On Ancient and Common Philosophizing

 

No es fácil escribir filosofía.
Es mucho pensar y
pensar cansa.
No hay que pensar demasiado.
Pobre Iris Murdoch.
Pobre Mamá.
Pero si hay que pensar.
Hay tiempos para pensar y
tiempos para no pensar.

Not easy to write philosophy.
A lot of thinking and
thinking fatigues.
One must not think too much.
Poor Iris Murdoch.
Poor Mother.
But one must think.
There are times to think and
times not to think.

Nicht einfach, Philosophieschreiben.
Viel Nachdenken, und
Nachdenken macht müde.
Frau darf nicht zu viel nachdenken.
Die arme Iris Murdoch.
Die arme Mama.
Aber frau muss denken.
Es gibt Denkmomenten und
Nichtdenkmomenten.

Philosophy is ordinary indeed. Perhaps not in abstraction. But indeed. Studious as we human creatures are.

This does not mean that philosophy is easy by any means. On the contrary, anything that must be done requires great effort. The body tires, as does the mind. Philosophical doing is a lot of work. When I focus philosophically, I tend to frown. It’s not “old”. It’s honest. Living leaves marks. Ancient Greek philosophress Periktione (Athens, 4^th and 3^rd century B.C.E.) says that

the meaning of philosophy is to get to the bottom of things, capture their essence, and to be metaphysics. (Gleichauf, p.22)

Author Ingeborg Gleichauf explains that

philosophy only happens when the human being creates a distance between herself and that which preoccupies her on a daily basis, and wonders about the from-where and where-to, about the meaning of everything. (ibidem)

Perhaps, not everything is philosophy, not everyone a philosopher, after all, though they could be. I feel grateful to live in a place with a philosophical community. With schools, libraries, study centers for body and mind. For good living. Making philosophy a part of the quotidian life.  In pursuit of happiness. Through Philosophy, which means human art. The power of philosophizing is channelled through physical, mental, and social activities (i.e. yoga, sports, and artistic expression; pictures, books, curricula, media; gatherings, townhalls, clubs, parties, dialogues; et cetera). People gather to train and think together, to discuss and develop, to practice and profess, to contemplate, meditate and express. And humanity thrives as people gather information for good living. As they seek to experience good lives. Philosophy is extraordinary and it is available in public spaces. Philosophy has always been around. Women have always participated in it, even against all odds. Places for human study have always existed. For the study of ourselves and the world.

The world is shared. There is no escaping this fact. Our Planet Earth shares one of uncountable galaxies with countless other planets and stars. On Earth, a carefully balanced ecosystem shares in dances of water, fire, earth, wind, flesh, and wood. Earth’s creatures inter-are with their environments and with each other. Every single one of us is “another”.

Simon de Beauvoir concluded that women were “other” to men. Perhaps, I got too caught up in the whole “sex” thing to continue pursuing “gender” in that way. I do feel her as a woman and philosopher. I have her to thank for my master’s thesis. I feel, I understand her with the heart. And I salute her courage, and dedication to exposing the social inequities related to conceptions of gender and sex. She shook me awake. As a woman. As a feminist. As a human being.

As I dive into the study of women philosophers, I find it gives an amazing validation to my Nexistential identity. To my femme philosophy to be. My work becomes clear: A philosophy of humankind through the perspective of a woman – engendered, of course, by men and women alike in all their variations. A philosophy born out of a woman’s womb of orgasmic intelligence. Women’s philosophies and philosophical experiencing move me to the bone. I feel it in my flesh, it beats in my heart, and sings in my soul.

Men move me, too. But they also frighten me. For too long I felt other to them, while at the same time identifying with their more profound observations. The philosopher at the club talked about Friedrich Nietzsche (15. October 1844 – 25. November 1900), who believed suffering to be a catalyst for growth. He wondered: is suffering bad perse? Believed that our life is valuable because we are vulnerable and finite, because it will end. He espoused the idea of self-fashioning, a process of creating one’s own values. Materialism and rationalism lead to godlessness and nihilism. The belief in the Christian God becomes unbelievable and leads to a moral collapse. Mourning and disorientation result from the loss of God. Crisis. Thus, we are faced with a moral restoration project. The morality based on perceptions we inherited, we have to restructure to our own moral perceptions.

I’ve come to similar conclusions. When I was a teenager, I realized that we experience a social trauma. We get filled with notions given to us by the social context which surrounds us. But indeed, what are we? Then I lost God and lived as an atheist and nihilist for many years rejecting almost everything. Particularly the philosophy of men, but also philosophy at large. An existential crisis, which I have only begun to overcome in recent years. Nexistentialism represents the next step, the restructuring, the self-fashioning, the process of creating “new” values. A moral restoration project.

I thank Nietzsche for teaching to celebrate all of life despite the suffering! And I wonder to what extent yoga may have inspired him. So much is obscured from visibility in the thought-rivers of humanity. Patriarchal societies have gone to great lengths to obscure the presence of women in overtly public affairs. Such as government, art, and the celebrated public norms true to contextual existential (day-to-day living over periods of time) realities (moment-to-moment matters (personal, private, social, public, collective, planetary, universal and so forth)).

I feared a closer study of Nietzsche since my youth. Or Kafka. Though I did fall into the Kafka temptation about two decades ago. I was young and fearfully carefree. I understood his “thought process” in the story Das Urteil (1912) (“The Judgment/The Verdict”) about 12 years after reading it. His thoughts about the matter simply ended there. His story ideas ceased. Regardless of having come to any sort of conclusion. Thought happens that way. Sometimes, an idea comes to an inconclusive end. I fear them because I feel them in my soul. The others. Because I love them.

When I have time to myself, true self-time, I find that I am much more ascetic than I imagine myself to be. A sign of enlightenment or illumination? The gaze from within, without outer distractions, can be quite peaceful. Silence is golden.

