Shawna Hunter's Blog - Posts Tagged "philosophy"
Erotica Author Anonymity
Is Shawna Hunter my real name? No, it's a pen name.
That's about the only tidbit I'll give you about the real me. We can chat, you can read my works, my naughty tweets, my facebook posts, etc and glean something about the type of person I am but I do not talk much (if at all) about who and what I am. What are my politics? What is my race? What is my gender? What is my stance on X,Y,Z social issue? Not telling.
There are a number of reasons for this and they aren't all as simple as one might think. As an erotica author anonymity has its uses. People who know me in real life may come to view me as a pervert or a degenerate if they read my works for example. I also have a pro-LGBT stance (oops, let a social issue slip) in my work and some people can be rather hostile to that.
But it's more than this. More than the simple desire to not have my friends know...uh, I mean THINK...that I'm constantly dreaming up dirty scenarios. You see there are two schools of thought in regards to creators in the philosophy of art. Hopefully you will allow me to be generous and call my humble erotica novels art. The two schools (sorry, I don't know the names) are as follows.
One says you can't truly understand the art if you don't understand the artist. Van Gouh's Scream is just a creepy picture if you don't know what he meant by it.
The other says that your views of the artist will color your views on the art. You can love a piece of music, for example, until you find out that the person who wrote it has a lot of twisted and evil views. I fall into this camp (oops there's another opinion). I do feel that an artist's work can give you insights into who they are but I feel that the work itself should be considered apart from the creator in order to be appreciated on its own merits.
For example: I love Nietzsche. His philosophy (if a product of its time in terms of sexism) is insightful and moving and I personally feel that the parable of the madman is perhaps the greatest single piece of writing ever put to paper. That said he also wrote some poetry and it sucks. It's over long with no rhyme scheme and its a convoluted mess. I do not believe that I should give his poetry a pass just because I think he was overall a great writer.
Perhaps, one day, I'll get famous enough to reveal my own name and face as A. N. Roquelaure did when she was revealed to be the incredible Anne Rice. Perhaps I'll always be an obscure someone who added a few more dirty books to the pile. That's up to hardwork and fate. For now, for the sake of my work, I feel it more important to keep my day to day self and my author self separate. I do hope my readers can understand and appreciate that and if not...well try guessing. I won't tell you if you get it right but It'll certainly be entertaining to see what you come up with ;)
That's about the only tidbit I'll give you about the real me. We can chat, you can read my works, my naughty tweets, my facebook posts, etc and glean something about the type of person I am but I do not talk much (if at all) about who and what I am. What are my politics? What is my race? What is my gender? What is my stance on X,Y,Z social issue? Not telling.
There are a number of reasons for this and they aren't all as simple as one might think. As an erotica author anonymity has its uses. People who know me in real life may come to view me as a pervert or a degenerate if they read my works for example. I also have a pro-LGBT stance (oops, let a social issue slip) in my work and some people can be rather hostile to that.
But it's more than this. More than the simple desire to not have my friends know...uh, I mean THINK...that I'm constantly dreaming up dirty scenarios. You see there are two schools of thought in regards to creators in the philosophy of art. Hopefully you will allow me to be generous and call my humble erotica novels art. The two schools (sorry, I don't know the names) are as follows.
One says you can't truly understand the art if you don't understand the artist. Van Gouh's Scream is just a creepy picture if you don't know what he meant by it.
The other says that your views of the artist will color your views on the art. You can love a piece of music, for example, until you find out that the person who wrote it has a lot of twisted and evil views. I fall into this camp (oops there's another opinion). I do feel that an artist's work can give you insights into who they are but I feel that the work itself should be considered apart from the creator in order to be appreciated on its own merits.
For example: I love Nietzsche. His philosophy (if a product of its time in terms of sexism) is insightful and moving and I personally feel that the parable of the madman is perhaps the greatest single piece of writing ever put to paper. That said he also wrote some poetry and it sucks. It's over long with no rhyme scheme and its a convoluted mess. I do not believe that I should give his poetry a pass just because I think he was overall a great writer.
