Squib > Recent Status Updates

I find it quite surprising that despite the overwhelming evidence that the earth and its creatures are historical entities rather than unchanging ones, nearly every naturalist still couldn't think outside of the older essentialist framework.

The writer's claim that aquinas would've accepted evolutionary biology if he had the evidence because he engaged in speculative evolutionary psychology but say earlier he accepted a literalistic account of genesis and species essentialism; clearly it would be more accurate to say that aquinas was unable to conceptualise evolutionary theory because he lacked an historicised view of species

Chapter 2: Dukkha. It is not only suffering in the ordinary sense but experience of change and our experience as/of conditioned states. The Buddhists believe that the 'I' is actually a dynamic configuration of the five aggregates, a collection of material states, perceptions, sensations, mental formations and consciousnesses which all condition eachother. Emphasizes the importance of volition as part of its ethics.

I like the description of Konrad Gessner as an 'erudite empiricist' who saw his zoological descriptions as being enhanced by the study of languages and art; something that other popular scientists should follow

Interesting relationship between Aristotle's ideas and Pierre Belon's depiction of homology between different vertebrate species.

Gray thinks that the pursuit of self creation results from a confused conception of the self and if you adopt the 'feline' view of the self as no-self then you'll always be yourself instead of trying to cement disjointed experiential pieces into a coherent structure like the modern romanticist liberal does.

I feel that he's misrepresenting Buddhism when he describes it as a denial of everyday life and the self, and it is misrepresentation because from what I understand the Buddhists do believe you exist but not as this static, unchanging thing.

He's going off about Spinoza and Aristotle; based on how Gray describes both of them, they both sort of sound similar in their ethical outlook. Gray doesn't show the stoics, the skeptics and epicureans any great love as he condemns them as being inadequate to the task of living in the world. He has a higher view of Montaigne than the others.

The Ancients. Seems a bit biased against the middle ages. There is a sincere expression of gratitude towards Aristotle's contributions towards understanding the natural world, as well as Theophrastus (a botanist that Aristotle admired), Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides. Romans were mostly fixated on the practical usages of their medicinal plants, a pattern that was continued into the middle ages.

Original Poems. Enticing little poems that really do make you want to go freely wandering in the wilderness to see the dew on mountain moss, silk like waterfalls, the rising mountain sun revealing hidden life below and the music created by wind gently flowing through the pine trees. The worst poems are the ones where Hanshan is resentful to pretty young women and he frequently likes to imagine them becoming old hags!

Book three. Mostly Marcus advising himself on how to achieve the good life which is to be a social being that doesn't have desires that are practiced in privacy, because such things go against the social nature of man which seems uncritical to the nature of desires to me. Marcus also advocates for the practice of deliberative judgement in everyday life, which in turn helps you to appreciate the divine nature.

"Separation" is a relatively sweet, simple poem about the poet being depressed about being exiled and freeing a caught wild goose after seeing its own condition reflect his own state.

Book 2. Everything in the world is participating in a greater unity where everything plays a role. There are many finite goals and roles for us to pursue but the best one for us is to live a life of reason, and in doing so we will protected from the wanton pursuit of pleasure and being taken over by pain. There is no wordly evil, but an indifferent nature and it only seems evil due to our ignorance or weakness.

Pu chu-i/Bai Juyi's poems are a bit varied, some of which I have difficulty relating to but his poems on feeling homesick or sad about a friend after having to leave for the sake of work is relatable

Book one. Highly repetitive form of 'From X I thank them for making me realize the importance of a virtue and having a positive effect on my life'. The idea of an enduring character in the face of various natural contingencies that can hurt you and of using reason to control your responses are recurring themes in this chapter.

Families, when a child is born
"Want it to be intelligent.
I, through intelligence,
Having wrecked my whole life,
Only hope the baby will prove
Ignorant and stupid.
Then he will crown a tranquil life
By becoming a Cabinet Minister"

A perennial complaint of politicians being incompetent

Ch1 - The Buddhist attitude of mind. It's not really so much about , as in what the mind fundamentally is but more about how Buddhists approach the topics with their minds. The Buddha's understanding of what is true is tied to practice and the good life, and these things are universal rather than particular. Walpola seems to have a rosy, almost libertarianish view of Buddhism.

The introduction provides a short biography on Marcus Aurelius, intellectual influences on Marcus, description of various themes & doctrines of the meditations and his contemporary influence. From the introduction, Marcus' philosophy of mind seems a bit simplistic compared to later philosophers. The phrasing of some of some of Marcus' literary techniques in the meditations are also charming.

Care is given to how Akbar and Dara attempted to mould society to be more inclusive of religious differences through syncreticism, which has it's origins in sincere religious sentiments, humanism and an elite attempting to maintain it's dominion over a vast, diverse culture. Aurangzeb attempts to undo this more pluralistic move and re-implements unpopular laws.

I pessimistically expected a highly negative characterization of Islam's path towards India, but Michael offered a more even perspective in describing the Caliph as almost being blasphemous to Islam itself and had more conceited reasons than religious ones to conquer India. Also describes the Hindu Cholans, whose violence towards fellow Hindus wasn't any different to how Muslim iconoclasts behaved.

Finished chapter 3: growth of civilization. Primarily focused on how India was the trade nexus of the world during the early first millennium and the Kushan Empire's contribution to culture and the spread of Buddhism. It struck me as quite ironic that a religion like Buddhism benefited from the patronage of a King Kanishka, who was described as being a warrior king.