Hannah Arendt and totalitarianism

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

Hannah Arendt (1905-1975) was German philosopher best known for her analysis of totalitarianism and Nazi Germany. Wikipedia says,

"Her works cover a broad range of topics, but she is best known for those dealing with the nature of power and evil, as well as politics, direct democracy, authority, and totalitarianism. In the popular mind she is best remembered for the controversy surrounding the trial of Adolf Eichmann, her attempt to explain how ordinary people people actors in totalitarian systems..." (Wikipedia: Hannah Arendt, 8.7.21 UTC 19:27)

The rest of this post is some quotes from Arendt.

Totalitarianism

"Totalitarianism begins in contempt for what you have. The second step is the notion: 'Things must change - no matter how. Anything is better than what we have.'" (Interview with Roger Errera, 1974)

"The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people not informed... If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer." (Interview with Roger Errera, 1974)

"In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true... under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements..." (The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951)

"The totalitarian attempt at global conquest and total domination has been the destructive way out of all impasses. Its victory may coincide with the destruction of humanity; wherever it has ruled, it has begun to destroy the essence of man." (The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951)

Banality of evil

"The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal." (Eichmann in Jerusalem, 1963)

"The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good." (The Life of the Mind, 1978 posthumous)

"So that instead of saying: 'What horrible things I did to people!' the murderers would be able to say: 'What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!'" (Eichmann in Jerusalem, 1963)

Thomas Aquinas and the first mover

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Carlo Crivelli

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was an Italian Catholic philosopher best known for his theory of the first mover. Historian Carl Becker said,

"We have, among innumerable other works, the Summa Theologica, surely one of the most amazing and stupendous products of the human mind... Never before or since has the wide world been so neatly boxed and compassed, so completely and confidently understood, every detail of it fitted, with such subtle and loving precision, into a consistent and convincing whole." (The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-century Philosophers, 1932)

The rest of this post is some quotes from Aquinas .

First mover

"Whatever is in motion must be put in motion by another. If that by which it is put in motion be itself put in motion be itself put in motion, then this also must needs be put in motion by another, and that by another again. But this cannot go on to infinity, because then there would be no first mover, and, consequently, no other mover; seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are put in motion by the first mover; as the staff moves only because it is put in motion by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God." (Summa Theologica, 1265-1274)

"Creation is thus said to be a kind of change, according to the way of understanding, insofar as our intellect accepts one and the same thing as not existing before and afterwards existing." (Summa Theologica, 1265-1274)

God, will and good

"Now the object of the will, i.e., of man's appetite, is the universal good. This is to be found, not in any creature, but in God alone; because every creature has goodness by participation. Thus God alone can satisfy the will of a human being." (Summa Theologica, 1265-1274)

"The greatness of the human being consists in this: that it is capable of the universe." (De Veritate)

"Reason in man is rather like God in the world." (Opuscule II, De Regno)

"The image of God always abides in the soul, whether this image be obsolete and clouded over as to amount to almost nothing; or whether it be obscured or disfigured, as is the case with sinners; or whether it be clear and beautiful as is the case with the just." (Summa Theologica, 1265-1274)

"...one will observe that all things are arranged according to their degrees of beauty and excellence, and that the nearer they are to God, the more beautiful and better they are." (Sermons on the Apostles' Creed)

Baruch Spinoza and the philosophy of God

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher best known for his philosophy of God and pantheism. Albert Einstein said,

"I believe in Spinoza's God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind." (Interview with Herbert Goldstein, 1929)

Philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari said,

"Spinoza is the Christ of philosophers, and the greatest philosophers are hardly more than apostles who distance themselves from or draw near to this mystery." (What is Philosophy? 1991)

The rest of this post is some quotes from Spinoza.

God

"For I hold that God is of all things the cause immanent, as the phrase is, not transient. I say that all things are in God and move in God, thus agreeing with Paul, and, perhaps, with all the ancient philosophers, though the phraseology may be different..." (Letter to Henry Oldenburg, 1675)

"God is the Immanent Cause of all things, never truly transcendent from them." (Ethics, 1677)

"Individual things are nothing but modifications of the attributes of God, or modes by which the attributes of God are expressed in a fixed and definite manner." (Ethics, 1677)

"By God, I mean a being absolutely infinite - that is, a substance consisting in infinite attributes, of which each expresses eternal and infinite essentially." (Ethics, 1677)

"Things could not have been brought into being by God in any manner or in any order different from that which has in fact obtained." (Ethics, 1677)

Attributes

"Beauty, my dear Sir, is not so much a quality of the object beheld, as an effect in him who beholds it... The most beautiful hand seen through the microscope will appear horrible. Some things are beautiful at a distance, but ugly near; thus things regarded in themselves, and in relation to God, are neither ugly nor beautiful." (Letter to Hugo Boxel, 1674)

"The more reality or being a thing has, the greater number of its attributes." (Ethics, 1677)

Definitions

"A definition, if it is to be called perfect, must explain the inmost essence of a thing, and must take care not to substitute for this any of its properties." (On the Improvement of the Understanding, 1662)

"My purpose is to explain, not the meaning of words, but the nature of things." (Ethics, 1677)

What is justified?

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Owen Williams

Photo license: CC BY-SA 3.0

What is justified? Here is my definition:

Justified is the attribute of being supported by a good reason

I believe there is a subjective line between justified and not-justified. I don't have a strict criteria for what constitutes as a good reason. For example, if I hear loud music playing next door, am I justified to believe they are having a party? Depending on who you ask, the answer could be yes or no. What constitutes as a 'good reason' is subjective.

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

What is a predicate?

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

What is a predicate? Here is my definition:

A predicate is a part of a sentence that describes a subject

I believe that every sentence has at least one predicate. Without predicates, sentences would not describe anything. For example, if I said, "Coffee mug" that would not be a sentence and I would not be describing anything. I would be merely pointing to a concept and saying nothing about it. Conversely, if I said, "Running" that would also not be a sentence. In this regard, every sentence has at least one subject-predicate pair.

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

What is a subject?

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Photographeroflife

Photo license: CC BY-SA 3.0

What is a subject? I have three definitions:

1. A subject is a branch of knowledge

2. A subject is a part of a sentence being described

3. A subject is a being that is perceiving

The rest of this post is an explanation of each definition.

1. A subject is a branch of knowledge

I believe its interesting how society has divided up knowledge into our major subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, history, literature, mathematics, economics, philosophy, psychology and sociology. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, but I believe these are the most common subjects found in education systems around the world. Sometimes I wonder if there would be a better list of subjects to study or if reality is inherently set up this way.

2. A subject is a part of a sentence being described

I believe that all sentences have at least one subject-predicate pair. The subject is the thing being described, while the predicate is the description. Sometimes the subject is implied. For example, if I said, "Go to Seattle" the implied subject is the person I'm talking to. Regardless, I can't think of a single sentence that doesn't have a subject.

3. A subject is a being that perceives

The third definition has to do with the subject-object relationship. In this regard, the subject is the being that consciously observes something. The object is the phenomena that is observed. I also believe that the entirety of life experience is nothing but a series of subject-object relationships.

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

What is a system?

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, East Riding Archives, CC0 1.0

What is a system? Here is my definition:

A system is a set of interrelated things that form a unified whole

I believe that reality is full of hidden systems and intellectuals should strive to understand these systems and make them clear. One example is the circulatory system of blood in the human body which was described in detail by William Harvey. Another important system is the structure of an atom which is studied by physicists. In my opinion, one of the most mysterious systems is the human brain.

License: CC BY-SA 4.0