On Being and Action - Part One

In the following series of blogs I will be discussing all those big questions concerning the nature of the universe and its creation, along with the nature of free will and the possibility of the existence of god(s).  Open your mind and follow along.  If nothing else, this discourse will at least give you a chance to see the bigger picture.  Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

There are two opposing forces that govern every action that takes place in the universe.  On the one hand, there is a positive, creative force by which all things come into being and increase their order and involved relation to each other.  On the other hand there is a negative, destructive force which brings the current state of things to an end and generally decreases the orderly relation of all things to other things. 

That aspect which is commonly attributed to human being alone, i.e., free will, or the will to choose, at any point, the direction of ones actions, is in fact a law that holds for all things.  Free will is seen not only in the actions of human beings, but in the will of all events of existence.  Take for instance the movement we have recently been describing as the big bang.  This movement , as we would have it, is a movement from the extreme unity of a singular entity into the ever-widening universe.  This ever-widening is like the continual expanding of a balloon: as you blow the balloon larger and larger, the patterns on the surface of the balloon continually expand.  Things move apart, patterns get wider, and fragments disperse.  If we take the idea of entropy seriously, then this expansion implicitly involves a movement toward disorder.  Not only are the patterns of the universe expanding, they are in fact deteriorating.  Patterns of the way things once were are no longer recognizable patterns.  The links between those fragments of the original unity continue to decrease.

Such a trend of the activity of the universe should be considered as an example of a negative, destructive force.  And yet, just as I have explained that such a force is always coinciding with an opposing force of positive creation, it is reasonable to imagine that the movement which we describe with the big bang theory also has its opposing movement or force.  If the movement by which all the universe follows is one of entropy, then there must also be an opposite movement: a movement by which all things move from infinite fragmentation, infinite separation, towards unity and complete organization.  If there are clear patterns in the universe which tend by a law of entropy to decrease in their organization, then there must also be some sort of movement which increases organization and moves all fragments toward a singular unity.

The way I have been discussing these opposing trends is generally cosmological: it focuses on the 'big' things of existence.  But these trends can also be seen on the level of the tendencies of living beings, whatever 'living' means in particular. Even the phenomena of life and of death could be described as two instantiations of these two sides of all action.  However, can we not see the same two trends in human activity itself?  Look at those two sides to free will: if considered in the most general terms, the choice that is to be made at every moment is either a yes or a no.  Do it, or not do it?  Make it or not make it?  And so on.  Even in those cases where there are many options to choose from, one always chooses to either go or not go in which ever direction they choose. 

Take for instance the choice to either build something up or break something down.  Such is a very basic general movement observed in the actions of human beings.  One  might choose to build up systems of value by which one brings things together and increases the "orderliness" of the things around him, or one might choose activities which lead to a decrease of order: war is a very potent example of this, for it is inherently an action which moves to decrease the order of a particular set of things.  For example, the actions of war in a particular region tend to decrease the current order present in that place.  Yet, such an example gives us an opportunity to see a possible explanation of the wider relation between these two movements.  War is always a force of destruction directed by another force: that of order.  In war, the destruction of one entity or region is always directed by an urge to increase or create the order of another entity.  When a country invades its neighbor, it wreaks havoc with the intention of benefiting the order of the invading country.  If we take this example as a indicative of a wider tendency of the universe, then we can safely assume, at the least, that any action which tends toward destruction is directed by an opposing action of ordering or creation. 

It should be noted that the way we have been describing this so far is quite one-sided, for it assumes, if you will, that the chicken precedes the egg.  We cannot safely assume that the destructive is always ordered by the constructive.  We must also consider the possibility of the opposite: that the constructive, likewise, is a movement directed by the deconstructive.  Take again the example of war.  War is not simply a willing to decrease order.  Rather, it takes huge amounts of movements toward order in order to carry out the destructive actions of war.  Armies must be organized, bureaucracies must be established, even "rules of war" are often put in place to ensure that the very effort is held within the control of the acting entity.  Tactics are developed.  And what are war tactics if not a momentary organizing of "things" for the sake of the destruction of other "things"?  We must consider the macroscopic instance of this trend.

