couch or a TV, being the objects
that I use, then I can also make it a habit to use people/human beings the same way…
we are conditioned…as I have grown older, I have found I have become
a person of habit, of being conditioned…I don’t like change… it fucks me up…
I am a person of habits and I like to have those habits…but something new,
throws me off… that is a sure sign of being old and I am old…
so, how do I break free of my habit of using people as I used inanimate objects
like the couch or my TV?
I am mind… and then there is matter/objects…
and the two shall not met…
so how do I connect the two that cannot be connected?
we must assume that Descartes is wrong on some fundamental
way…
because if he is right, then how do we connect objects to our mind?
how can I avoid or escape using people as I use object/material goods?
this is not the Kantian question of people being the ends and not the means…
I think this is more fundamental than that…
how do we overcome the dichotomy of existence which says,
we have mind and then we have a distinct and separate thing which we
call matter… how do we connect the two?
perhaps, we can try this…
“I think therefore the universe exists”
that overtakes the problem of the split of mind and matter…
does the universe exists if I don’t see it?
not for me… but perhaps from your standpoint…
we, each of us, see, feel, understand, the universe, as distinct and different from
each other…
so, at my death, I no longer see the universe… but the universe goes on for you…
each of us, experiences the universe as individual parts, but we long for,
we need connection to the universe as a fundamental part of our being…
because we are mind… which is separate from body/matter…
so how do we connect with the universe in a meaningful way?
so, we have ism’s and ideologies such as god and capitalism and communism
and Catholicism and Buddhism as methods of connection to the universe…
but I for one, believe we can connect on a far more personal and fundamental
way with positive values of love, hope, charity, honesty, justice and yes, even faith…
it is our connection, our relationship with the universe that matters…
not the isms or ideologies that define who we are, but how we connect
with the universe that matters…
it is this connection, this relationship that we must focus on…
the who, what, when, where, how and why… that we must
turn our attention to… the connection we have with each other,
the relationships that I have with family, friends, religious, the state,
the culture, society that makes all the difference in the world…
the operative word is connection/relationship…
we must focus on that aspect of human existence…
how are we going to connect with or have a relationship with
some aspect of existence that matters…
find the connection, the relationships that you have with existence
that matter… what is your connection with others that matters,
what is your relationship with the state that matters, what is your
connection/relationship with god, that matters…
so, have you sought to find your connection to, or your relationship
with existence?
that is what matters…
Kropotkin