(no subject)
How this works:
1. Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I'll reply and give you five questions to answer.
3. You'll update your LJ with the five questions answered.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
Courtesy of Cook.
1. How has your religious/political/social/educational upbringing affected your philosophical interests?
It impacted my conceptions and interests in a multitude of ways, most notably the devlopment of my beliefs about what it makes sense to talk about, i.e. what one can "say" and actually be making sense. Aquinas danced around this concept when he addressed the ways that one can talk about God, in both the negative and positive senses. The positive sense ascribing what characteristics God has, or what he "is" or "is like", and the negative being what characteristics God does not have- what God is "is not" and "is not like". Wittgenstein started to move in the right direction of what I was looking for with his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, but ultimately I found his picture theory of language interesting, but lacking. As has been said a million times before in refutation of the picture theory, it fails to capture all the activities of language. The picture theory is, in many ways, a subset of language- rules for a specific language game; the game of making propositions. I found the Philosophical Investigations to be more in line with my personal beliefs about language, and it contained many new revelations that would have never occured to me. The family resembelence theory is something that I never would have been able to put a name to, but still is inexplicably wound into my life and my perception in a way I probably can not ever hope to seperate it.
Politically I'm an extremely left wing libertarian by inclination, owning to my perceptions about what people ought and ought not to be able to control about others and probably owing to my uncle, an active member of the party back in Michigan. My break with the party occurs mainly around the problem (I suppose its a fact, but I see it as a problem) that most Libertarians come from the extreme right wing, not the left, which tends to result in some irritating biggotry and the perception of "its ok, as long as I don't have to see it". This irks me. I don't like associating with people who are like that. Also, my other break is an issue of practicality. While I would like to see a more libertarian world, I know that picking a leader, for any area, is as much about picking someone who can see the future as who can handle the present. In many cases, I do not feel that libertarian candidates are ready for that. Not in all cases, but in some. Philosophically, it puts me in the place where I've spent most of my life, that ultimately I must be responsible for my own actions and, even in the face of the most difficult odds and scenarios, I must pick the right action myself, not look to others (such as a government) to solve my problems for me. Hence my soft spot for Aristotle's virtue ethics; a system based very strongly around the ability to recognize the right action and make it, not based wholly on some absolutist principle, but on what is a reasonable course of action that balances extremes.
Educationally, I am an analytical philosopher, as I was raised in a severely analytical environment in CMU. My knowledge of continental philosophy is severely lacking, but is a challenge I would easyily step up to, if given the opportunity.
2. What do you enjoy most about cooking?
Cooking is the creation of something worthwile, and offers me the opportunity to provide for others and enjoy their company. I like that I can create something and bring everyone to a table (figuratively, as there often is not enough space for everyone at the tables we have access to) and bring about an interaction to which I can bear witness. Each meal is a unique interplay of the food served and the members attending, and often offers me the opportunity simply to hear the voices of the people of which I do not hear enough. I also enjoy the philosophy behind the cooking, the principles with which one approaches a meal and meal preparation. And finally, to cook and give food is to offer to someone one of the most fundamental neccesities of life, and in that sense I enjoy the project of providing for others. Essentially, I enjoy and adhere to the value of the ritual of mealtime.
3. If you had to pick a decade, pre-1950, to live (in the US), what would it be?
Probably 1910-1920, a very exciting time in physics and other natural sciences, a time when perhaps anything was possible.
4. What do you consider your greatest success?
I do not consider myself to have a greatest success, but I have many potentils waiting to actualize themselves. I feel that many of the things I have achieved have been marred by my often half-hearted attempts at them or failure in some other aspect which lessens the impact. Most everything I've done I could have done better if not for circumstances that I chose to let overwhelm me. Because of that, I do not believe I have the right to call them great achievements. As for currently, well I won't know until after they're done if it was a great achievement or not. I eagerly await the day when I'm less of a failure, and am convinced it may very well be soon.
5. Best thing about New York, so far?
I'll leave off finally getting to be with my friends, because that is independant of New York itself. I would probably say my walk down Lafayette street today. Immediately drawing the parallel to Detroit, I couldn't help but think that this could be Detroit, in another time line where wanton destruction failed to hollow the city out.