Yoga is a phenomenon, an existential force. Brilliantly elaborated and formulated by ancient Indian philosophy and perceptive techniques, indeed quite physical ones (i.e. pranayama, asana). A phenomenon articulated by other systems, too. Various yoga traditions, as well as other perceptive apparatuses. A force that seekers, thinkers, philosophers and other practitioners might stumble upon. A force yoking existing and potential structures through transformation and transcendence. Yoking thought with action, will with power, study with practice. Did yoga inspire Nietzsche?

Philosphical Pairs 2
Friedrich Nietzsche – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Pythagoras – Theano of Crotone
Socrates - Aspasia

Without any specifications, who of the pairs do you guess to be what sex, based on the name alone? Woman, man, someone else? German philosopher F. Nietzsche was an admirer of Russian author F. Dostoevsky (another one I fear).

Theano of Crotone was the wife of ancient mathematician Pythagoras. She was born in the Greek colony of Crotone in Southern Italy, sometime after 550 B.C.E. * (before the common era formerly known as Jesus Christ’s birth in the year zero, marking a before Christ (B.C.) and an after Christ (anno domini, A.D. (Latin)), now referred to as the common era (makes sense with the whole “C” thing)).

Mistress Theano of Crotone had five children. When Pythagoras died, she took over the direction of his school. She had been a follower of his lifestyle. Their motto: prudence and moderation. With the goal to better understand the soul, which is eternal and is born again. The mathematical theorem of the golden mean ratio, or golden section, or sectio aurea (Latin) is attributed to Ms. Theano. Despite her diverse writings about philosophy, mathematics and medicine, only a fragment of her text “On Piety” made it* through a thousand-and-five-hundred-year space-time wormhole. As I sit here, in a living-room in the American West at the turn of the twenty-first century, I can learn from a woman, a femme philosopher no less, from across the Atlantic Ocean hundreds and hundreds of years ago. What a miracle!

Theano had many female students. She gave them intellectual guidance, as well as rules for a morally valuable life as a woman. She held marriage as the highest form of a relationship between the sexes. She accepted the then dominant opinion about the right conduct of a woman: to be reserved, not to strive for public recognition, and to care for the home and children. * Considering the options for women at the time, this was a very intelligent way of channelling the power of philosophizing, and ensuring some form of longevity, if not immortality.

In stark contrast stands the tragic example of professor Hypatia (ca. 370-413 CE (the Common Era)). Daughter of the philosopher Theon, she had an outstanding education. She taught anyone who wanted to learn all subjects at the top of the Platonic School. She was respected and esteemed for her extraordinary intelligence, and moved naturally in the world of men, never holding back her opinions. She corresponded with the ancient ideal of a life in the service of science. She never married. She taught Plato’s ideas, astronomy and geometry at the Museion, the University of Alexandria. She had a public presence and an outstanding reputation amongst intellectuals. She is said to have authored several books, which were all destroyed. Her tragic death is remembered more than her words. She was brutally executed by Christian conservative extremists. Her philosophy was forgotten. *

I wonder, was Theano of Crotone trying to protect her students, women, from being harmed, by encouraging reserved behaviour? In order to survive, live and thrive in a society, which appeared to punish the presence of women in public spaces. It certainly didn’t invite women openly into these. Maybe as servants? Who was getting served philosophy? Turns out, philosophy serves both women and men in diverse circumstances. What constituted being a woman back then? Opinions appear to vary even in ancient times. I wonder how much the biological sex had to do with ancient conceptions of gender (sexual social role). The women’s vulvaginas, mysterious caves, with the ability to give birth. The men’s millions of seeds, held in evident dangling seed sacks, shooting out from overt tubes of flesh.

Theano was a Pythagorean thinker. Pythagorean philosophy holds that the human being is part of the world, which is animate and of divine origin as well. There is never just matter. Everything is related to everything else; nothing is isolated. The world and humankind live naturally in harmony and one must be careful not to disturb this harmony. All excess is to be avoided. Asceticism and spiritual work are called for. Numbers are the unifying, regulative, and essential Element. Numbers give everything clarity and contour, certainty and form. Without the power of the mathematical everything would be chaotic and indefinite. Every single human being is responsible for a harmonious day-to-day. Theano lived according to the precept that order is godly and natural, and this is what she taught as well. *

In this context, philosophy has a strong practical relevance. It does not develop independently from everyday life. To think about the meaning of life includes the question of how daily life is to be fashioned. Theory and practice are not separate. *  In “On Piety” Theano wrote:

“I heard that many Greeks believe Pythagoras claimed that all things arise from numbers. This claim contains a problem: How can things that don’t exist, be understood as being? However, Pythagoras didn’t mean that all things arise from numbers, but in accordance with numbers – on the ground that numbers are the first order of everything and through the division of this order all things that are counted can be assigned a 1. and 2. and everything following.” *

Philosophress Ingeborg Gleichauf considers Theano’s thinking to be very complex. Theano, like Pythagoras, considered that mathematics matter greatly. She wondered how numbers and things relate to each other. Pythagoras and Theano both hold that things and numbers have an intimate relationship, attributed to the fact that humans are able to count things.

Ms. Gleichauf observes that in this early period of philosophy, it already becomes clear that the first and fundamental question for philosophizing is the issue of the essence of all things, of humans and the world. Pythagoreans wondered how everything is linked together, and which is the highest principle. They searched for what regulating power might be beyond the sensory reality.  They gained their insight from experience and the contemplation thereof. We continue to ask these questions today, she writes.  

Theono of Crotone is not the only ancient woman philosopher who is highlighted in Ingeborg Gleichauf’s 2005 book “I want to understand – History of Women Philosophers”.

Philosophress Aspasia (ca. 460-401 BCE) was assigned the hetaera (courtesan) profession by her father, a position held by highly educated women, who were admired for their knowledge. She directed a hetaerae school in Athens. She also headed a salon visited by the most important men of the city, such as the philosophers Anaxagoras and Socrates. And the statesman Perikles, who fell in love with her, left his wife, and took Aspasia as his “pallake” (illegitimate life partner, concubine). All were enthralled by the sage woman. Aspasia’s union with Perikles got her sued, and he freed her with great difficulty. After his death in 429 BCE, she married the sheep merchant Lysikles. The so called Periclean age was characterized by a strong advancement of the arts, philosophy, and medicine. But women had no civic rights. Their role was limited to the household responsibilities and child rearing. Hetaerae were an exception, as they were very free in their manners. The average woman hardly left her home, except to attend a big celebration. Shopping was done by enslaved people. The hetaerae class of women was better educated than the average wife, and sought after by men of thought and politics, who desired female conversational partners. Aspasia was considered an excellent teacher in the subjects of philosophy and rhetoric. Socrates sought her advice and sent his students to consult her.

