Friday, April 21, 2017

Dashed Off IX

the megalopsychic aspect of philosophy

Over time, love will findnew ways to communicate its constant faith and hope.

the Church as (1) witness and guardian of sacraments; (2) champion of the sacraments against what opposes it; (3) making the sacraments available to those who need; (4) teacher of and with and in the sacraments

the peace by which we may joyfully and openly keep the festivals of our God

"Kings have no call to make laws in the Church." Damascene

Presentation of Mary in the Temple // Presentation of Mary in the Heavenly Temple (Assumption)

forms of using words that are not meanings -- e.g., words in a word find or in Scrabble

"Assertions are essentially, and not just accidentally, speech acts that can play the role both of premises and of conclusions of inferences." Brandom

propositions that by type are analytic but by token are not (Now is now)
(perhaps 'I am' is an example of the reverse?)

It is a strange assumption of many analytic 'thought experiments' that stories can go only one way. In reality, we could elaborate, say, trolley problems, or Parfit's identity scenarios, in indefinitely many ways of varying complexity, limited only by ingenuity. The story needs something beyond itself to stay 'on track'. In reality these, because unacknowledged, are often assumed without explanation.

the moral issues of lying and the dependence of language use on moral principles

It would directly follow from both Mill's utilitarianism and Kant's deontology that language use is ethical in character, since these purport to be accounts of practical reason.

language misuse // hypocrisy

Languages grow out of friendships (in the Aristotelian sense).

canon law as a means of moral education

lying as a violation of language understood as common good

Moral progress is improvement in one's care for common good.

conscience as law and conscience as witness

antiquity as mark of the Church
(1) apostolic sees
(2) continuity to the apostles
(3) agreement with the Fathers
(4) preservation in practice of confirmable elements of antiquity
(5) responsibility for the monuments and memorials of the ancient Church

causal extrapolation
motivational extrapolation (camel's nose)
opportunity identification
justificatory slope

Start with mere muddle, end with mere muddle; to clear up a muddle, one needs to find something clear, however small it may be.

pleasure-pressure, utility-pressure, and virtue-pressure on belief formation

establishing oneself by establishing others

'Liturgy, liturgy' -- does it mean nothing more than incense and bells? If the Christian is not Christian, what does he have to do with liturgy?

the leisure for attending to liturgy and love

Logos (ratio) is one; its manifestations are many.

thematic history of philosophy and interactional history of philosophy

the Beatific Vision as the primary bulwark against the errors of the post-medieval age

the mereotopology of moving borders

poetry and the decomposition and recomposition of images

unction as sacramental hospice

meaning as speech act affinity; meaning as speech act

punishment as communication of desert (cf. Kant)

analytic philosophy as argumentative design process

rational commitment & deontic analysis of argument

incommensurable goods of reasoning

The common interest of all to live in juridical union is always broader than the scope of the instruments of governance.

Authority derives from God as (1) efficient cause of human existence, life, and reason; (2) exemplar cause in providence; (3) final cause as ultimate good.

the Aristotelian six parts of tragedy as aspects of plausibility: Spectacle, Diction, Melody, Thought, Character, Plot

Prudence is what gives all other virtues their flexibility.

That is evidence for x which the wise would regard as making X evident.

'X is true'; therefore 'Recognize X as true'

Annunciation : Finding in Temple :: Visitation : Presentation
Agony in Garden : Crucifixion :: Scourging : Carrying the Cross
Resurrection : Coronation :: Ascension : Assumption

the Golden Rule as a principle of dignity

defeaters for consensus gentium: new evidence not commonly available, evidence of imposed rather than natural consensus

Philosophy extends everywhere that friendship extends.

analogy : mutation :: confirmation : selection
the success conditions of confirmation

tradition-line fragmentation

The primary act of evangelization is always and without exception prayer.

where Solovyov says Sophia, think Shekhina.

numerables; numbers; systems of numbers; relations among systems of numbers

transubstantiation as cloistered priesthood

the cleansing of the Temple as a preparation for the Eucharist (Neusner)

We should all strive to be orthodox. But how foolish to assume that we are! It is something for which we must pray. What our striving alone can achieve has nothing of grace, and thus nothing of faith.

It is a matter worthy of some thought that St. Joseph, least of the Holy Family, was its head.

Mary the garden of Eden in whom is found the Tree of Life

Societies are built not out of the steel of legal contract but out of the softer stone of customary trust.

argument in function of ratio decidendi vs. argument in function of obiter dictum

Justice can only be maintained by rational argument.

le bon sens as required for determining how models fit together

the virtue of hope as the internal possibility of Christian martyrdom

appeal to intuitions as (sometimes) appeal to ordinary language, in the sense of ordinary language philosophy

infused fortitude & frequent confession; infused temperance & frequent communion

prudence as the skill-cultivating virtue (it cultivates skills to assist other virtues, in addition to forming them)

It's easy to think of permissibility as allowing intension and remission; this suggests that there is an intension and remission of obligation as not-permissible-not.

constancy : Box :: coherence : Diamond

conditionals as lossy measures

to treat wisdom in oneself and in others as an end in itself and never merely as a means

Appeals to hypothetical scenarios generally involve the topos of similarity.

Sacramental reconciliation confirms the forgiveness of perfect contrition and supplies what is missing for forgiveness in imperfect contrition.

the sentinel sacrament

prophets as preservers of tradition

motive of interest; motive of inquiry; motive of credibility

moral realism -> virtue ethics -> telos of moral life -> classical theism

Our passions should tinge reasoning and prayer, not dominate them.

The Confucius Sinarum Philosophus often translates junzi as 'philosophus'.
The philosopher who studies widely in tradition but holds to what is essential will not err.
If the philosopher is not dignified, he will not inspire awe, nor will his learning be anything but frivolous. He must be honest in inquiry and true of word. He must not associate with the base. When he errs, he must not be reluctant to change. To err without changing is to err indeed.
The philosopher is not of limited function, like a tool; the utility of philosophy is not circumscribed. When people ask, "What is the use of philosophy?" they mean, "To what is its use limited?" and thus err from the beginning.

Properly acting according to tradition requires finding the right exemplars.

To renew the people requires loving them.

As discourse is built out of much figurative speech, so history is built out of much figurative action.

The freedom of speech worth having is that which facilitates the virtues of speech, but the virtues of speech require room for their development and refinement over time and across different levels of experience. Only to allow virtuous speech is to prevent the development of virtuous speech.

"The denial of substance leads inevitably to the substantializing of accidents." Coffey

modes of exemplation; modalities of being exemplate

life as principle; life as facultative; life as operative

The gifts of the Holy Spirit do not perfect the theological virtues, but only their exercise.

Note Hume's explicit use of constant conjunction in T 1.1.1.8.

constant conjunction as a sign of exemplarity

identity and smooth passage of resemblance

causation as the foundation of contiguity and temporal priority

Hume's account of causation requires that we be able to make an a priori distinction between the mind and its objects.

different accounts of testimony applied to moral exemplarity (role model)

incorruptibility of soul // continued existence of bodies

apparent final cause and the apparent tendency of things to continue to exist

principle of credulity // principle of imitation

moral practices as involving transindividual evaluations or norms