Just-As Luky's Day Off ?!?
It took me forever to study Luky's ideas on belief, believing, etc. (http://philosopherdog.blogspot.com/2005/11/believe-what.html), but it was a pretty complex concept. I asked him the other day if that was the most complex thing he ever thought through . . . NOT the best question to ask Luky if you want to avoid a day-long dissertation. I should have stopped when he bluntly said, "No."
"Well, I guess you know better," I said. "You're the one who thinks about God, belief, knowledge, meaning, Meaning Of Life, and all that heavy stuff."
"Yes, those are all tough concepts," he said, "and each of them requires its own careful analysis, but I think the hardest concept is 'justice'."
He said that so matter-of-factly that I hardly understood him - at least initially. Then my mind caught up with my ears.
"Justice," I asked with every inquisitive tone I could muster. "Why justice? Isn't that the simplest concept? Or at least ONE of the simplest? It seems to me that justice would be a pretty easy measurement in the first place - and then on top of that we have laws to help us keep the idea straight."
"That's what most humans think as long as they aren't thinking," Luky was talking through his whiskers again which tends to muffle his words and somehow cushions his most diagnostic digs.
Luky shook his head the way wolves do when they're getting ready to share great insights among the pack. That's a lot different shake of the head than the typical domestic canine shake . . . that is, the sort Tom Hanks shares during a stakeout in his role as Detective Scott Turner taking advice from Hooch - otherwise known as "Beasley the Dog" (a Bullmastiff - http://www.akc.org/breeds/bullmastiff/index.cfm) - in the movie, Turner & Hooch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098536/fullcredits).
"It turns out that 'justice' is actually complicated by its social and legal contexts. The reason it is probably the most difficult concept is because we try to apply it while respecting very different kinds of principles. On the one hand, we - at least those of us who have inherited the deeper, lupine sense - retain a day-to-day understanding of ultimate good and evil . . . a template of the karmic supreme, if you will. We recognize the idea of wrong, even when it's just a thought. All the while the law, along with various contextual rules of the game, motivate us to look at 'justice' as necessarily action in the real world. Justice, then, loses its ideal status and becomes a function of compromise and practicality."
"I knew I shouldn't have pushed this subject." I said exactly what came to my mind.
"Well, we don't have to burden ourselves with all of it right now, but I think it's a good exercise for you." (Note, "you" is the plural pronoun Luky regularly uses to mean "humans.")
"Yes," I readily agreed, "after all, it is Thanksgiving and we can afford to take a day off of philosophically heavy discussions . . . right?"
"Sure," he whispered, "we can shut our minds down for the day while we thank the Creator for the bounty of our lives, the blessings of freedom, the miracles of our respective cellular forms, the fact that generations of stars were needed to coalesce the atoms and molecules required to make our hearts beat, our synapses fire and our minds cogitate . . ."
"What? What are you saying?" I interjected.
"Just that I'm in agreement . . . we can limit our thoughts to the simple things for a day of Thanks."
"Well, I guess you know better," I said. "You're the one who thinks about God, belief, knowledge, meaning, Meaning Of Life, and all that heavy stuff."
"Yes, those are all tough concepts," he said, "and each of them requires its own careful analysis, but I think the hardest concept is 'justice'."
He said that so matter-of-factly that I hardly understood him - at least initially. Then my mind caught up with my ears.
"Justice," I asked with every inquisitive tone I could muster. "Why justice? Isn't that the simplest concept? Or at least ONE of the simplest? It seems to me that justice would be a pretty easy measurement in the first place - and then on top of that we have laws to help us keep the idea straight."
"That's what most humans think as long as they aren't thinking," Luky was talking through his whiskers again which tends to muffle his words and somehow cushions his most diagnostic digs.
Luky shook his head the way wolves do when they're getting ready to share great insights among the pack. That's a lot different shake of the head than the typical domestic canine shake . . . that is, the sort Tom Hanks shares during a stakeout in his role as Detective Scott Turner taking advice from Hooch - otherwise known as "Beasley the Dog" (a Bullmastiff - http://www.akc.org/breeds/bullmastiff/index.cfm) - in the movie, Turner & Hooch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098536/fullcredits).
"It turns out that 'justice' is actually complicated by its social and legal contexts. The reason it is probably the most difficult concept is because we try to apply it while respecting very different kinds of principles. On the one hand, we - at least those of us who have inherited the deeper, lupine sense - retain a day-to-day understanding of ultimate good and evil . . . a template of the karmic supreme, if you will. We recognize the idea of wrong, even when it's just a thought. All the while the law, along with various contextual rules of the game, motivate us to look at 'justice' as necessarily action in the real world. Justice, then, loses its ideal status and becomes a function of compromise and practicality."
"I knew I shouldn't have pushed this subject." I said exactly what came to my mind.
"Well, we don't have to burden ourselves with all of it right now, but I think it's a good exercise for you." (Note, "you" is the plural pronoun Luky regularly uses to mean "humans.")
"Yes," I readily agreed, "after all, it is Thanksgiving and we can afford to take a day off of philosophically heavy discussions . . . right?"
"Sure," he whispered, "we can shut our minds down for the day while we thank the Creator for the bounty of our lives, the blessings of freedom, the miracles of our respective cellular forms, the fact that generations of stars were needed to coalesce the atoms and molecules required to make our hearts beat, our synapses fire and our minds cogitate . . ."
"What? What are you saying?" I interjected.
"Just that I'm in agreement . . . we can limit our thoughts to the simple things for a day of Thanks."
posted by RAM at 8:56 AM
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