The intellectual giants of the city deeply trusted this intelligent and educated woman.

Thanks to Plato’s (427-347 BCE) dialogue “Menexenos”, we know that Socrates extolled his teacher Aspasia. He was even a bit afraid of her, said he was almost beat up for being a forgetful student. He then repeats one of her speeches, in which Aspasia lists the ancient virtues of the Athenian people and calls the living to not lament the dead inordinately.

Rhetoric, the art of speech, was a very important discipline in ancient times. Aspasia said:

“Following deeds well done, the well-spoken word bestows upon the doers commemoration and upon the listeners honor.”

Aspasia’s philosophy thrived in the public sphere. She was a thinker who embodied the dialogical factor and speech in the form of oration. This manner of philosophizing through speaking has a strong pedagogical aspect, according to femme philosopher Ingeborg Gleichauf. Aspasia’s style represents a philosophy which is realized in speech, has an educational effect on people, and thus, also has a social impact. Aspasia advocated wholeheartedly for her ideas with the desire to inspire philosophizing. *

In Plato’s most famous dialogue “Symposium” (‘drinking party’) we witness another woman philosopher, Diotima, who probably lived around 400 BCE. Sokrates refers to her as a wise woman and recites a speech by her about Eros. He says she taught him about matters of love. *

“Eros”, according to Diotima, is something which lies between human and God, between properties such as good and bad, beautiful and ugly. It guides humans to aspire to the good and beautiful, and to seek the truth. Diotima considers artists, philosophers and statesmen to be the most interested in doing this. She thought of philosophers as neither reasonable nor wise, but something in between, like Eros. She said:

“For wisdom is most beautiful, and Eros is love for the beautiful; so that Eros is necessarily a lover of wisdom, standing philosophically between the wise and the ignorant.”

Thus, Ms. Gleichauf concludes, Diotima considered love to be the element out of which Eros operates, and the path to attain immortality. This is true for both body and soul. It happens through reproduction, and through art and science. When humans create progeny, something of theirs remains in the world when they die. Artists, politicians and scientists immortalize themselves in their creations through the power of Eros. It can be a poem, a scientific insight or the fight for a just government. Those who seek immortality, could also be rewarded otherwise: Maybe they’ll get to witness the pure beautiful and good, and thus experience the highest bliss. The inherent beautiful and good has an immutable being, does not pass away and is not bound to become. *

Diotima’s, like Socrates’, philosophies have been passed down through Plato’s dialogues. Because of this, says Ingeborg Gleichauf, we can imagine the liveliness of this kind of thinking.

Significant thoughts occur in an argumentative back and forth. A woman or a man throws the ball of questions and hopes the other will catch it and play. This type of philosophizing has a playful side that doesn't diminish its seriousness. Big life problems are at stake here, and they need to be talked about. (Gleichauf, p.19)

Ingeborg notices a distinction between Pythagorean thought and that of Diotima, Sokrates, and Plato. The former conceives of a world in which everything is linked together. For Diotima, there exist two worlds. One is relative, perceivable by the senses, and limited by time and space. The other is eternal and goes beyond human holding capacity. (ibid. p.20)

In the context of Periktone, Ms. Gleichauf notices that the act of seeking to capture the essence of things, of making philosophy metaphysical, reveals a primal interest in the work of desiring insight. With an emphasis on the word work. (ibid. p. 22)

In the philosophy of women, it’s not about giving out prescriptive counseling. Thought work is hard and demands patience, but it is lively and concerned with life. (ibidem)

Periktione authored “On Wisdom”, and wrote:

“Humanity is born and lives to contemplate the principle of nature as a whole. The task of wisdom is to obtain possession of things and measure the purpose of things.” (ibidem)

 “Nature as a whole” means to contemplate the cosmos, the world as such, to not get caught up in the details. That’s what philosophy is to Periktone. Human beings live from hour to hour, from day to day. They do their work, raise their children, do politics, celebrate parties, work the fields, look at this and that, and think about one thing or another. But that is not yet philosophy. (ibidem)

Philosophy only happens when the human being creates a distance between herself and that which preoccupies her on a daily basis, and wonders about the origin and end, about the meaning of everything.

*Gleichauf, Ingeborg. 2005. Ich will verstehen - Geschichte der Philosophinnen. Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, München. p.10.
*ibidem p.11
*ibid.
*ibid. pp. 23-26
*ibid. p.12
*ibid.
*ibid. pp.13-16
*ibid. pp. 16-17
*ibid. p.18

 “We’re all original copies.”

“Mediate on your unconscious bias.”

As a mother, my mind belongs to my children. Their needs consume me. The unquestionable love that exists is worth all of attention’s devotion. I also experience impatience due to a draw towards something else. Why would anything else even matter? Because of Philosophy’s seductive call. Like a magnet it attracts my attention. What makes philosophy so irresistible? I wonder…

I’d like to ask Philosophress Iris Murdoch, whether attention equals time and time attention?

is attention ó time ?

                “[…] if we consider what the work of attention is like, how continuously it goes on, and how imperceptibly it builds up structures of value round about us, we shall not be surprised that at crucial moments of choice most of the business of choosing is already over.” Iris Murdoch*

How much do ingrained patterns determine our choices? Can patterns be reimagined? How can new patterns result from the limitations of old ones? Where does yoga fit in all this? Does it represent a bridge between perceptions, yoking the old with the new, the present with potential, the past with the future?