The Missing Writer Returns

Whoa, what a ride.

I guess I can't tell you about everything that has happened since my last post, since I stopped posting nearly 9 months ago.

But I can tell you where I am at right now, and hopefully start posting on Sophistical Subterfuges more regularly now.

Well, there are several areas of my life which have been developing as of late. There are three which are especially prominent: I have been making progress on my thesis, things are coming together with IPSA (International Philosophy Student's Association), of which I am now the President, and I am progressing in the culinary arts as well: last week was my first day as one of the main chefs at the restaurant I work at.

As for the thesis, I changed my topic a little bit and made it much more challenging for myself... yielding great results. Before I was basically explaining Ernst Cassirer's work on myth, essentially summarizing his second volume of the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. I did not get any writing accomplished while this was still my topic. Frankly, I wasn't interested or inspired to work on a summary... and rightly so, for what kind of original and substantial paper would my thesis be if it did nothing more than summarize someone else's book?? Instead, I am writing on Cassirer's methodology for the Cultural Sciences. Through an historical account I am situating his work among his contemporaries, primarily in terms of the Neo-Kantians of the Marburg and Southwest Schools, but also in terms of the pramatism of Dilthey and especially the phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger. I am now using Cassirer's work on myth as an example of how his methodology differs greatly from the other Neo-Kantians, and in many regards encounters a rapprochement with phenomenology. This, clearly, will require much more work on my behalf, and I am feeling eager to step up to the challenge.

As for IPSA, we held our first general meeting last week. We now have an executive and several coordinators. We are growing, and with this growth comes greater responsibility and commitment for me. I avoided legitimation of the group last year, mainly because I was new to the town/program and had few people to work with. This year, however, we hit the new students hard with an introductory tour after their welcome lecture by the faculty, as well as a great mustache party involving 8 cases of free beer.... kindly donated by an unidentified benefactor. This got people's attention. And now we have about 12 people who have committed themselves to planning events, increasing membership, and publicizing activities. We have drafted a constitution, a mission statement, and a list of events to be planned. My first order of business, however, is to attain funding from LOKO, which is the only EU subsidized international student's organization at K.U.Leuven. This will take some work on my behalf!

Finally, about my passion for cooking and the path this passion has set me on... well, for the last month I have been training in the kitchen of the restaurant I work at, doing mostly mis-en-place (preparation) for the week. This involves chopping a lot of vegetables, preparing sauces and soups, and so on. While I have been doing this, I have also been learning how to make various tapas dishes, desserts (like Sophie Lauren's tiramisu!), and so on. This past Friday was a milestone though... it was my first evening to work as one of the two main chefs in the front kitchen, which is open concept: i.e., the customers can watch you as you cook. Definitely an added element of pressure... it was a busy night, and we served about 40 plates in 3 hours. I kept my cool, went as fast as I could, and it was duly noted... now I will be working in the front more regularly. We come out with a new menu next week, and I will have to memorize the dishes so that I can prepare things without having to be told how. I've bought myself a high quality chef's knife (henckels) and I've grown to love using it! At one point last week while hanging out with friends I suddenly proclaimed, "I feel like cutting some onions." You can imagine the puzzled responses.

Well, that is enough updating for the time being, hopefully this post will be the first of many.

Check out Not Without The Sound of Infinite Splashing to see the progression of my work on Cassirer, the Neo-Kantians, and the cultural sciences.

Coming soon: Article 27, a blog about human rights, international relations, and philosophy concerning such matters.

Thanks for reading!

Rome or Bust: Getting There

Did you know that Brussels International Airport is not, after all, the same as Brussels-Charleroi Airport? That Ryanair does not fly out of Brussels International, but out of Brussels-Charleroi? That, while the first airport is 20 minutes from Leuven, the second is just over 2 hours? Don't worry... I didn't know all this at first either. Which is why I missed my first flight to Rome.

