Dazed and Confused

Hello everybody,

Like Socrates I do not philosophise for money. Unlike him I have a steady, nine to five job, bank job in fact. And of course I am doing all right. But my heart is in philosophy. Hopefully, my mind will follow my heart. Because at present my philosophical views are somewhat of a mess.

For one thing, I am attracted to mind-body dualism or rather double-aspect theory (the mental and the brainy are two aspects of the same thing, two features of it). This does not make me a churchgoer, rather a bland, lay humanist, unlike real dualists, who tend to believe in God, which I do not think I do. And I do not believe in immortality. Although I would like to be in heaven (even on earth), I think that hell is a logical inconsistency and I can prove it. Or perhaps some Christian bloggers can convert me.

Although I believe in rich spritual life, I strongly deny the existence of free will, which spiritual people often advocate. No freedom ex nihilo, no Chisholm, no Sartre. Freedom is possible only in the weakest sense, roughly „you can do as you please, but can you please as you please?” (G.E. Moore, B. Spinoza?) This brings me close to scientism. But if I say that the question of determinism or indeterminism has little to do with the question of our liberty, you will see how muddled and confused my ideas are.

I am old-fashioned. I like good old analytic philosophy, but I would rather have it more romantic, so that it could be discussed in Left Bank cafes, possibly in French, like existentialism, and with attractive girls around. And tell me: why is analytic philosophy so boring, dry-as-dust and unsentimental? After all, it has its origins in Hume, who put so much emphasis (especially in ethics) on empathy, sentiment, fought absolutes of his day no less adamantly than any existentialist. On top of which, he was the darling of the salons and Rousseau’s friend. Later he fell out with him, but who would not?

So read me, because I have fairly bizarre views. But what can I do? This is how I think – honest. Treat me as a member of a bizarre denomination, who nevertheless is trying to convert no one. Twentieth century philosophy was so much party-line oriented! And I would not be admitted to any philosophical party (and boy I tried!).

I started to write this diary in order to rework my philosophical Weltanschauung. Kind of philosophical therapy. You may help me with my treatment. We will see which way this goes. Maybe I graduate to become an austere positivist. Or inward-looking phenomenologist. Or perhaps my soul is really immortal. Or I will remain the philosophical correlate of the political animal invented by Kołakowski: conservative-liberal socialist.

My philosophical views! I will put you to a real test! Beware, if you do not pass it, I will have no qualms about changing you. Although my philosophical persona can also be changed in the process. Once my blobbing starts gathering pace, I may even stop being the same monad.

NB: This blog is a companion to Blog Filozoficzny Marka Witkowskiego by the same blobber. I wish I could recommend it to you. Unfortunately, it is written in Polish, which is my native tongue, so if you do not have the language, do not even bother to click! Every philosopher should have his secret language (lingua mentalis) and I am no exception.

But do come back to this one

Marek Witkowski