The yoga professor spoke about neural patterns. My thoughts as a woman drifted to the realm of the unlucky patterns with patriarchy. And patriarchy’s unfortunate patterns with women. A relationship characterized by bad luck. How sad. For, parent-child (society-individual, government-community etc.) relations can be unbelievably soulful and happy, characterized by unconditional love. Lucky relations are an ancient pattern. Why break it? It is wiser, kinder, and better for everybody and the world, to care for the naturally healthy human relations, that have ensured our evolution over millions of years. Care for them. Before they break. Due to war, greed, elitism and such. We want to nurture our inter-human relations and the world with kindness, attention**, and care. No matter how fleeting. Like we’ve done for millions of years. For, if we terrestrial creatures fall out of balance, disaster can be the result. Yes, disasters exist without the human hand. Precisely in those cases it is of utmost importance to stick together. To live on thanks to kindness, care, love, community and cooperation. Knowing full well that we inter-are together with the world.

Yoga repatterns body and mind. Of course, I still consider body to be mind and mind to be body. However, I consider a beyond the idiosyncratic body-mind complex, which is what I attempt to express with the word “mind” in “yoga repatterns body and mind.” A collective consciousness, perhaps. Or, a subtle mind, as Buddhists may call it, which I understand to be a kind of universal awareness, independent of one particular point of view, incorporating perceptions beyond.

Communication is key. I love how a yoga teacher interpreted “sangha” *** as “discussion”. Is dialogue**** not the highest philosophical value amongst men*****? We can discuss what we understand communication to be, for it surely must not be limited merely to words.

Intellectualism 1

Don’t do it!
Don’t play intellectual games!
Says Vipassana Master S.N. Goenka.
But, Goenka,
I do like to play.

Can Dharma, too,
be played?

Does play have to be *bad* (undesirable, undisciplined)?

I realize that philosophy cannot be rushed. Long winding roads through nets of being. Demanding attention. Phenomena. Questions. Riddles. Problems. Why? Who knows.

Philosophical Pairs

Edith Stein & Edmund Husserl
Hannah Arendt & Martin Heidegger
Elizabeth Anscombe & Ludwig Wittgenstein
Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre
Harriet Taylor Mill & Stuart Mill
Diotima & Socrates

Did Simone de Beauvoir ever fry Sartre an egg?

Another matter preoccupies my thinking mind. I haven’t had the energy to write Geshe on X. Last week I was consumed by bloody biological monthly hell. Training was minimal. No Ashtanga. The yoga prof’s intensely isometric approach is quite the workout. It has a very holistic effect on the body. Muscle fatigue everywhere to the subtlest. Strengthening. Acid mood. Will I ever have trained enough to endure without discomfort? Or is there another way altogether necessary to approach the unpleasant side of phenomena? I hear the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee did isometric training. I wonder if ever anyone has trained as intensely as he. Maybe the legendary body builder Ronnie Coleman. Maybe many humans more throughout history and herstory. But I am only an ordinary nexistentialist, a philosophress exploring more than just mind-physique. I am an ordinary woman with weird ass cycles. I’ll tell you what demands great attention: sex. I make the mistake of giving in to lust at the expense of much energy repeatedly. My feminine orgasmic desire pushing shamelessly for another and another one, just one more. It’s deliciously exhausting. What’s the alternative? Celibacy? Sacrifice sex for another promise? Celibacy does appear to be trending amongst the population, according to social media. I guess, you don’t have to join a monastery. All I can say is there are times for celibacy, and there are times for sex.

Anyway, Geshe wrote on X:

“If we first establish peace within our minds by training in spiritual paths, outer peace will come naturally; but if we do not, world peace will never be achieved, no matter how many people campaign for it.” (July 20^th)

Is that the only way? Does every individual mind have to establish peace before the world can know itself peaceful? Are there no bridges, no alternatives, no intermediate strategies to work towards collective peace? Can delusions be navigated peacefully?

Today Geshe Kelsang Gyatso wrote:

“It is very important to be able to distinguish unpeaceful states of mind from peaceful states. States of mind that disturb our inner peace, such as anger, jealousy, and desirous attachment, are called ‘delusions’. These are the principal causes of all suffering.”

Sex disturbs my peaceful state – kind of. I suppose sex would fall under the category of desirous attachment? Sex can make me jealous, too. And even angry. Thus, is sex a delusion? Or is sex a phenomenon that is afflicted by delusions? Sex can cause suffering, such as physical fatigue. Amongst other things. But if it is not a delusion, what is sex? Sex can also be fulfilling and peaceful, exciting and serene, fun and blissful. Sex is also ancient and quite specific.

So, do we have to fear a terrible end of the world or a wheel of perpetual suffering, unless every single mind has established individual peace? Is there another way to care for the world of which all individuals are part?

And, how to establish personal peace? Through meditation and other psychophysical practices and training techniques? Is training everything though? 

I must be desperately in love. I’ve been cooking very salty lately. I learned in Germany that cooking salty is a sign of being in love. In love with whom? Why, in love with Philosophy, of course!

*****

Männlicher Feminist 1 –

Er: Wenn die Menschheit untergeht, dann als Familie.

Masculine Feminist 1 -

He: If humanity sinks, the ship takes down captain and crew.

El Feminista Masculino 1 –

Si la humanidad se chinga, se va a la fregada toda la familia.

 

Männlicher Feminist 2 –

Er: Die menschlichen Wellen die man reitet…

 

Masculine Feminist 3 –

She: Can we fuck it out?

Männlicher Feminist 3 –

Sie: Können wir darüber ficken?

La Feminista Masculina 3 –

Ella: ¿cogemos?

*****

Cartoon Prayer 8 –

Forgive me, Father,
For I have
no time for cruelty.
For, I will die.
Would you know?
They say you’re eternal…

 

 

*citation in: The Philosopher Queens edited by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting (2020). p 109.
** consideration, mindfulness, understanding, respect, time, compassion, empathy, sympathy, et cetera…
*** “sangha”: Sanskrit. “association, coming together” in Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by B.K.S. Iyengar. 2002. Thorsons, London.
**** conversation, exchange of ideas, etc.
***** humankind

Vulvalution - Strictly Philosophy

An interesting revolution is taking place on the Nexistential timeline. I don't have a lot of attention for writing at the moment as I am stooped deep in voracious reading. This is a necessary quick note relevant to the evolution of contemporary turn-of-the-twenty-first-century philosophical perception. A quick list of books and quotes.The femme philosopher library has opened up to me. Thanks to this Saturday's theme at the Philosophy Club being Women Philosophers. The philosopher had laid out several books on a table in the back. I chose four.

