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Greg Gauthier 2023-09-11 13:02:10 +01:00
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content/post/the-beginning-of-the-end.md
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description: Another chapter comes to a close description: Another chapter comes to a close
draft: true draft: true
--- ---
Apologies to Nietzsche for bastardizing his title, but it seems appropriate to this announcement. Apologies to Nietzsche for bastardizing his title, but it seems apropos to this announcement.
As I have stated in numerous previous posts, I am loath to speak of myself in my posts. I have sternly resisted the temptation to become self-referential, because this blog was never really about me, per se. It was one man's record of an attempt to work his way through formal philosophy. So, philosophy was the focus. It is the product of a mind directly engaging with philosophy, such as it is in the 21st century, and trying to restate that engagement in terms of which that mind could make sense. But that mind has reached the end of it's adventure, and what the man who owns that mind has found in all his years of exploration has left him with the view that modernity and its philosophers are tragic ants, toiling tirelessly at an ant hill soon to be washed away by a monsoon looming just over the horizon. I don't want to be one of those ants anymore. As I have stated in numerous previous posts, I am loath to speak of myself in my posts. I have sternly resisted the temptation to become self-referential, because this blog was never really about me, per se. It was one man's record of an attempt to work his way through formal philosophy. So, philosophy was the focus. It is the product of a mind directly engaging with philosophy, such as it is in the 21st century, and trying to restate that engagement in terms of which that mind could make sense. But that mind has reached the end of it's adventure, and what the man who owns that mind has found in all his years of exploration has left him with the view that modernity and its philosophers are tragic ants, toiling tirelessly at an ant hill soon to be washed away by a monsoon looming just over the horizon. I don't want to be one of those ants anymore.
@ -27,5 +27,5 @@ Another thing I've learned, perhaps just as important, is that theology lurks in
Most importantly, I learned that I have very little else to contribute to these lost traditions, apart from my own deference to them. Students of philosophy all think they're geniuses for a time, after beginning the work. I am no exception to this rule. In the long run, less than 1% of them ever have their self-perceptions validated by reality. The rest of us realize very soon (if we're honest) just how small we are in relation to the early giants. How we respond to that realization, defines us as thinkers. Most, live their lives in denial of it, as already noted. But a small handful humble themselves, and accept the truth no matter where it leads. And here is where it leads: Socrates, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, turn out to be non-trivial influences on the mind of western man, and more importantly, turn out to be mostly correct in their understanding of man, the world, and the divine. And that knowledge is not only good enough for me, it must be good enough, because it is true. Most importantly, I learned that I have very little else to contribute to these lost traditions, apart from my own deference to them. Students of philosophy all think they're geniuses for a time, after beginning the work. I am no exception to this rule. In the long run, less than 1% of them ever have their self-perceptions validated by reality. The rest of us realize very soon (if we're honest) just how small we are in relation to the early giants. How we respond to that realization, defines us as thinkers. Most, live their lives in denial of it, as already noted. But a small handful humble themselves, and accept the truth no matter where it leads. And here is where it leads: Socrates, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, turn out to be non-trivial influences on the mind of western man, and more importantly, turn out to be mostly correct in their understanding of man, the world, and the divine. And that knowledge is not only good enough for me, it must be good enough, because it is true.
So, this is the end of my work in philosophy. This is the last time I will be posting anything explicitly philosophical or analytical on this site. In the coming months, I will be completely re-skinning it. Probably, I will be transforming it into a tech blog, or perhaps a blog for reviewing classic science fiction, or perhaps doing some creative writing or cartooning of my own. Maybe I will shut it down altogether. I'm not sure yet. In any case, if you have a vested interest in any of the content, you can always find it over on my git repository, [here](https://gitea.gmgauthier.com/gmgauthier/personal-blog/src/branch/master/content/post). It is Creative Commons public domain, and it will remain there for the foreseeable future. Any new content that gets published here after the reskin, will find its way into a new repository. So, this is the last time I will be posting anything explicitly philosophical or analytical on this site. In the coming months, I will be completely re-skinning it. Probably, I will be transforming it into a tech blog, or perhaps a blog for reviewing classic science fiction, or perhaps doing some creative writing or cartooning of my own. Maybe I will shut it down altogether. I'm not sure yet. In any case, if you have a vested interest in any of the content, you can always find it over on my git repository, [here](https://gitea.gmgauthier.com/gmgauthier/personal-blog/src/branch/master/content/post). It is Creative Commons public domain, and it will remain there for the foreseeable future. Any new content that gets published here after the reskin, will find its way into a new repository.