To Generalise is to be an Idiot. William Blake on politics, disillusionment and abstraction
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Published 2024-06-21
Such generalisations profoundly shape politics today. Politicians sell themselves on whether they will boost the economy, drive up growth, fight inflation, and I think the rhetoric is itself alienating, dumbing, dreary. Vision departs, imagination declines, disillusionment becomes the norm.
Accept for when it doesn't - hence the rise of popularism, too.
Abstractions infect the arts and humanities, as well. They have become a way of life. So what is Blake's analysis?
All Comments (18)
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Marvellous- many thanks
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Very well said sir.... šš
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Edmund Husserlās philosophy was based on insights that saw this problem of idealization and abstractionism in human reasoning. He saw this problem as the problem of worldview building. According to Gadamer, Husserl saw Weltanschauungphilosophie as a second danger equal to naive and unreflective naturalism. There is a similarity with Husserlās existential imperative in phenomenology with Kierkegaardās philosophy of indirection. Anyway, this is very interesting point about Blake and I looked forward to your book. I am reading another book of similar concern at the moment called āLost in Ideology: Interpreting Modern Political Lifeā. But I am also reminded by your talk of Charles Taylorās new book just out called āCosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantmentā which I am very much looking forward to.
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Thank you Mark šš¼ Iām looking forward for your book on Blake šÆ
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Floating abstractions such as 'freedom' and 'responsibility' are rampant and serve to obfuscate actual circumstances and different types of freedom. Aristotle's distinction between quantitative exchange value and substantive use values seems to be related to this topic.
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Thank you so much, Mark! I'm watching all your videos. Blake is my guide too, thanks to you šš«
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Thank you Mark. Excellent video šš
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First time watching you and I enjoyed this video very much :) I would say that when quoting from Blake we should be careful with how we present his words. āI must create a system...ā, at least in my understanding of the text, is said by Los; we donāt attribute Urizenās words to Blake without further context so we shouldnāt for Losā. Although there is an argument to be made that more than any of his mythic characters the words of Los are in fact Blakeās own thoughts.
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I love your copy of Ernts Lehrs' Man or Matter over there š. Planning to read it some time...
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Love CAN be bribery, but of course that's not desirable.
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Isn't Platonism all about contemplating abstractions and considering them to be more real than manifest reality?
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Really interesting stuff. I like Blake but have a lot of religious anxieties regarding his being labelled a Satanist, along with Shelley. It freaks me out a fair bit if Iām honest. Can I ask what you make of it?
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Technofeudalism as suggested by Yanis Varoufakis?
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Will(i)am (B)lake is one big ponderer. am(i)will (B)lake is one big wonderer. i(am)will (B)lake is one big sonder.
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Have a laugh. It does wonders to the mind.
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Im sorry, but I dont think the title statement is idiotic even if it claims to be