As a young woman in the 1990s, I rejected knowledge as it was presented to me, including philosphy, because it only portrayed men. Thus, instead of studying philosophy, in the 2000s, I began to create my own. Decades later, the tables have finally turned. To be fair, I did experience glimpses of female philosophical thought. Sometimes still confined to patriarchal perceptions while seeking to break free. The following four books reveal the experienes, ideas, thoughts and feelings of other women philosophers. Not only in books, female thinkers abound. Thank God.

2020. The Philosopher Queens. Edited by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting. Unbound, London.

    "The history of philosophy has not done women justice. To see this, you only have to look at some of the recent books published on the topic. In Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers only two women feature, with Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir taking the seats of honour. In The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Turing, no women made the cut. Each chapter in the particular book was written by a contemporary philosopher, all of whom are also men. At the time of writing, a newly published book by A.C. Grayling, boldly titled The History of Philosophy, includes no sections on women philosphers. The book does include a three-and-a-half page review of 'Feminist Philosophy' in which only one woman philosopher - Martha Nussbaum - is mentioned by name. You're beginning to sense a theme. 
    It's important to note that this gap is not due to a lack of books being published about philosophy generally. On the contrary, accessible texts are being written on an incredibly broad range of topics, such as Golf and Philosophy: Lessond from the Links, Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, and last but cecrtainly not least, Surfing with Sartre. And yet, very little has been written to celebrate the work of great women philosophers. ONe notable exception was written by a great philosopher herself, Baroness Mary Warnock, who wrote Women Philosophers over twenty years ago. 
    It is of course true that women hace been under-represented in philosophy, and indeed most of academia, because they were excluded from education. ... This institutional exclusion meant that women were prescibed roles in society that kept their thiking, and their freedom, to a minimum.
    But this is 2019 and things have certainly improved over the past century. More women are taking degrees in philosophy than ever before, with most universities now seeing higher numbers of women than men in their undergraduate classes. In spite of this progress, there is still a huge gender disparity higher up in the pecking order. There are very few philosophy departments where women make up anywahere near 50 per cent of faculty staff. ... So, even though more young women are taking their first dive into the man's world of philosophy than ever before, this is not quickly translating into more at the top. ... Non-white women are still hugely under-presented in philosophy, with very few positions filled with people from minority backgrounds. In her New York Times interview, 'The Pain and Promise of Black Women in Philosophy', Professor Anita L. Allen noted that only 1 per cent of full-time philosophyprofessors in the US are Black, whilst around 17 per cent are women." (pp. 1-3) 

2021. Women of Ideas - interviews from Philosophy Bites. Edited by Suki Finn. Oxford University Press, United Kingdom.

    "Men of Ideas was a 1978 BBC television series in which presenter Bryan Magee interviewed noted philosophers of the time. Of course, it was not just men who had ideas. Yet only one contributor on the series was a woman (albeit a very noble choice): Iris Murdoch.
    Forty years later, some things have changed for the better and there is much to celebrate. But still, a 2018 survey [...] showed only 29.7 per cent of philosophers employed in UK universities were women. This is the lowest representation of women in any discipline outside of science, technology, and engineering. ...
    Women of Ideas collates interviews from the podcast Philosophy Bites...
    There were around one hundred episodes of Philosophy Bites interviews in the archive covering interesting topics by inspiring women. ... Regretfully, given the underrepresentation and marginalisation of various racial and ethnic groups, people from working-class backgrounds, the LGBTQIA+ community, and those with disabilities in philosophy, for example, there are demographics that are not adequeately represented here. This book cannot then be considered as providing comprehensive coveradge of women's voices in philosophy, or of women's ideas! ... it should be treated more akin to a 'tasting menu'. Yet it is my hope -and plan- that future edited collections, line-ups, syllabi, and what we treat as the 'canon' in philosophy will be more inclusive and representational of the diversity of people and positions within philosophy.
    ... I asked the interviewees what it is like being a woman in philosophy [...]. T.he answers are diverse. ... the category of 'woman' is diverse [...] Overall, as this book demonstrates, those who have ideas are diverse, the ideas that they have are diverse, and the experiences that they have are diverse." (Preface)

2022. Metaphysical Animals - How Four Women Brought Philsophy Back To Life. By Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman. Penguin Random House UK, London. First American Edition. Doubleday, New York.

    "The history of European philosophy is usually constructed from the work of men. In their irresistible intellectual history, [the authors] offer a compelling alternative: the story of four women who created a philosophical revolution to counter the darkness of their times.
    Elizabeth Anscomb, Mary Midgely, Philippa Foot, and future novelist Iris Murdoch arrived at Oxford to study philosophy in the 1930s, when the world was again on the brink of war. Mary Midgely emerged, pragmatic and attentive, from a rectory; impatient and restless, Irish-born Iris Murdoch made everyone fall in love with her; Elizabeth Anscombe was a Catholic convert and a student of Wittgenstein; Philippa Foot was brilliant and aristocratic, the granddaughter of an American president.
    The four came of age during years of tumultuous events: Nazism, the Holocaust, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The philosophy of the day -much of it arid and technical- struck them as inadequate for this new human reality of limitless depravity and destructive power. With most male undergraduates (and many tutors) conscripted, the four friends felt free to craft  their own response. Their answer was to bring philosphy back to everyday human life. We are metaphysical animals, they realized, creatures that can question their very being. Who am I? What is freedom? What is human goodness? The answers we give, they believed, shape what we will become." (cover)

2023. How to Think Like a Woman. By Regan Penaluna. Grove Press, New York, United Staes of America. Published simultaneously in Canada. 

