Certainty has a way of feeling like solid ground until the tide comes in. What once seemed like firm land reveals itself as only the edge of something vast and unmapped. Familiar shapes turn strange when you look closely enough, and the questions you once ignored begin to hollow out the foundations beneath you. In that quiet collapse, where answers used to stand, there is a strange clarity: the realization that understanding was never a fortress to build, but a horizon that moves farther away the closer you walk toward it.
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« L’avènement du césarisme brise la dictature de l’argent et son arme politique, la démocratie. Après un long triomphe de l’économie des villes-mondes et de ses intérêts sur la force créatrice politique, le côté politique de la vie se manifeste finalement comme le plus fort des deux. L’épée triomphe de l’argent ; la volonté maîtresse soumet de nouveau la volonté prédatrice. Si nous appelons ces puissances de l’argent “capitalisme”, alors nous pouvons désigner comme socialisme la volonté de faire naître un puissant ordre politico-économique qui transcende tous les intérêts de classe, un système de haute conscience, de réflexion et de sens du devoir qui maintient l’ensemble en bon état pour la bataille décisive de son histoire — et cette bataille est aussi la bataille de l’argent et du droit. »
— Oswald Spengler, Le Déclin de l’Occident, tome II (1928).
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Do you know much about ukranian philosophy?
«No one will build us a state if we don’t build it ourselves, and none of us will make a nation if we ourselves don’t want to be a nation».
Hello, I’m Sofiia, and I’m a young researcher and scientist who’s the main goal is to learn and popularize the unique ukranian philosophy.
Today, we’ll talk about the first ukranian conservator who is considered the father of Ukrainian conservatism – Viachelav (Vazlav) Lypynsky.
He was born on 5(17)th April 1882 in in the village of Zaturtsi, Volodymyr-Volynskyi Povit(County), Volyn, in a noble polish family, so technically he was an ethnic Pole, but the main thing, that Viachelav since his birth adored ukranian culture and had a strong connect with it. He even said that the first language for him was ukranian, because of his nanny and other hired workers, who were ukranians and spoke only ukranian.
(And there I will make it a little bit clear. In that time, Ukraine was under two main empires: Russian and Austro-Hungarian, so the village of Zaturtsi was under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The greatest nurturing of the nationality was in the villages where the most national traditions were preserved.)
Later, as a student, he politically identified himself as a “Ukrainian” but did not renounce his Polish heritage, but at the same time insisted on the formation of the Ukrainian idea.
(And here, his first judgment about the nation follows, that is, a nation is not an ethnic community, but united responsible citizens who are ready to serve their state.)
It is not surprising because this ardent idea in his heart, which had flourished since childhood, was revealed precisely by the then Kyiv Gymnasium No. 1, where, it is believed, the formation of his political position had already begun.
So, after a short excursion into history, let’s return to philosophy.
Viacheslav is famous for his concept of state building, which in a certain sense can be called autobiographical because some of them, again, take their origin from his childhood. Lypynsky develops a holistic vision of Ukrainian statehood based on a combination of personal morality and civic duty. His critical view of disorder, narrow-partyism, lack of responsibility, and excessive emotional patriotism did not mean a denial of freedom. On the contrary, he sought to transform it into an organized and responsible political culture. He describes this in detail in his work «Letters to the Hliborobs(Peasents)–Brothers», wich was written in 1921.
Also, Viachelav had an interesting way of understanding the relationship between person and the state, which is of particular importance. He denied both excessive individualism, which undermines cohesion, and collectivism, which reduces personal responsibility. In his opinion, a citizen is a full-fledged political subject only when he realizes his responsibility for the future of the country. Wich is pretty logical, because for what will you fight for, if you don’t care about you country and your people.
His philosophy is still actual for Ukraine, that nowadays still in a war, just like almost 110 years ago, where a long, sustained struggle requires a common idea and goal, namely the state and your people.
That’s it for today. Let me know if you want to know more!
XOXO😽❤️
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« Nous sommes nés en ce temps et nous devons courageusement suivre le chemin jusqu’au bout, comme le destin l’exige. Il n’y a pas d’autre voie. Notre devoir est de tenir le poste perdu, sans espoir, sans secours, comme le soldat romain dont on retrouva les ossements devant une porte à Pompéi, qui, lors de l’éruption du Vésuve, mourut à son poste parce qu’on oublia de le relever. Voilà la grandeur. La fin honorable est la seule chose qu’on ne puisse enlever à un homme. »
— Oswald Spengler, L’Homme et la Technique : contribution à une philosophie de la vie, 1931.
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… remembering …
Umberto Eco
Italian Philosopher, Semiologist, University Professor, Novelist.
(Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy, 5 Jan.1932 - Milano, Lombardy, Italy, 19 Feb. 2016)
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You could say that every human who has ever lived has been a philosopher, but that precious few have ever been good at it. – Michael Lipsey
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Iris Murdoch, the formidable Irish and British novelist and philosopher in 1992 / Brian Harris/Alamy
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With her bleach-blonde punk haircut, puckish grin and elfin eyes, she could have come to the company’s heavily guarded San Francisco headquarters straight from a Berlin rave, via an old forest road in Middle Earth.
– Berber Jin & Ellen Gamerman, writing in the Wall Street Journal magazine section about Amanda Askell, a philosopher at Anthropic.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-amanda-askell-philosopher-ai-3c031883
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…I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
Mark Twain, Essays.
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On February 5th 1881 the writer and historian Thomas Carlyle died in London.
Born in one of my favourite villages, merely because it sounds so Scottish, Ecclefechan, he was educated at Edinburgh University. Carlyle was a Schoolmaster for a short time, but decided on a literary career, visiting Paris and London.
Carlyle was famous for being one of the most significant social commentators of the time. He was known to be a grumpy stubborn man, but it was also believed the reason behind his surly character could have been as a result of lifelong problem with gastric ulcers which would explain his bad mood but at the same time perhaps his argumentativeness contributed to his brilliant and satirical writing.
As well as his satirical work, which was his bread and butter, he also wrote historical works, a three volume work on The French Revolution as well as his book on leadership which found form in his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History in the book he compared a wide range of different types of heroes, including Odin, Muhammad, Oliver Cromwell, Napoleon, William Shakespeare, Dante, Samuel Johnson, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Robert Burns, John Knox, and Martin Luther.
Thomas Carlyle was keen on art, mainly portraits and his desire to see a National Portrait Gallery in Scotland bore fruit albeit after his death.
He would have been buried in Westminster Abbey as was offered but it was rejected due to his explicit wish to be buried beside his parents in Ecclefechan, he was a devoted son, frequently returning home to visit his parents.
His final words were, “So, this is death. Well!”
Carlyle has no less than three statues around Scotland, one in his hometown of Ecclefechan, one in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow and one in The National Portrait gallery. There is also a statue at The Embankment in London.The house he grew up in is now a museum. I think without me saying, you can spot the one in Glasgow…
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Angela Yvonne Davis. Political activist, philosopher, academic, author and social theorist. At Wikipedia