Comments on Titanic Deck Chairs: Kleist and Kant: The Destructive Nature of Anti-Re...

Steve D, I do not think Kant denies we have a det...

2010-01-30T18:06:14.580-05:00

Steve D,

I do not think Kant denies we have a deterministic consciousness, one which is capable of responding to stimuli in a very complex way, so as to allow the human being to survive. The volitional, reasoning mind, in the sense that is of any consequence, is totally closed off, however, operating in a different dimension.

Very nice post. "Kant was crystal clear about hi...

2010-01-30T17:05:45.350-05:00

Very nice post.

"Kant was crystal clear about his answer. Reality—real, noumenal reality—is forever closed off to reason, and reason is limited to awareness and understanding of its own subjective products."

Yet, if this were actually and literally true, none of us would be alive. Another way of putting this is that human intelligence (consciousness) could not

Burgess: "What is loose in the world is bad ideas...

2010-01-27T12:47:49.437-05:00

Burgess:
"What is loose in the world is bad ideas, the key such bad idea being the notion that reason is limited, that there are things it cannot grasp."

Me: It is true that bad ideas are loose in the world but the further deficiencies we see in the world around us (decline of Western Civilization) could not be from a notion of 'reason as limited'.

Hi, C. I'm still in as a reader and, in this inst...

2010-01-21T16:23:04.820-05:00

Hi, C. I'm still in as a reader and, in this instance at least, a commenter.

No biggie about following up on anything here, though, even though I'm sure your further thoughts would be interesting.

Nice blog.

Thanks, Tenure. And I also see that I whiffed on ...

2010-01-19T09:43:52.411-05:00

Thanks, Tenure.

And I also see that I whiffed on responding to Linda. She's probably long gone as a reader/commenter, but I will try to comment on this.

I am well behind on reading my blog-feeds. Just wa...

2010-01-17T17:57:33.542-05:00

I am well behind on reading my blog-feeds. Just wanted to let you know that this is probably my favourite post of yours. Intelligent, integrated, timely and moving.

Linda, what a great set of questions. I want to r...

2010-01-08T23:39:52.276-05:00

Linda, what a great set of questions. I want to respond but just got back from a late dinner/birthday celebration, and we have 1st skiing lessons with the little ones tomorrow (w/ exceedingly early wake time), followed by a neighborhood post-xmas party tomorrow eve. This is all to say that I won't be able to give your comment the response it deserves until Sunday. I hope you'll be

I’m also arriving late via the Two--Four link. In...

2010-01-08T22:55:46.900-05:00

I’m also arriving late via the Two--Four link. Interesting reading.

From Nietzsche’s quotation of Kleist:

We cannot decide whether that which we call truth is really truth or whether it merely appears that way to us. If the latter is right, then the truth we gather here comes to nothing after our death; and every aspiration to acquire a possession which will follow us

Avi, could you elaborate a little on what method y...

2010-01-04T09:01:12.808-05:00
Avi, could you elaborate a little on what method you used to make your predictions? What steps did you go through to reach your conclusions?

I ask because, as a long-term student of both history and methodology, I am intrigued by the problem of predicting the future -- in particular, the method that should be used.

Had I lived in Kleist times, my profecy would be t...

2010-01-04T08:39:06.253-05:00
Had I lived in Kleist times, my profecy would be that man is all too rational to accept Kant's rejection of reason and the 19th century would bring nothing but reason and freedom, let alone the 20th century.
This is also my prediction for the 21st century. Am I getting something terribly wrong?...

I'm with Burgess and all the others complimenting ...

2009-12-30T12:35:35.714-05:00
I'm with Burgess and all the others complimenting you on this post, C. August. This is a terrific application of philosophy, showing the importance of the role of ideas in human life.

C. August, I think that this deserves a place in ...

2009-12-28T20:54:15.372-05:00
C. August,

I think that this deserves a place in the Objectivist Roundup for all the reasons the other commenters noted.

C. Andrew

Thanks for the thoughts, all. Nice to come back f...

2009-12-27T20:13:16.468-05:00
Thanks for the thoughts, all. Nice to come back from a few days away traveling for xmas.

Bill, thanks for the recommendation. I'll check that book out.

CW, your point about Kleist being someone who took the connection between ideas and life seriously is primarily what I was going for. In fact, I wish I would have stated that explicitly. But you did, so we're all

The Western philosophical tradition for the last o...

2009-12-27T17:59:03.650-05:00
The Western philosophical tradition for the last one to two hundred years has been to try to separate ideas from life, effectively followings Kant's purpose. The tragic story of Kleist, a young man who took his ideas and life seriously, makes very real the importance of that connection. Thank you, C., for the story and the reference to Hicks.

Nietzsche did indeed accept Kant's basic argument,...

2009-12-27T10:21:30.279-05:00
Nietzsche did indeed accept Kant's basic argument, sundering the human mind from reality. He considered Kant's "proof" as beyond question.

It's only Kant's altruism that he rejected.

See Walter Kaufmann's "Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Anti-Christ."

Bill B.

Great essay. I willcertainly try to get a copy of ...

2009-12-25T13:00:20.406-05:00
Great essay. I willcertainly try to get a copy of Hicks's book.

Well done, C. :o) Keep it coming!

2009-12-24T16:19:02.092-05:00
Well done, C. :o) Keep it coming!

Thanks all. I'm glad you appreciated the essay. ...

2009-12-24T15:10:46.095-05:00
Thanks all. I'm glad you appreciated the essay.

Myrhaf, even though Nietzsche rejected Kant, he was still a subjectivist, wasn't he? I haven't studied him in detail, but my understanding is that he rejected objective reality and reason in favor of will. I could see how that could drive someone mad.

But you're right. Our culture trains people to be able to

The key word that captures your extraordinary essa...

2009-12-24T14:28:35.350-05:00
The key word that captures your extraordinary essay is "integration."

You have woven together scholarly accounts (and their controversies), individual philosophers, their philosophies in all their abstractness, the dramatic details of individual lives in the past, grand-scale literature, and the consequences today, in our own time.

Added to all of that is the fact

Brilliant. I will definitely be exploring the Hic...

2009-12-24T12:51:29.520-05:00
Brilliant.

I will definitely be exploring the Hicks book further.

Terrific post. I wonder if the same muddle of cont...

2009-12-24T12:20:52.715-05:00
Terrific post. I wonder if the same muddle of contradictions didn't drive Nietzsche mad, despite his professed rejection of Kant.

I think more people would feel the deep despair of Kleist, but post-pragmatism most Americans don't take ideas seriously.