Perhaps, one day, I'll get famous enough to reveal my own name and face as A. N. Roquelaure did when she was revealed to be the incredible Anne Rice. Perhaps I'll always be an obscure someone who added a few more dirty books to the pile. That's up to hardwork and fate. For now, for the sake of my work, I feel it more important to keep my day to day self and my author self separate. I do hope my readers can understand and appreciate that and if not...well try guessing. I won't tell you if you get it right but It'll certainly be entertaining to see what you come up with ;)
Can an evil society do good?
In my new novel, 6s and 7s, I present a futuristic society in which you are given a 1-10 rank based on your appearance, intelligence and moral character with heavy emphasis on appearance. Your quality of life depends on your rank so your life LITERALLY depends on how you look.
That's unjust and objectively evil.
Yet, in this world they've ended global warming, cured diseases, erased transphobia, etc. These things and the technology to achieve them were invented because people were pushing to increase their intelligence, demonstrate their moral character and improve their health (and thereby looks) to better their rank. The unjust system they live under motivated them to do a great deal of good.
So, can an objectively immoral society do good? Are the Whiners right that the injustices need to be stopped even if some of the benefits go with them? Or are the conservatives like Theta right in thinking that the benefits are worth a bit of injustice?
I never came to a solid decision while writing and I think both arguments have merit. So, I just don't know.
Decide for yourself I guess:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...6s and 7s
That's unjust and objectively evil.
Yet, in this world they've ended global warming, cured diseases, erased transphobia, etc. These things and the technology to achieve them were invented because people were pushing to increase their intelligence, demonstrate their moral character and improve their health (and thereby looks) to better their rank. The unjust system they live under motivated them to do a great deal of good.
So, can an objectively immoral society do good? Are the Whiners right that the injustices need to be stopped even if some of the benefits go with them? Or are the conservatives like Theta right in thinking that the benefits are worth a bit of injustice?
I never came to a solid decision while writing and I think both arguments have merit. So, I just don't know.
Decide for yourself I guess:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...6s and 7s
Freedom? Do we ever really have it?
My latest WIP tells the story of an actress/public speaker who develops a kink for being dominated, humiliated and engaging in salacious sexual exploits. Essentially she develops a slut-fetish that flies in the face of her public image. It's a sort of Doctor Jackyll/Ms. Bimbo thing but I like to really get into the psychology of my characters.
Due to this, I really wanted to explore how her thinking would evolve as she went further down the rabbit hole. Notably, I find myself interested in the idea of "freedom." This character is old money rich and despite using her connections to open doors, has convinced the world that she built her fame and reputation through hard work. In both her secret past and her public present she has wealth, power, influence and respect but is she free? When she starts getting into being a slut she is forced to disguise herself, lie about what she's doing, dance on the precipice of discovery but never cross that line. Eventually she starts to wonder, is that freedom? Is she truly free in her privileged life if being herself would see her shunned and socially destroyed?
This leads me to wonder about my own life. There are obvious limits to my freedom laws and major social lines that I would not want to cross even if I could. Yet there are other aspects, things which I could legally do but which I have been told, all my life, that one can't do. Why? Because it makes people I don't know or care about uncomfortable? Because it makes people who's opinions don't matter to me think less of me? There's a chain there, something holding me back despite my recognition of the injustice of it. Yet, I have to wonder, who put that chain there and would I like who I'd be if I unchained myself from those restrictions?
I know my character will certainly like who she becomes in the end ;)
Due to this, I really wanted to explore how her thinking would evolve as she went further down the rabbit hole. Notably, I find myself interested in the idea of "freedom." This character is old money rich and despite using her connections to open doors, has convinced the world that she built her fame and reputation through hard work. In both her secret past and her public present she has wealth, power, influence and respect but is she free? When she starts getting into being a slut she is forced to disguise herself, lie about what she's doing, dance on the precipice of discovery but never cross that line. Eventually she starts to wonder, is that freedom? Is she truly free in her privileged life if being herself would see her shunned and socially destroyed?
This leads me to wonder about my own life. There are obvious limits to my freedom laws and major social lines that I would not want to cross even if I could. Yet there are other aspects, things which I could legally do but which I have been told, all my life, that one can't do. Why? Because it makes people I don't know or care about uncomfortable? Because it makes people who's opinions don't matter to me think less of me? There's a chain there, something holding me back despite my recognition of the injustice of it. Yet, I have to wonder, who put that chain there and would I like who I'd be if I unchained myself from those restrictions?
I know my character will certainly like who she becomes in the end ;)
