Mushishi and philosophy pt.2:Moral realism v. moral anti-realism;on the ethics of mushi

MADE OF WIN

 

Mushishi and philosophy:part 1 rationalism vs. empiricism; on the existence of a lower species

This is one brilliant man.

Mushishi is a polarizing show. Most people loved it for its poignant description of the human description and slow moving dramatics. The others hated it for the same reasons; it had some pacing problems, and was admittedly depressing in the way it portrayed every other human besides Ginko. It encompassed a wide variety of the spectrum of human emotion; Greed(ep 6) Love for those long gone(ep 8,16,17, 22) Unrequited love/lust/schoolgirl crush(ep 20) A womans love for a child not technically her own(ep 21) Hatred and fear of the unknown(ep 24) Acceptance of fate (ep 25).

 

First Impressions spring 2008

I am a Texan and a green lantern nerd

 

I’ve come here to post updates and kick ass and I’m all out of updates

Yeah I just quoted They Live, which I will be referencing in a future post about dystopian fiction including 1984, animal farm, and they live.

Now as far as anime posts go I will have a series on Mushishi and philosophy(since everyone describes this show as so philosophical and deep I’m going to investigate). I will have a post about gundam soon although this cheeky bastard pretty much has the market cornered on intelligent gundam posts. I haven’t been watching any anime in a while although both kaiba and toshokan sensou look brilliant.

As for personal updates I have been watching more movies(Magnolia, and Memento being my favorite), reading more books(Ulysses, The Sound and the Fury, and a bunch of poems by T.S. Eliot)

This blog is not dead, merely kicked in the groins by life outside of the blogosphere.

 

Determinism vs. Free-will pt. 2 God gets in on the action

Last time in this segment we discussed what determinism is and what free-will is…basically. One of the most interesting facets to this argument is God. The concept of a higher being seems to either irk or tickle our respective fancies more than most topics. God is a polarizing issue. The existence of/morality of God in concept is a topic that splits us into believers or unbelievers.

If god exists, and he is omnipotent, then I believe it is safe to assume that we have no true free-will. Even if we have some moderate free-will in our decisions, if God can see the future we are to assume a determinist faith. Not that theres anything wrong with that, but I like to feel in charge of myself from time to time. If God exists, and he is not omnipotent then I think its only reasonable we assume that he doesn’t already know what we are going to do, therefore we are free to make our own decisions.

Personally speaking I do believe in some sort of Higher being, but certainly not the Judeo-Christian God(far too many holes in the theory). I like to take a deist faith. The thought that God made us and doesn’t mess with us. The greatest gift God gave us was the ability to reason, so I like to stick with the religion that allows me to assert this truth.

So what does all this mean? If God is all-knowing, then what I do matters not? Should I just kill myself to end the cruel joke I’ve been living. No. No one knows if any of this is true or not. What if all our philosophy was wrong, what if the Muslims were right all along? We absolutely have no way to know anything about the afterlife till we get there. Thats the point. We can conjecture and experiment all we want, but in the end all we need to do is pass the time till we die, where either we will be greeted by hell/heave, or nothingness.

next in this series:Causal Determinism, and the monism/dualism/pluralism debate

 

Eureka Seven 1-10;wait this show wasn’t supposed to be “deep”

So watching Eureka Seven and reading through Bateszi and Animanachronism’s stuff, I find myself digging for deeper connections in everyday mundane tasks. It was tough for a while, because lately all I’ve been doing is saging newfags on /b/, and watching George Lopez from 9pm till 4am. So I torrented Eureka Seven to watch to ease me back into anime.

It finishes torrenting and I start to watch, its got great music and pretty pictures, but that’s pretty much it. Until all of a sudden the show depicts an old woman of a certain determinist faith, and she just so happens to be labeled as a terrorist by the government for no logical reason other than “she’s different”.(America for the LOSE!)So what does Gekko-state do?They capture her and go to collect the reward money, and then they go back on the deal steal the money and take to woman to her homeland.When there she spouts some pop-theology to Renton and his mind is blown.

This interests me only because the creators of the show spend these episodes crafting a light anime, when all of a sudden theres ethnic cleansing, and war flashbacks, and old tea lady stating that everything is predetermined. Thats like walking into church and slapping everyone there with a copy of Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

I have nothing serious to say other than WTF? I mean its so poppy and happy then its vietnam then its poppy again.

 

Determinism vs. Free-will(The Cage Match) pt.1

Since I haven’t even been watching anime lately(save for gunbuster) I figure I should update on the less mainstream reason any visitor comes here. I’m about to leave for a week long ski-trip with my class as a final hurrah before we graduate and go on to better and brighter futures.

I recently overheard a discussion on the matters of free-will vs. determinism, and was too bashful to enter the discourse. As it turns out I’m rather bashful of speaking in public on things that are important to me or pertain to my interests. So I figured I would talk about it here.

Determinism(particularly Causal Determinism) states that “future events are necessitated by past and present events combined with the laws of nature”(1). This means that somehow everything that has led up to this exact moment can be used somehow to predict the future. This completely nullifies the concept of free-will. How can I choose what to eat for lunch if it has already been decided?

Free-will on the other hand states that we have choices all around us and as Sartre put it “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. ” We make choices everyday i.e. whether or not I choose to breath right now is entirely up to me. Thats not to say that outside obligations don’t matter(would your kind dear old mother want you to stop breathing?), but in the end it is my choice whether or not i live or die(at least part of the time).

This entire argument can’t be proven empirically if the mind is a separate non-physical being. If the mind is entirely belonging to the physical brain then the laws of nature apply to the mind. If the laws of nature apply to the mind, then the future of any individual can be predicted, and free will is nullified. If, however, the mind is pertaining to the soul which is a part of the non-physical world, then determinism must be ruled out. If the laws of nature do not apply to the non-physical world, then the mind or soul or spirit is free to think or act or choose as it pleases.

Source: (1)=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism

The next post will be how all this applies to theological determinism.

 

A post explaining my lack of posts

 

So I know what you’re thinking…hey i want to learn some new philosophical concepts and read barclay’s thoughts on anime(yes barclay is my real name). Well I’m not much of a big time poster, and my friend just lent me her copy of the first season of LOST on dvd. It’s astoundingly additive, almost like a spanish soap opera. Sometimes I feel like a housewife with nothing else to watch, so I tune into this massively popular show (which completely makes me lose faith in it, if only because other people like it.)

Besides that, I have an english project due tuesday, sociology project due the 16th, and I have to take the THEA test at the end of the month to determine whether or not I have to take remediation courses in college(yeah america is that pathetic). Then I have to get registered for dorms and stuff. Also my “OCD” has been getting worse…I’ve actually stopped scrubbing the bathroom and begun cleaning my room

but don’t fret I will find time to post more and more as things calm down. During spring break I will post a lot because I will be very bored no doubt. Also I’m trying to find some new shows to watch…. once I update MAL I will have not much to watch so recommendations anyone?

 

Bokurano;Defining ourselves in the context of others.

Bokurano is a manga about kids that will die trying to save the 10 billion people on the earth. This concept is nothing new, and is quite often quoted in the dialogue. It does pose some interesting questions on the darker side of the human condition.

 

The Cat Returns;Ghibli’s strong-female lead magnum opus

The Cat Returns is to me the seminal work of the Ghibli stereotypical strong-female lead. The main character is usually headstrong, and at the same time insecure about the events going on around her, and though this isn’t a Miyazaki joint, it still epitomizes the strong female at all times.