    ""In a world in which philosophy is not only sexist in underestimating women's actual and potential contributions, but actively misogynistic in pushing women out of the field, we need this book. [It] is at once a deeply personal and philosophically riveting meditation on four brilliant and inspiring female philosophers -Mary Astell, Damaris Masham, Wollstonecraft, and Catharine Cockburn- that I learned so much from. a must-read for anyone who cares about what happens to women, young and old, in this needlessly and harmfully male-dominated profession"
    - Kate Manne, author of Entitled: How Male Priviledge Hurts Women

In How to Think Like a Woman, Penaluna blends memoir, biography, and criticism to tell these women's stories, weaving throughout an alternative history of philosophy as well as her own search for love and truth. Funne, honest, and wickedly intelligent, this is a searing look at the author's experience of patriarchy and sexism in academia, and a moving meditation on what philosophy could look like if women were treated equally." (cover)

* * * * *

Philosophical Tragedies 1

Did Edmund Husserl reject Edith Stein to protect her?
He still couldn't save her.

Tragedy: Holocaust, Edith Stein dies in Auschwitz in 1942.

Philosophical Tragedies 2

Since they had been lovers,
did Martin Heidegger try to protect Hannah Arendt?

Tragedy: He was a Nazi. She was racist.

* * * * *

I closed a week of physical training with really sore pecs (Pectoralis Major muscles). The right one hurting in every position. Coincidentally, the right breast is bigger than the left. The left side of the body continues to exhibit some type of numbness here and there. Only with great calm focus can I sense the activation of all the bands. I scaled back the martial arts. Ashtanga yoga is kicking my ass. Biceps and triceps burning as well. Tits feel like a cruel additional weight that intensifies the pectoral pain with every step, twist, turn, and even just standing, sitting or lying down. The weight is always there.

I have also decided that from now on I will refrain from all great activity during my intensive bleeding days. And see what happens.

Ouroboros (part three)

   Compositional Compulsion

Too busy to pay attention.

Thinking and writing and walking all at once.

Uninhibited by motherhood.

“Pay attention!” calls my child.

“Don’t look at your phone while you walk.”

Indeed, we were going in the wrong direction.

“I’m not looking at my phone, darling.”

I speak absentmindedly.

“I’m writing to not forget.”

Irresponsible philosophizing.

I cannot help myself.

Triple-training Monday was interesting. Early morning Ashtanga Yoga felt brutal after a week of none. The afternoon Active Aging Yoga class was a godsend. I think I have the yoga professor’s Tennisball on Iliotibial tract (I.T. Band) exercise**** to thank. For an overall loosening of body bands. He did say that pain somewhere can be an indication of a problem somewhere else. It’s called referred pain in medicine/therapy. When you feel pain in an area other than where it originated as multiple primary sensory neurons converge on a single converging tract, according to the internet. Anyway, I’ve done two days of maximum chaturangas (30-40 on the first page) during Ashtanga with little bother of the right wrist and arm/shoulder situation. The last 10 or so getting sloppy though.

I had already noticed last week that the entire right side was showing up in major joints. Like it was all strangely connected. The knee, shoulder, wrist, and even hip and ankle sometimes hurt. Never the elbow though.

On Tuesday in ballet class, I was able to bend sideways all the way over the right leg for the first time in years, since before my third child. The leg being lifted onto the ballet bar, the other standing with a tentative turn-out. Stretching the left side of the body from the standing leg to the torso and arm over my bad left hip beyond ever before.

Monday night during Wing Chun practice, breath made my five gates get a little out of hand. My partner said, “I know if I work with Natascha, I’m going to get beat up.” Damn. I felt terrible. I don’t mean to beat up nobody! I’m still such an incredibly naive practitioner. I like to experiment with techniques and physical phenomena, like the breath’s impact on movement. But I have near to no experience. Progress comes about slowly. Focus drifts off. Forces can take over. I scare myself.

There’s no need for violence.
Birth is violent enough.
There’s no need for bloodshed.
Monthly female bleeding is enough.

I dreamt I was walking around in public, and my tit fell out. Then a drop of milk came out of the nipple. Even though I haven’t breastfed in years. Is this menopause? I wondered.

At my second philosopher’s club meeting last Saturday, metaphysics was on the menu. The philosopher’s eyes were aglow. Mysterious depths shining forth in a light and vibrant blue of an iceberg sunshine ocean hue. He seemed different somehow. It was different people, too. A woman with a serious presence and voluptuous breasts hidden beneath a loose white silky blouse with bright pink flowers. Another woman, reared in an antique bookstore, an avid reader. A kid who found philosophy in literature. An elder with an enchanting brightness about him, stoic, mostly silent, radiating curiosity. And me, the lone Nexistentialist bringing up communal species, biological bloodshed, and the violence of birth. All lovers of Perceptive Arts, lovers of l’Art du Point-de-Vue. Where phenomena inter-are, opinions abound.

By the time it was Tuesday afternoon, after five trainings (yoga, yoga, Kungfu, yoga, ballet), I was too tired to argue with Geshe on X. Though I may have loved to. I felt acid cranky from the muscle fatigue, and his statement triggered me some.

“If our mind is filled with negative thoughts and delusions, such as desirous attachment, anger and ignorance, we experience great harm and suffering as a result. They prevent us from maintaining a peaceful mind, and also destroy whatever happiness we may have gained.”

It’s true alright. And yes, I experience negative thoughts and all that. But does it destroy whatever happiness I’ve ever gained? There’s so much more to the complexity of mind. I felt a little shamed. Anyway, this is a larger discussion for another time.

What can a male monk know about being a woman? Is destructive force feminine? Is it human because of female biological necessities? Except, cells are destroyed every instant everywhere. Regeneration, continuation cannot subsist on creativity alone. Decay, disease and destruction appear to be an inescapable part of life’s equation. Thus, they must be known and handled with the utmost awareness and care.

about to get my period on vaca

Trip notes:
“Sparrow sitting on the edge of the fourth floor skilfully manoeuvring a big branch in its beak. Winter will come again. Cold, humid, and brutal around the Great Lake, which has inspired songs of death that are centuries old. An eerie body of water of mysterious powers full of life and skeletons. Flocks of seagulls and wild geese fly across the baby blue sky. I think of bygone days in a far away land. The old belief that aviary dances signified great reveries, prophecies. Fertil mental ground for philosophical spirits, poets, writers and kin. Words cannot be the only way artistic, passionate spirits manifest. But that chapter remains to be explored by this aging Nexistentialist. The world of pictures, lines, and paint. For now, the word will do.

