Comments on: The Art of the Matter http://shadowsoftheapt.com/blog/34 The Insect Man / Empire Rising Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:07:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Adrian Tchaikovsky http://shadowsoftheapt.com/blog/34/comment-page-1#comment-835 Adrian Tchaikovsky Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:27:28 +0000 http://shadowsoftheapt.local/blog/34#comment-835 Excellent question! The Ideals (and I believe I meant Platonic, rather than Aristotelian, for which shame on me) are not gods, no. They do not actually physically exist. They have no "I", no personality or will. They are merely ideas, but perfect ones, the perfect beetle, utterly so, so that to approach an understanding of it is to become one with it, in some small ways. They cannot be worshipped. They cannot grant prayers. They are a philosophical conceit. Hence the Art is a mental discipline, and if it is a religion, it is an entirely secular one. Perhaps the closest real world analogue would be the idea of achieving enlightenment in Buddhism (from my admittedly limited understanding of Buddhism). Excellent question! The Ideals (and I believe I meant Platonic, rather than Aristotelian, for which shame on me) are not gods, no. They do not actually physically exist. They have no "I", no personality or will. They are merely ideas, but perfect ones, the perfect beetle, utterly so, so that to approach an understanding of it is to become one with it, in some small ways. They cannot be worshipped. They cannot grant prayers. They are a philosophical conceit. Hence the Art is a mental discipline, and if it is a religion, it is an entirely secular one. Perhaps the closest real world analogue would be the idea of achieving enlightenment in Buddhism (from my admittedly limited understanding of Buddhism).

]]> By: Blake http://shadowsoftheapt.com/blog/34/comment-page-1#comment-832 Blake Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:13:16 +0000 http://shadowsoftheapt.local/blog/34#comment-832 Mr. Tchaikovsky, You write: "Contact with what? With something other, some exemplar, an Aristotelian ideal, a totem spirit, insect gods(3)." However later on you state that there are no gods in this world, only Platonic "ideals". I'm just a bit confused. Is it that there are no gods, or is it that there are, but the people don't recognize them? Any help would be appreciated. Mr. Tchaikovsky,
You write: "Contact with what? With something other, some exemplar, an Aristotelian ideal, a totem spirit, insect gods(3)."

However later on you state that there are no gods in this world, only Platonic "ideals". I'm just a bit confused. Is it that there are no gods, or is it that there are, but the people don't recognize them? Any help would be appreciated.

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