[from Joel] David Hume was of the opinion that nothing is totally original. All our creative ideas are either rework of the ideas of others or the result of new information from our senses. This is another way of saying that one does not have a divine Muse that sends ideas from out of the blue. Here's an interesting example.I'm preparing a talk for our philosophy club that extracts notions from pop music (mostly oldies) that contain the kernal of an idea expounded upon by classical philosophers and/or are worth some small-group discussion at our meeting. Since most pop music is about moon-June-spoon romantic love, it's taken me some time (a few weeks) to gather together enough material for a session lasting an hour and one half. I was going to post the list of tunes on this blog today for your input and suddenly realized that Ira had done something of this sort with Gilbert and Sullivan about a year ago. What I thought was a novel idea on my part turns out to be just an extension of Ira's idea. So, although I will post the tunes I'm going to use as the basis of a philosophical discussion, my main point turns out to be that David Hume was right about originality.
Music and Philosophy
Windmills of your Mind (as the images unwind -Daniel Dennett)
Impossible Dream (To fight for the right -various)
Birth of the blues (birds in the trees singin' weird melodies) auditory analysis -Helmholtz
If One Flower Grows in your garden (pluralistic marriage)
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (awe of nature) or A Tree by Kilmer Only God can make a tree (Spinoza perhaps)
Some Enchanted Evening (Fools give you reasons, wisemen never try)
When the moon hits your eye (Plato- definition of love), Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes
Falling in Love with Love, Whistle a Happy Tune (illusions and delusions) Smoke gets in your eyes
Stout Hearted Men (Eric Hoffer- the true believer)
Tradition (The value of memes )
If I were a rich man (love of learning -Socrates)
Side by Side (Aristotle- Friendship)
Irish Eyes are Smiling, He is an Englishman (Hume- On national Character)
Lucky, lucky, lucky Me -(Hume-On Providence)
King and I (He'll fight to show that what he does not know is so)
Old Man River (Fear of dyin' -Montaigne), (Hamlet-What dreams may come when we have shuffled off)
I got plenty o' nuthin (Marcus Aurelius -Stoicism)
11 comments:
Thanks Joel for reminding me of the W. S. Gilbert lyrics I related to Piracy on the High Seas back in April.
I read your list of great pop music oldies that you related to philosphers or philosophies and I thought it would be easy to come up with more. NOT! I could not think of any more examples, but I really enjoyed the music and lyrics that rang out in my mind for nearly all the oldies.
Good luck on your talk to the Philo Club and I might show up. I am scheduled to speak there 15 January and plan to give a preview here on our Blog.
Ira Glickstein
After much searching I found only one more. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative ....
And another: "I did it my way"
Joel, I just thought of "Old Man River". The contrast between human work "sweat and strain, body all weary and wracked with pain,..." and Nature that "just keeps rolling along".
Then, I noticed it was already on your original list!
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OK, I looked at a list of songs and found:
Stand by me "When the night has come And the land is dark ...I won't be afraid..."
If I had a Hammer "Well I've got a hammer... the hammer of justice ... the bell of freedom ... All over this land"
Ira Glickstein
"Old Man River" is a good one. What classical philosopher dealt with the fact that man is nothing compared to nature as a whole? What are the ramifications of that? The Mississippi represents the misery of this life while the river Jordan represents release to an unknown afterlife. Perhaps I can tie in Pensées of Pascal or Pascal's wager. -Joel
How about this one from "South Pacific"
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
Here's another one I thought of:
Oh My Papa. Fatherly love and support that is missed when he is gone. Gentle...lovable... always understood...take me on his knee..change my tears to laughter. Deep in my heart I miss him so today.
OH, MY PA-PA
Eddie Fisher
Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so wonderful
Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so good
No one could be, so gentle and so lovable
Oh, my pa-pa, he always understood.
Gone are the days when he could take me on his knee
And with a smile he'd change my tears to laughter
Oh, my pa-pa, so funny, so adorable
Always the clown so funny in his way
Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so wonderful
Deep in my heart I miss him so today.
Ira Glickstein
Then there's the song that asks the ultimate question of philosophy:
IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
Peggy Lee
SPOKEN:
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"
SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is
SPOKEN:
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?
SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is
SPOKEN:
Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.
We were so very much in love.
Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't,
and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"
SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
SPOKEN:
I know what you must be saying to yourselves,
if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment,
for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself
SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is
How about Que sera, sera?
("Whatever will be will be,
the future's not ours to see, ...")
We humans cannot see the future but have to accept it, whatever it may be.
There is a Yiddish word "beschert" that means "it was meant to be" (presumably by God, or, if you are a strict determinist like me, the inevitable result of the Laws of Nature working on the Initial Conditions of the Universe.) See also Beschert.com.
Lyrics
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother
What will I be?
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?
Here's what she said to me:
Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.
What will be, will be.
When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart
What lies ahead?
Will we have rainbows
Day after day?
Here's what my sweetheart said:
Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.
What will be, will be.
Now I have children of my own.
They ask their mother,
What will I be?
Will I be handsome?
Will I be rich?
I tell them tenderly:
Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.
What will be, will be.
Que sera, sera.
Ira Glickstein
Que sera, sera! That's terrific one for Zeno or Marcus Aurelius. How about John Lennon's "Imagine?" Would a peaceful would require "no religion" as Lennon dreams, or would tolerance be sufficient to avoid conflicts? Plato predated Lennon with a call for "no possessions" in "The Republic." One wonders who would feed all these philosophers and dreamers. Oh, that's right, there were slaves to do the job in Plato's time.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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