tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post428406800030686196..comments2024-02-19T10:15:55.380+00:00Comments on CAUTE — Making Footprints Not Blueprints: It doesn’t have to be the blue irisAndrew James Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02693417061963197121noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-70874663375355451212011-10-08T16:15:28.264+01:002011-10-08T16:15:28.264+01:00Unfortunately, I haven't read enough Nietzsche...Unfortunately, I haven't read enough Nietzsche to know about his perspectivism.<br /><br />My new life in Hamburg is going well so far - the research group I am with are friendly and the problems are interesting. I'm still trying to find a spiritual community I can fit into, though I've by no means exhausted my options. Still, I do miss the memorial church and I hope to be able to visit around christmastime.sfwchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16399130165233984481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-37133305239998326062011-10-08T15:05:43.805+01:002011-10-08T15:05:43.805+01:00Greetings! Very good to hear from you - hope all i...Greetings! Very good to hear from you - hope all is well with you. Thanks, too, for you helpful comments. As I suspect you have already realised there is a touch of Nietzsche's perspectivism at play here.<br /><br />Warmest wishes as always,<br /><br />AndrewAndrew James Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02693417061963197121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-91567328590163432222011-10-08T14:41:20.059+01:002011-10-08T14:41:20.059+01:00I've finally got around to reading this addres...I've finally got around to reading this address, and I'm glad that I did. It really captures how we can preserve the value of religious practices without needing them to be essentially universal, and how this can lead to a less confused picture of the practices themselves.<br /><br />One of the promises of supernaturalist religion is that it allows us to be freed from some of the illusory ways we naturally see the world - `I was blind, but now I see'. Of course, if we did have direct access to an all-encompassing, God's-eye point of view then we would be freed from illusion in just this way. So direct access would be great. But if you read the small print, you find that religious believers get only indirect access - perhaps God, who has this point of view, tells the believer (or someone the believer trusts, who passes on the message) that certain views are illusory. That can't be all, though, since the transformative power of religion goes beyond that of good advice.<br /><br />On a traditional account, though, it isn't clear what else is going on. Sometimes mystical experiences are claimed to give more direct access to an ultimately true vision of the world. But if that were right, such experiences would also give knowledge of more mundane things, like what will happen in the future. Such claims have been made, but the predictions aren't very reliable. Another idea I've come across is that if we relate closely to supernatural beings (like the holy spirit) then some of the effects (like release from spiritual blindness) of their perfect perspective will rub off on us, even if the perspective itself does not.<br /><br />However, as you point out, some illusions, such as the idea that `dancers can defy gravity with ease,' are dispelled by access to a more grounded, if different perspective. And the fact that religious practices open us to such grounded, different perspectives explains how they can dispel certain illusions without relying on an all-inclusive perspective.sfwchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16399130165233984481noreply@blogger.com