#historicity

[errantabbot]

On Gods and Lizard Tails

God(s) refuses to be captured by conceptual restraint. When we attempt to grasp infinity with finitude, at best we come up with lizard tails, that is, those self-severed bits that the lizard easily leaves behind when threatened, knowing it can grow another. Meanwhile, we humans enshrine those tails as the whole lizard, and then wonder why it is that they refuse to walk around or flick their tongues.

Archetypes and metaphors guide us into the mysteries of being, chiefly by being comprised in large part of that same mystery. When we work too hard to bind them to the temporal world in hopes of somehow capturing them, we often render them listless.

The real efficacy of these forces exists in their stories and inferences, in their images and allusions, which is to say with their chief occupation in the liminal space outside of the realm historicity and literality.

Zen Master Dae Hae once said that “the blue dragon is the most powerful being in all of existence precisely because it does not exist…if it did exist it would be finite, and therefore limited.”

~Sunyananda

[nacapito]

“Nadie se salva solo, nadie salva a nadie, todos nos salvamos en comunidad”.

— Paulo Freire. Transformational popular educator, pedagogical thinker and radical practitioner.

(“No one is saved alone, no one saves anyone, we all save ourselves in community.”)

+ If we die, we'll die together. As ourselves.

— Fionna. "Cheers" the tenth episode of Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake. This episode is the second and final part of the season finale.

[anaxerneas]

Still, in the matter of their common rejection of the transcendental tradition, these disparate figures [the existentialists, Frankfurt school, etc] also agree on a fundamental reason for that rejection. Expressed in widely differing terms, and with different emphasis, it comes down to this: transcendental philosophy in all its traditional forms is rejected primarily because of its inability to come to terms with history or historicity.

[The transcendental philosopher] can claim that the emphasis on historicity, once it is taken seriously, leads to a particular sort of relativism or skepticism which, like all skepticism, will ultimately contradict itself. He can attempt to show that the argument for the historically limited and thus changeable character of his a priori concepts must presuppose those very concepts as unchanging, since they involve concepts of all possible change. Such rebuttals, however, concede the major point of the objection, which is that transcendental philosophy is unable to admit the importance of history or historicity into its account. Is there no way that transcendental philosophy can yield to the compelling demand that it take history seriously without seeing itself destroyed? It seems that the philosophical importance of history must be denied - a difficult task in our day - or the transcendental inquiry must be given up. Such, in broad outlines, is the conflict between transcendental philosophy and what I have called history-oriented philosophy.

David Carr, Phenomenology and the Problem of History

I'm trying to read this alongside Brian O'Connor's book on Adorno. I don't have to look very far in there to find passages like this -

[Adorno] specifically criticized formalism, positivism, phenomenology and irrationalism on the basis of the differing ways in which, allegedly, their methodologies are unable to grasp the specific nature of particular, historical reality. Adorno dismisses naturalistic methodologies and proposes, in line with his historical conception of theory, that philosophy take on an interpretative dimension (a radical hermeneutics, in effect).

This is clearly distinct from the outlook of an evolutionary epistemologist who would chide the humanities for neglecting our biological reality and evolutionary history (they would really go further and insist on its relevance for every serious consideration of ourselves, that's the imperialism many see in literary Darwinism, memetics, etc), but I guess the transcendental philosopher would say that philosophical historicism opens the door to exactly that. How would Adorno or others respond?

[aquietwhyme]

We should, actually. It'll probably be confusing in to many people, but as one of the people above said it helps put historical periods in perspective with one another, and can piggyback a broader, global perspective onto the eurocentric mess many of us in the West are brought up with.

For example, it's interesting to know that the year of five emperors in Rome, a period where there was great uncertainty, coincided with the fall of the eunuchs and the period of great uncertainty in the Han dynasty that led to the three kingdoms period. Or that the English Magna Carta was signed during the rise of the Incan empire. Or that the rise of Mali as a powerful empire in West Africa coincided with the conquest of China and most of Asia by the Mongols.

Or any number of events or inventions that could be considered era-defining, really. History is so much easier to remember, so much more interesting to learn when you don't worry about the dates that can be easily looked up, and instead of focus on when and where things happened in relation to one another.

I mean dates are important, but only insofar as they inform and provide the context around events, and an establishing the historicity of events by tying them to dated documents. For a real lay understanding, context is king.