I knew that my ticket said Charleroi, I could read that clearly enough. But since I had never even had a reason to consider it before, it was only once I had arrived at the Leuven train station that I had realized two important things. First, the direct train to Brussels-Luchthaven that I had planned to take was not going to get me where I needed to go. Second, that because of this miscalculation on my part, I would almost certainly miss my flight.

As I passed by Brussels-International on my way to Charleroi, I wrote in my journal, "It's just after 4. I have a 2 hour ride ahead of me, and somehow I get the feeling that I won't be flying out at 6:20 pm this evening." It was torture knowing this and thinking about it the whole way. Knowing that I had just screwed myself over. I was still desperate enough to at least consider if there was any possible way to make it in time. "Perhaps a later flight, with an extra wad of cash out of my pocket, will have to suffice. I mean, if I were to take a cab from Brussels-Midi station to Charleroi airport instead of waiting for the next train there, there's no telling whether it would be any quicker, whether I would actually make it in time for check-in. Not only that, but taking that cab would probably cost me more than a seat on the next available flight. So I suppose that's not such a great option." It would have cost me 100 euros. I checked.

Coming into Brussels-Nord I thought to myself, if I can make it to Charleroi in 20 minutes... I might make it in time. Inconceivable. I had to get across Brussels first, then to another city altogether, Charleroi. So I gave up thinking about it. Not without writing the following: "Well, if you don't learn from the first lesson, then you damn well better make the best of the second one."

That's right, this was not my first missed flight. I also missed my flight to Canada only a month and a half before. Take it in... I'm not afraid to admit when I've made a fool of myself. Just don't expect to hear about it again.

"If I remember correctly, there is one more Ryanair flight later today that may have a seat open. Let's hope so. Otherwise I will have to either wait till tomorrow or find another flight that goes anywhere near Rome. I don't care where, really. I'm ready for an adventure. But I WILL get to Rome." Yes, I would make it to Rome. Though not until after spending some time in the grime of Charleroi and a night on an airport floor.

"My first impression of Charleroi was shaped by the sight of blood stains running up the station steps, leading to a little dried up pool at the top. I noted the shifty glances of several less-than-friendly looking characters while waiting for the bus, and kept to myself." Traveling all over the place on your own sort of teaches you how to keep to yourself really well... how to look confident without looking cocky, how to meet peoples eyes without entering into a confrontation. Don't bother trying to ignore these bastards, no, that's nearly as bad as staring them down. Just notice them and move on. Act as if you've caught this same bus a million times before.

"French grunge. I need to take a piss, and for some reason I wouldn't feel the least bit out of place if I up and releived myself right here against this post beside me. One day... one day I will make it to Rome. Hopefully tonight and before transit stops running. FUCK."

For some crazy reason, I was feeling bitter in Charleroi.

Well, I finally made it to the airport after a 20 minute bus ride. I found the next flight into Rome left the next morning at 6, and would cost me 75 euros. That's more than the round trip originally cost me. I would have to stay the night on the airport floor. If you have ever done this, you will know that it is much better if you have some company... so naturally I kept my eyes open. Maybe I would meet a new friend. First I met this French girl named Fouzia, and we had a good time chatting it up. That was nice to pass the time. She was waiting for her ride which hadn't shown because, alas, he had went to Brussels-International instead of Brussels-Charleroi. That gave me a little comfort, I have to admit.


After trying to get some sleep over night in a corner of the airport behind this big sign, I lined up for check-in at about 4:20 am. While in line, I met up with a Portuguese acquaintance I had met while partying in Leuven only one night before. Small world. He was headed back to Milan, where he was studying. So after we had checked in we went together and had some breakfast inside the departures area. After suggesting I come up to Milan for a few days to party with him, André and I parted ways.


The Ryanair flight was a little more nerve wracking than most I have been on. Ok, it was the most nerve wracking flight I've ever been on. The take-off left my stomach behind on the tarmac, and when we landed it felt like there wasn't even any tarmac on the runway. So bumpy, and so fast. But I made it to Rome. After all that, I stepped out into the Roman sun and the warm breese blew all the stress away. I made it.


Coming soon, I will tell you about my first days in Rome. Lots of adventures await being told!
Thanks for reading... :)