I’m terribly cramping. Second day of bleeding period. Symptoms intensify before the strongest letting of blood*****. Body in purge mode. Am extremely moody. I’d best be left alone to avoid all the compulsive bitching that comes out of my mouth. The sassy remarks and rude retorts. It’s not me! It’s the pain, the discomfort, and the goddam social expectations to keep on functioning productively, often overwhelming to a woman spouting the bitter blood of death made to create life. Nothing can be created if nothing else is ever destroyed. Fuck the chaos in the world! Not in the mood to be happy today, damnit. I know exactly how this shit show is gonna go down. The pain will only increase before the big bleeding begins. Sensations of my vulvagina exploding. Like I was giving birth all over again. Only to drop gelatinous chunks of body matter amidst fountains of blood for an excruciating approximately forty-eight hours. Body doesn’t care what else is going on. It will sweep, bleed, purge, and weep day and night. Mercilessly fulfilling the miraculous mechanisms of life divine. Chaotically controlled by forces beyond individual will.

Random man looked at me in a way that gave me the validation a broken part inside of me appears to need. Making me wonder if it would ever heal/end. Or would I be stuck craving broken-part-validation? Forcing me to face grief, unfinished hurt, time and again. Into another lifetime?

Bleeding like a pig in the slaughterhouse is exhausting. Horrible night. Another month, another cycle. Another period-rich family vacation. Lucky fucking me!”

There is something beautifully humbling about being exhausted. It becomes easier to let go. And to keep going despite the hardship, full of faith in an ancient process. Elaborated by the greatest minds humanity has known. Wise minds. Old minds. Ancient. Contemplation. Sewn together with threads of breath. Words. And between breaths. Silence. From asana to asana. From place to place. Riding thought waves. Focusing the mind onto every extent of the body. No matter how subtle the sensation. Or how strong, loud or numb. Observing all that is occurring within and without. Noticing an expansive mentality. Approaching a more subtle mind. Channelling raw consciousness. Or, at least, trying. Training blindly if must be. But never unaware. Of what is in the moment. No matter what it is. Watch it come and go. Observe and continue to seek. To catapult perception onto a net. Of threads of wisdom. I trust it is so. I feel it within the body, as its ancient scribes begin to reveal themselves. Thanks to ancient traditions. Consciousness can reveal itself as it bites its own tail. Dressed up as humanity, adorned in Philosophy.

Shout out to all the yogis and yoginis! To all physical scholars (athletes, martial artists, dancers, acrobats, scientists, walkers, farmers, physical laborers, et cetera). Physical study and development are hard. Only technique makes mastery possible, and art. If practiced. If studied. If observed. Repetition creates patterns. Awareness opens up choices. Conscious considerations ensue. Resulting in realizations.

Un-patterning and re-patterning require great effort. As does the cultivation of good ancient patterns. Despite internal (i.e. idiosyncratic mind, social inheritance (Psyquis)) and external (i.e. environmental, elemental (Physis)) resistance-patterns (hindrances).

Lately, I’ve been thinking about tits. How they hang. Gravity and all. And about the human drive to keep them from hanging. The question of tits, to let them hang or not to let them hang? To bounce or not to bounce? To swing?

Friday after returning from vacation, I finished the book club book, “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. By obsessively reading for several, several hours. Suddenly it was 4 p.m. Hadn’t I just had breakfast? The book makes me think about what makes a good writer. Someone who knows just enough to see through, not enough to be certain. Thus, imagination is key; compassionate, empathetic imagination. Fearless. Courageous in portraying life and all its controversies. “Reality.”

Apheida: Reality is relative.
Ruphus: Relative to what?
Apheida: Relative to perception.
Ruphus: Whose?
Apheida: I don’t know. Maybe yours?
Ruphus: Your perception.
Apheida: And my perception.
Ruphus: Yours and mine perceptions combined.

A good writer, like Ms. Kingsolver, can portray life’s controversies (suffering, strife, et cetera) with love, care, compassion, understanding, wisdom and calm. Seeking to understand what is experienced and why. What is true in a world full of suffering and strife? Evidently it is also full of wonder, communion, and love.

An uncooperative life is a lie. Nature ALWAYS surrounds us. In Samkhya philosophy existence is summarized by two phenomena: Perusha and Prakriti. A silent witness, a sheer observer non-force, pure consciousness, Perusha. And the force of nature, everything in the universe, all that is, Prakriti. An observing phenomenon and all that can observed.

Does Perusha LIKE watching Prakriti? I bet they love it. Bound by loving curiosity. Seeking equilibrium, EQUANIMITY amidst the pushes and pulls of blessings and strife.

So, Kingsolver’s novel made me think of the Bodhisattva****** Phenomenon, an alternative to complete liberation from reincarnation. Keep coming back to help lost souls who suffer.

Is it even biologically feasible never to be born again? Unlikely. Life, nature (planetary or cosmic), Prakrti keeps on going. Death being but a part of it all. Of the biological cosmic cycle. And who is witness to it all so that it may occur? Because if there’s no witness, what’s the point? Otherwise, why perception? Why creativity? Why expression, techniques? Why art?

A witness cannot be without anything to witness. Thus, Goddess must dance, move, speak, sparkle, whatever. “It” must bubble over with life and evolve. It must twist, turn, and explode. Be full and empty. Just to be witnessed? Or is there more?

 THE END 

**** 1. Sit with both legs at a 90 degree angle, at the hip and knee, one leg in front of the pelvis, one to the side (quarter pigeon).
2. Place a tennis ball (or the like), first closer to the knee then up the leg, on the band draping over/flowing between the hamstring muscle Biceps Femoris Longhead (back) and the quad muscle Vastus Lateralis (front). Basically the side of the leg, but towards the back. Feel around and find a harder surface line with a drop-off into the flesh. This according to my current understanding.