Whenever I see someone refer to "Victorian era-" for places outside the UK I'm tempted to start saying shit like "Han Dynasty era Rome", "Soviet era Australia" etc

[peekofhistory]

AHH!! Quickly!! The artefacts have escaped the museum!! 😘😘 This video is adorable :D

These ladies are wearing Tang Dynasty hanfu, the famous "golden age" of Chinese history. Artefacts show that aesthetics during this dynasty favored fuller shaped women, if you've ever seen the figures from the museums these ladies look like exact replicas :D

Video src: 包意凡 【博物馆闭馆时间到，我俩要粗去玩！】 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1iJ4m1K7Mq/

[anteregem]

Some fanart of this ancient figurine! Also got commissioned to draw her hanging out with a friend!

[frostedmagnolias]

“Mary Wallace was the first woman bus driver with the Chicago Transit Authority in 1974. Her job applications were rejected for three years, but her persistence paid off. She was eventually hired under an affirmative action program. Wallace became one of the city’s most popular drivers over her thirty-three year career.”

Happy Black History Month!

[sidecast]

i looove the miku trend. nomadic horselord hungarian miku be upon you

[bebs-art-gallery]

Cats Stealing Food in Paintings

Still Life with Cat (1705) by Desportes, It's no use crying over spilt milk (1880) by Frank Paton, Still Life of the Remnants of a Meal with a Lunging Cat (18th Century) by Alexandre-François Desportes, Fish Still Life with Two Cats (1781) by Martin Ferdinand Quadal, Still Life with a Cat and a Mackerel on a Table Top (18th Century) by Giovanni Rivalta, The Collared Thief (1860) by William James Webbe, Cat Stealing a String of Sausages (17th Century) by Abraham van Beyeren, Still Life with a Cat (1760) by Sebastiano Lazzari, Kitchen Still Life with Fish and Cat (ca. 1650) by Sebastian Stoskopff, An Oyster Supper (1882) by Horatio Henry Couldery, Still Life with an Ebony Chest (17th Century) by Frans Snyders, Still Life with a Cat (1724) by Alexandre-Francois Desportes, A Cat Attacking Dead Game (18th Century) by Alexandre-François Desportes, Still Life of Fresh-Water Fish with a Cat (1656) by Pieter Claesz, Still Life with Fruits and Ham with a Cat and a Parrot (18th Century) by Alexandre-Francois Desportes, A Cat Holding a Fish in Its Mouth (18th Century) by Sebastiano Lazzari, Still Life with a Cat and a Hare (18th Century) by Desportes, Still Life with Cat and Rayfish (1728) by Jean-Siméon Chardin, A Cat with Dead Game (1711) by Alexandre-Francois Desportes, Still Life with Cat and Fish (1728) by Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin

Via James Lucas on X/Twitter

[craigtowens]

The Confirming Details

When we cross-reference biblical passages, the confirming details build both out trust in the divine inspiration of the Bible, but also its historical reliability. Check out one example that Luke gives us in the Book of Acts.

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.  https://craigtowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-confirming-details.mp3 A couple of years ago I was in a car accident, but I never saw the car that hit me. Fortunately, the driver in the vehicle right behind me, a driver who was nearly hit by the car who hit me,…

[marzipanandminutiae]

"hey why are all the barrier garments like linen shirts or chemises or combinations going away?"

"oh we have more washable fabrics now! you don't need to worry about sweat reaching your outer clothing when you can just chuck it in the washing machine!"

"cool!"

[100 years later]

"so uh all of those new washable fabrics are leaching microplastics into our water, and the constant machine-washing wears garments out faster. they're also not really sturdy enough to be mended, so we keep having to throw them out and now the planet is covered in plastic fabric waste that will never break down. also it turns out that the new washable fabrics hold odor-causing bacteria VERY well. so could we get those barrier garments back please?"

"sorry babe linen now costs $100000/yard and since it's been so long without them, nobody knows how to adapt barrier garments to the current styles anyway"

"..."

"maybe try this new $50 undershirt made of Special Sweat-Wicking Plastic Fabric! :) :) :)"

[wasmormon]

A New Book of Mormon Introduction Tested in App

The church has many apps available for download, and no surprise, one dedicated to the Book of Mormon. It is geared towards investigators who are new to the church as you can imagine is a useful tool for missionary work when investigators can download a free app rather than be given a physical book. The Book of Mormon Introduction The introduction to the Book of Mormon was not a part of the…

[shamebats]

[fitzgeraldsflapper]

Costume Concept Art for Nosferatu (2024) by Linda Muir

[elfgirlcraftworks]

Did a big brave thing over the weekend and entered the daytime Afrovictorian ensemble in the Masquerade at Arisia

Guess what?

I won a Best in Show for both Workmanship and Presentation!

Hopefully they'll upload the professional photos soon but now I have to go plot for next year. I'm considering a riff on the Baddest Boss Babe in Bridgerton, Lady Danbury.