Thursday 5 March 2009

Metaphysics as a guide to Morals

It's been nearly a week since my last improvisation! But I've been so incredibly busy.

Been reading Adorno's Aesthetic theory together with Iris Murdoch's "Metaphysics as a guide to Morals" which I recommended to Astrid (and then found on the bookshelf). The theme emerging from these is the idea of 'unity'. For Adorno, the unity and internal coherence of the artwork was paramount. Murdoch starts by pointing out that 'unity' and is a construct.

Lots of discussions about idealism today. I'm really a pragmatist: I see that everyone has their unity; there are many unities. But then again, there is transcendence; there is deep personal control (positioning). 'Unity' may be synonymous with 'explanatory principle' (Bateson).

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