***** About 48 hour non-stop bleeding. Constant flow. Large expulsions of blood variations. Quantity. Worse case scenario it is (usually within the first 24 hours) accompanied by excruciating pelvic, vulvaginal, and even anal pain. I call it, exploding vagina or exploding asshole (explodierende Scheide, explodierendes Arschloch). Like a giant is going to explode out of there. Which it did three times. Countless times. Physical awareness of birth. Embedded in the body (informational net of memory), more ancient than any other evolutionary trait characteristic of humankind.
****** In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta, a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.[3] Mahayana bodhisattvas are spiritually heroic persons that work to attain awakening and are driven by a great compassion (mahākaruṇā). (Wikipedia)

Ouroboros (part two)

Words lost

I wrote something down

So I would not forget

But I don't remember where I put it

Too many papers and screens

Foolish compulsive composer

Aloof

My last training before leaving for a five-day family vacation, was my Thursday night Jiu-jitsu class. I particularly applied conscious breathing during an exercise on the floor. My opposing woman lay with her back flat on the ground. My chest weighing down on hers. My arms wrapped around underneath, one thread through the armpit, the other cradling her neck. Hands gripping each other, as if in a firm reverse handshake with myself. The objective: keep her down, keep her from moving at all. Instead of pinning my knees against her ribs, I experimented with keeping my legs stretched out for leverage. The Shifu had talked about a Jiu-jitsu world-champion who is a small man, capable of out-performing significantly larger opponents thanks to technique. Who stretches out his legs. Being smaller than my training partner I was playing around with that.

With great focus, I used the exhale to wrap and grip tighter around her lying beneath me. Ever so subtly as if my breath was casting a net around her body using mine. I directed a stoic inhale to the back of my body while still reinforcing my hold on hers. She was bigger, younger, and possibly stronger than me. But had no chance of moving. And this despite my fatigue. Technique before everything! And mastery of breath.

Techniques can trump weight, volume, force, and maybe even strength. It’s amazing what a subtle activation of the entire body seems to be capable of. I felt like Spiderwoman. Thanks to very conscious, concentrated breathing. Net-activation to the subtlest degree. Of course! The human body is an intricately knit web of tissue. It took a great “mental” effort to achieve this. Can I recreate it?

I’m afraid I suffer from beginner’s luck. I often get it miraculously right on the first try. Then the struggle begins. That’s why you gotta train, train, train. Repeat. Correct? No matter how excruciating and exhausting. Damn. Can I choose Zen instead? Beginner’s mind all the time. Except, it won’t tame my body’s fiery desire to burn. God help me! If only it didn’t involve such pain. I’ve begun to wonder, does pain have to involve suffering though? What exactly is suffering anyway?

Coincidently, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the Modern Buddhist monk on the social media platform X wrote:

“Having attained liberation, we will no longer be projected into a rebirth under the control of delusions, but we will experience uncontaminated rebirth. An uncontaminated rebirth does not have the nature of suffering and does not give rise to suffering in the future.” (June 27^th)

Thus, I inquired:

“What is an example of an uncontaminated rebirth? Does not all embodiment include some form of suffering? Does suffering have to be bad? Or are there ways to live with it, despite it peacefully, even joyfully?”

G.K.G.: By contemplating the twelve dependent-related links of the perfectly purified side our mind will be uplifted because we will understand that we can completely abandon suffering and its causes by overcoming our ignorance that grasps at the inherent existence of phenomena. (June 28^th)

T. Nex: Sometimes it seems that the inherent existence of phenomena grasps at “me”. For example, my body bleeds every month demanding attention and care. It makes me suffer, but does it have to? Faced with a phenomenon I can’t ignore nor abandon at the moment, what alternative is there?

G.K.G.: All living beings wish to be happy but again and again they find their attainment of happiness frustrated by obstacles or hindrances, both external and internal. (June 29^th)

External hindrances can arise from animate objects such as malevolent humans and wild animals; or from inanimate objects such as the four external elements of earth, water, fire and wind, which can give rise to earthquakes, floods, destructive fires and hurricanes. (June 30^th)

T. Nex: Are benevolent forces hindrances, too? Or do these further liberation?

G.K.G.: Internal hindrances arise from causes within our body and mind. If our four internal elements are in a state of harmonious equilibrium our body is healthy, but when they are out of balance our body experiences a variety of problems and diseases. (July 1^st)

And so it goes, the philosophical merry-go-round. Do philosophers ever grow tired of philosophizing? Maybe sometimes. But like a good drug, it always draws me back into its spell. Is philosophy something I will have to give up on the mountain of liberation? Logically, yes. But philosophy is also what may have gotten me there. I guess we’ll see. Hey, if I’m gonna go grasping shit, then I take philosophy over other stuff any day of the week!

A note from my recent trip:

“And here I am now in a plane flying back to my city from a family vacation at the giant amusement park** with dozens of wild rides. My arms are sore. Right painful wrist. Dreading Ashtanga Yoga and the countless Chaturangas. Wondering, pondering. Suffering, what is it? And indeed, what do I do about it? As I allow these notions to flow through me, a rogue sense of venture awakens. Plough through. Pursue.
What techniques of perception are there to serve my senseless ambition to achieve some understanding of this crazy carnival called life. As my time to articulate athletic physical anthems is running out. Can suffering be transformed? Through perceptive techniques***? Damnit. Suffering is such a fucking loaded concept-form. Good luck getting through that samskarik jungle ride from hell. Me who is scared of roller coasters. Who screams like a banshee. Making my children light up with sadistic laughter and devilish smiles. Suffering. What. Is. It. 

Safe on the ground, I infinitely thank God. It feels good to walk. I am aware that we are flying through space on a twisted planet. But gravity, or whatever, gives me a sense of security. Moreso than flying in a metal tube through the air or rolling with naked speed tied to a falling cart.” 

To be continued . . .

** Cedar Point @ Sandusky, Ohio.
*** Perceptive Techniques (Warhnehmungsmethoden):
i.e. The Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, The Yoga Sutras, Twelve Step Philosophy, et cetera…