In 1981 Charles Hartshorne was commissioned to write the Foreword to a book by Keiji Nishitani called Religion and Nothingness. The book was to be published by University of California Press where John R. Miles worked as an editor. Miles decided not to use Hartshorne’s Foreword for reasons you may find more than a little… Continue reading From Somebody to Nobody to Somebody to Nobody Again
Author: hyattcarter
Seeing Through the Eyes of Jesus (2)
Part Two Once we see that “I” is a variable, in the sense developed in the previous Post, it becomes an option to deepen and expand our identities. How can we go about that? One practice that Bruteau suggests is a form of contemplative prayer she calls the Hodos Method. The Greek word hodos means… Continue reading Seeing Through the Eyes of Jesus (2)
The Development of My Philosophy
By Charles Hartshorne In my intellectual development, four principal periods may be distinguished. In the first (age 15-22, or 1912-19), the only philosophers in anything like the strict sense whom I can recall as having influenced me directly were the Quaker mystic and teacher, Rufus Jones (I had one course with him at Haverford College,… Continue reading The Development of My Philosophy
A Logic of Ultimate Contrasts
By Charles Hartshorne The conceptual structure of the neoclassical philosophy can be partly indicated by a rather simple yet comprehensive table. The aim is less to demonstrate than to explicate, and I shall not conceal certain puzzles that trouble me. The point is to show the interconnections between concepts and thereby to exhibit the philosophy… Continue reading A Logic of Ultimate Contrasts
Seeing Through the I’s of Jesus (1)
Part One Is personal identity a constant or a variable? When I use the word “I,” does it always refer to the selfsame subject? While, as with many complex issues, the answer is both Yes and No, it is more interesting, and more fun, to explore “I” as a variable. And I have it on… Continue reading Seeing Through the I’s of Jesus (1)
An Early Cubist Sketch by Pierre Picasseau
Frederick Amrine, a university professor who has published extensively on Goethe’s scientific works, makes what seems at first a startling observation but, once understood, it seems as obvious as a Zen koan: whenever there is progress in science, “It is not the data that change in a ‘Gestalt switch.’ Rather, it is we who change.”1… Continue reading An Early Cubist Sketch by Pierre Picasseau
A.E.I.O.U.
James Joyce was having fun with language in Ulysses when he has the consciousness of Stephen Dedalus stream over the five vowels: A.E.I.O.U.1 “A.E.” refers to George Russell, the Irish poet and essayist, and “I.O.U.” to the rumor that Stephen Dedalus, Joyce’s alter ego in Ulysses, owes him money. Are the five vowels also an… Continue reading A.E.I.O.U.
Charles Hartshorne’s Open Letter to Carl Sagan
In 1991 Charles Hartshorne wrote an “Open Letter” to Carl Sagan that was published in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy. Hartshorne’s letter follows in this Post, followed by Sagan’s Reply and Hartshorne’s Reply to Sagan. This is followed in turn by an “Open Letter” to Hartshorne by Yale University professor John. E. Smith and Hartshorne’s… Continue reading Charles Hartshorne’s Open Letter to Carl Sagan
The Lowdown from Highup: “All Shall Be Well”
“All shall be well.” This is from a famous saying by Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), one of England’s most venerated Christian mystics. Here’s the saying, as she wrote it, in the language of her time: “But alle shalle be wele, and alle shalle be wele, and alle maner of thynge shalle be wele.” I’ve known… Continue reading The Lowdown from Highup: “All Shall Be Well”
Laughing Out Loud with Shakespeare
On March 13, 1601, John Manningham recorded an event in his diary concerning Shakespeare and his friend, the great actor Richard Burbage. Here’s a slightly embellished version that I turned in, as a joke, in a college journalism class I took many years ago. LONDON (UP) — John Manningham, local gossip, reports that when Burbage… Continue reading Laughing Out Loud with Shakespeare