| Visual Philosophy |
Most philosophy concerns
words and meanings, arguments and debates. But wisdom is also a matter
of perception and intuition. Images can convey what words cannot.
Here are my reflections on a particular image. Please feel free to
e-mail me your own, and I will include them (provided they are
reasonably brief!).
As new images are included
each month, existing ones will be available (and open to your comments)
by clicking the links on the left.
September
I'm always fascinated by the ways in
which people carve out their their personal space and give it character. Here a
humble caravan has grown into a country retreat. The owner clearly takes pride
in watering the flowers and making the place special - a place to hide, or
relax, or to remember happy moments with the family.
August
If you're reading this in August,
you'll see that I'm cutting corners by using my 'home page' photo again here. I
simply want to reflect on the easy caricature of the philosopher, whether on
holiday or not, as someone who is looking at the big picture and totally missing
the practical day-to-day reality of life. I sometimes feel quite angry about
philosophy, especially when it descends into academic point-scoring, or the
presentation of an erudite facade to mask the paucity of genuinely new thought
or the utter irrelevance to real life of what is being said. On the other hand,
the best philosophy is rooted in the wonder of common experience - looking
logically and clearly at exactly those things that anyone can experience as a
problem. It seems to me that - particularly in matters of religion and ethics -
there is desperate need today for clear, unbiased thinking.
July
Visual representation of a worthy
aspiration. Here, on the Girondin's Monument in Bordeaux, Lies, Vice and
Ignorance get a thorough wetting as they are thrust into the water beneath the
hooves of seahorses. The monument portrays the triumph of Concord, Fraternity,
Abundance, Happiness, Labour, Security, Strength and the Republic.
I'm sure most of these would meet with general approval, even if Abundance and
Happiness are regarded as the driving force behind many political decisions -
but along with Fraternity, it would have been nice to see mention of fairness
and justice. Ah well, you can't have it all, even on an elaborate monument.
May / June
Rooms say much about who we are:
richly cluttered or minimalist, they express something of how we see ourselves
as well as the objects and personal treasures we have accumulated in our passage
through life. There are rooms in which we feel naturally comfortable, others
which feel alien to us. Sometimes a room captures the history of a family.
Just such a room is the studio of Jan Buisman, a sculptor, writer and former
curator of the Tylers Museum in Haarlem. This photograph shows just part of the
huge and fascinating room within which we may trace the remarkable history
and creativity of a single family. Personal space, and personal spaces,
are - in my view - a key feature of feeling that we 'belong' and hence that we
make sense of our lives in their physical context.
April
Hard manual work and relative
poverty was the norm for a majority of country people a century ago, with few of
the social benefits that we take for granted. We have to acknowledge that
there has been substantial material progress, But that should not make us
complacent. Issues about the value of work, the need for appropriate levels of
health and social security benefits, the disparity of wealth between the richest
and the poorest in our society, are as real now as ever, and the political
choices before us just as serious. Faced with the impact of the recession and
the huge national debt, the political debates as the UK heads into its general
election are more realistic than has sometimes been the case, with less goodies
on offer to bribe the electorate. Beware, of course, of those who offer
too simple a recipe for the good life - between those men at the forge and the
present day there hang the spectres of the Nazi regime (promising self respect
and a better future for a Germany crushed and humiliated after the First World
War) and Marxist communism (with its promised dictatorship of the proletariat
that morphed into the hideous repression under Stalin). As always, the key
debate is how you balance freedom (including the desire to better yourself in a
competitive environment) against fairness and a sense of responsibility for the
poorest in society. Perhaps this is a good time to take another look at some of
the classics of Political Philosophy!
March
I'm currently working on a book on
Existentialism, and am struck by the responsibility of choice. We are not
responsible for our circumstances, for they are determined by factors over which
we have no control, but we are inescapably responsible for what we make of them.
Existentialism, less fashionable now than at its height in Paris in the 1940's,
is not restricted to those who join Sartre with cigarette in one hand and a
glass in another, expounding the philosophy of freedom in smoke-filled bars. It
is a philosophy that starts with the simple fact that, in life, we are
constantly challenged to affirm values and to shape our own future. To dodge the
issue and try to blame one's circumstances, or to play a conventional role, is
to fall into 'bad faith'. When I reflect on my life, I am constantly
amazed at how decisions, sometimes taken quite lightly, can have an astonishing
impact on the future. In the words of the Buddha, our present thoughts build our
life of tomorrow. In that at least, Siddhartha and Jean-Paul Sartre (a
most unlikely pair!) would agree.
February
Reading a photographic blog
recently, the author (Ken Rockwell) discussed the importance, in taking a
photograph, of focusing in on details. He used the example of a car, and so -
being snowy at the time - I decided to do just that, and took a picture of one
corner, rather than of the whole of my car. But it reminds me of the
argument that our senses are very selective. Much of what we see is ignored, for
we have a natural ability to seek out and focus on what appears to us to be of
particular interest. The significance of the whole is revealed in the part. That
is true of religion, where events, people and objects are seen as having a
self-transcending significance; or in art, where an art object conveys more than
the material in which it is embodied. As every advertising agency known,
you only need to suggest and offer hints; people will always see more than you
show them.
January
Although not a Christian, I always
enjoy hearing the Nine Lessons and Carols broadcast from King's Chapel,
Cambridge. Why? Nostalgia? The craving for innocence? Re-connecting with a
tradition which spans centuries (although the service itself only started in
1918)? Even a touch of the numinous, cutting through the mundane? For me, it
marks a clean, pure space of time on Christmas Eve, a world apart from the
commercial and gastronomic hassle which constitutes most preparations for the
midwinter festival that spans Christmas and New Year.
In fact, for me, the festival starts
earlier in December, with the Advent Carols sung in that other King's Chapel -
in the Strand, London - followed by a typically Dutch celebration of St
Nicholas. Now that's the time to do the present giving, the filling of shoes
placed round the fire in anticipation of 'St Nick's generous visit! When it
comes to celebrations, there are advantages in having a Dutch wife!
All images on this
site © Mel Thompson
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