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If 'justice’ is indeed a metonym for a discursive formation...arguments for the happiness of the just are not only improbable but a priori insufficient as well. At the same time, only an empirical happiness would have silenced angry Thrasymachus, who did not represent the Sophists, in this respect at least, but the actual, suspicious, power-hungry politician...

The demarcating discursive formation is not specifically Platonic; Plato did not invent it nor did he simply try to argue for or against it. Rather, he had to operate within that structure since it was part of that discourse in which he learned to speak, to think, to philosophize.

in none of the so-called Socratic dialogues is the question ‘what is justice'’ explicitly asked. This is no coincidence, for justice is not really a Socratic question but a peculiarly Platonic one. Socrates exemplifies the impossible combination between the rational and the political in the deteriorating, corrupt city.

When the spearmaster confronted Domas, he said something about having his own ideas of what to do about Bojji's injuries.

I wonder if Domas and the Queen are also secretly working together.

The snakemaster says if prince Bojji beats prince Daida in sword fighting, he will lose his potentials for becoming king. Why?

He also seemed envious when the King chose Domas to mentor Bojji, and the style Domas forced Bojji to fight in was what caused him to lose.

Domas and the queen have some very messed up ideas about what makes a good (image of) king. I bet Bojji will not be a strong fighter but will become a good, tolerant, forgiving king.

Prince Daida thinks highly of himself and runs around beating up knights in his court, causing them to lose confidence and desert the kingdom.

I wonder if the snake master has been covertly training prince Bojji with his army of snakes. It makes sense too, he works in the shadow, but sword master Domas likes to brag in the sunshine.

I didn't realize his dad ranks no. 7. I thought he was no. 1 ...

Yikes, I didn't realize the (seemingly evil) step mother queen sentenced Kage to death for taking the prince's clothes.

She might be an ally, but she's morally grey at best.

Visually, it looks like the naked Emperor is blithely prancing around for the townsfolk to see.

But Bojji is aware of his (near) nudity, can hear (read?) the townsfolk mocking him, and suppresses his feelings about it.

I thought maybe the little prince isn't deaf.

But Kage asks if he’s reading his lips and the little prince seems confirm that’s the case.

"the self’s fundamental self-relation is to an unmasterable thrownness, the burden of a facticity that weighs me down without my ever being able fully to pick it up. This is why I seek to evade myself. I project or throw off a thrownness that catches me in its throw and inverts the movement of possibility by shattering it against impotence. I am always too late to meet my fate."

(இ﹏இ`｡)

"Life is a series of repayments on a loan that you didn’t agree to, with ever-increasing interest, and which will cost you your life – it’s a death-pledge, a mort-gage."


I suspect Mr. Critchley is trying to amplify my anxiety ...

At times, reading a classical philosophical text is like watching an ice- flow break up during global warming. The compacted cold assurance of a coherent system begins to become liquid and great conceptual pieces break off before your eyes and begin to float free on the sea.

What a way to start an essay. I had not thought reading an old essay collection on Heidegger would randomly trigger my eco-anxiety >_<

Nicholaus Notabene, the pseudonymous author, is forbidden by his wife to write a book. Hence, he limits himself to writing the prefaces to books.

(◔‸◔ )

"In The Point of View for My Work as an Author, Kierkegaard argues at length that the purpose of the aesthetic literature is to provide an aesthetic counterpart to the religious, upbuilding literature, but one that points to the religious. However, The Concept of Anxiety is only briefly mentioned in a footnote as part of a list of aesthetic works."

That was unexpected. I expected CoA to be "upbuilding".

[kierkegaard] is seeking insight into being human. To be sure, anxiety is a felt affect, but Kierkegaard does not limit his discussion of anxiety to the feeling or mood of anxiety. Rather, he goes on to describe the structure of the human self, of which anxiety gives us insight

TL;DR, BAT is Kierkegaard fanfic.

Angest is both an attraction to and a repulsion from the nothingness of future possibilities. “Anxiety” seems to capture the crucial tension between eagerness and uneasiness in Kierkegaard’s concept more completely than does dread

[Kierkegaard] writes that spirit relates itself to itself as anxiety (CA, 44). But to call the relation of spirit to itself anxiety is to speak of anxiety as a structure of human being, that is, as an ontological structure.

Glass house and first stone, Ruti. I hate how they have her judge and grant absolution to people who fought on the wrong side after she herself went berserk and stabbed a friend and attacked her brother.

The little spider is not so helpless after all! The secret hero of the fight!

The tiny helpless friendly little spider joined the fight ... and immediately got crushed.

I'm mostly unimpressed with the combat scenes (feels like they're trying too hard for tear-jerking), but the little spider got me.

... People who overlooked him got their comeuppance and discover he’s indispensable. His business thrives despite his inexperience because he’s nice.

If you’re charitable, this subverts the “nice guy ends last” trope. If you’re not charitable, this is the ultimate “niceguy syndrome” wish fulfillment fantasy.

This is my first LitRPG, and surprisingly enjoyable: most LN read like they're typed on a phone.

Nice characters typically play the support role holding the party together, compensating for the socially awkward MC. I like the idea of making the nice guy the MC.

Unfortunately, this checks all the ironic “niceguy™” boxes: he’s victimized and marginalized because he’s nice. He gets the princess because he’s nice...

the most impressive figure to emerge from the battle of 587 is not Soga no Umako or one of the victorious imperial princes like Umayado but an obscure warrior who fought on the losing side…the reason for Yorozu’s preeminence is that his short career epitomizes the mystique of the failed hero.

a warrior’s self-destruction was accepted as a release from shame, an act of honour and courage, and an ultimate proof of integrity… the particular method that became associated with the samurai tradition was harakiri, an excruciatingly painful form of self-torture which served as conclusive evidence that, though he had finally failed in his purpose, here was a man who could be respected

ugh

The myth of the white bird … in the story of Yamato Takeru, however, is surely the image of flying and escape: the hero, thwarted in his dreams of “soaring up high into the sky,” that is, of transcending the worldly limitations that lead to defeat and failure, finds eventual liberation in death.

Reading this, because 吉野弘幸 said in an interview that some of the GS character dynamics were inspired by this series. He named Athrun and Kira, but there's a clan called ムーラ, from that clan came the legendary title "砂漠の鷹". Also, the back story is about a small, pacifist, technologically advanced country getting caught up in the war of its neighbors, and a pair of siblings got separated as they fled ...

I thought the Siegfried commentaries were incredibly cynical, but then I got to the bits about rings as commercial products in modernity ...