All Things Shining (Dreyfus & Kelly)

[droqen]

[The Greeks] were constantly sensitive to, amazed by, and grateful for those actions that one cannot perform on one's own simply by trying harder: going to sleep, waking up, fitting in, standing out, gathering crowds together, holding their attention with a speech, changing their mood*, or indeed being filled with longing, desire, courage, wisdom. . . we are the kinds of beings who are at our best when we find ourselves acting in ways that we cannot—and ought not—entirely take credit for.

* "their mood" was autocorrected by my phone to "their moods," and the singular mood was not even offered as an alternate, reflecting the modern sense of private and individual moods, and the loss of the notion of a shared mood which may in the singular belong to many.

[droqen]

. . . a certain kind of gratitude becomes an essential component in the Homeric understanding of the best possible life. In one sense, then, the gods are whatever stands beyond us that requires our gratitude.

[droqen]

[AB]

When I attempted to describe the book to Chris, he said that it sounded like stoicism... a thing I have limited experience with, myself. How interesting that here the book definitely distances itself from pursuing stoicism:

the goddess Fortuna [is often] represented as blind—indicating that her choices are indifferent to those whom they affect. . . if Fortune shines upon a Roman citizen then the proper sentiment is not gratitude, since Fortune didn't have him in view . . . The Roman Stoic stalwartly endures . . . inoculating himself against fortunes and misfortunes alike. This . . . willfully enforced detachment, could not be further from the Homeric conception of excellence in a life. . . . The notion that blind luck determines the course of our lives leads quickly to the nihilistic idea that our lives have no meaning.

[droqen]

Homer's gods are moods
moods public, shared
a mood that attunes us to what matters most in a situation, allowing us to respond appropriately without thinking
responding appropriately without thinking
being attuned to what matters allows us to respond
such ease of response is a desirable state

[droqen]

ritual sacrifice's role in Homeric gratitude

[droqen]

No argument is being made that gods are real beings, but the phenomenological response enabled by Homeric polytheism is valuable
gratitude and wonder
"By emphasizing life's dependence on luck, [X] is committed to nihilism." (p66)
"Being lucky and being cared for are radically different phenomena." (p66)

[droqen]

"a kind of detachment from the world that makes it impossible to experience meaning in our lives" vs "amazement and wonder, and the gratitude that follows naturally from it." (P67)

[droqen]

(Below, p84)

if the best kind of human life requires the presence of the gods . . the best kinds of human beings must invite the gods

an appreciation for those situations in life when favourable things occur out of our control

a sense of wonder and gratitude in the face of such situations

we become a standing invitation to the gods

[droqen]

Plurality of gods. Each one a different facet of humanity, embracing each facet.

[droqen]

Chapter 4. From Aeschylus to Augustine: Monotheism on the Rise

[AB]

[droqen]

Speaks of changing, with little material about the change:
P90

. . . the transition from one scientific paradigm to the next is a complete Gestalt shift that is inexplicable . . . We can say something about what each has that the other does not, but we cannot tell a story about why and how . . .

[droqen]

Moving away from quotes, evidence, material... moving towards my experience of reading the book... I was surprised. Suddenly we were no longer speaking of the specific case, and into the realm of artworks as gods, and gods and madmen.

An inhuman maker of meaning, a thing that attunes mere mortals.

[droqen]

the articulator, the reconfigurer
Jesus the reconfigurer! revealing morality of the inner life, rather than adherence to laws
Descartes the reconfigurer! revealing the subject and object

[droqen]

I am as far as chapter 6, now.
I'm stunned at how this book too seems fascinated at Melville's work. I guess the book is a classic for a reason.

This quote from P152 about Ishmael is really starting to get me onboard with Dreyfus' "head open to the world" metaphor for how to be:

Ishmael. . . is moody and constantly redefined by his moods; . . . And in all of these moody flights some godlike truth and meaning is revealed.

[droqen]

Divine truths, . . . insofar as there are any, must be changeable and never completed. . . because they are revealed only by the current mood.
 .
 .
 .
To take seriously our moods—both our highest soaring joys and our deepest, darkest descents—to live in each of them as moody Ishmael can, to do this is to be open to the manifold truths our moods reveal.

~ backlink In Search of Mystery