A blissful state - the feeling that everything just works and falls into place effortlessly. A state of creative flow. But what does it look like in the brain? What processes are happening there when we are in a state of creative flow, and what can these findings teach us? In this post, I share … Continue reading Conversation About Creative Flow
Are There Value-Free Facts?
When I say that my cat's name is Vito, I make a factual statement. It describes a state of affairs with seemingly no value judgments involved. The fact that my cat has this name is just that - a value-free fact - and says nothing (cannot say) about what my cat's (or any other cat's) … Continue reading Are There Value-Free Facts?
Philosophical Concepts: Poststructuralism
What is poststructuralism as a philosophical concept? The 'post' in poststructuralism indicates that it is 'after' structures, which means it can be understood as a set of critical attitudes developing as a response to structuralism. Very briefly: Structuralism argues that the meaning of something is not inherent to it, waiting to be discovered, but is … Continue reading Philosophical Concepts: Poststructuralism
Self-Knowledge Is Never Complete
"We always find ourselves within a situation, and throwing light on it is a task that is never entirely finished. This is also true of the hermeneutic situation—i.e., the situation in which we find ourselves with regard to the tradition that we are trying to understand. The illumination of this situation—reflection on effective history—can never … Continue reading Self-Knowledge Is Never Complete
Importance of Gaps
In the traditional Japanese art of arranging flowers - ikebana, "living flowers", or kado, "the way of flowers" - special attention is paid to the so-called negative space. How can a gap, an empty space be important, valuable, and even beautiful? With its history of more than 1,500 years, ikebana, unlike Western flower arrangement practices, … Continue reading Importance of Gaps
Obligation to Be Clear
In this passage from his 1953 book "The Captive Mind", Czeslaw Milosz tells us about the experiences of artists in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries that came under its influence. In particular, the effects of the dictatorship of the one Method manifest in individual self-censorship and the gradually sedimenting conviction that things cannot … Continue reading Obligation to Be Clear
Critical Problem of Universal Theories
As attractive as theories promising to explain everything may be, any theory that claims universality faces a critical challenge. This challenge is built into its very claim of universality and consists in the following. A theory is elaborated and posited by someone, perhaps a group of people, maybe with the help of AI. No matter … Continue reading Critical Problem of Universal Theories
Merleau-Ponty on the Perceived World
"The perceived world is the always presupposed foundation of all rationality, all value and all existence. This thesis does not destroy either rationality or the absolute. It only tries to bring them down to earth." Merleau-Ponty ("The Visible and the Invisible", 1968) keep exploring! P.S. Thank you for visiting me here on the humanfactor.blog! If you enjoyed … Continue reading Merleau-Ponty on the Perceived World
Paul Ricoeur on Narrative Identity
In a passage from Paul Ricoeur's 1991 essay Narrative Identity, the French philosopher discusses the narrative constitution of identity, be it personal or community. In this passage, he proposes the idea of narrative identity as a fundamental experience that integrates history and fiction into one type of narrative - that which is concerned with interpreting … Continue reading Paul Ricoeur on Narrative Identity
Philosophical Concepts: Structuralism
What is structuralism as a philosophical concept? Here is how the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy explains it. Structuralism is viewed as a broad intellectual movement that originated from linguistics (especially the work of Saussure) and expanded beyond, reaching its height in the 1960s. Lévi-Strauss was the leading structuralist in anthropology. A crucial idea of structuralism … Continue reading Philosophical Concepts: Structuralism
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