Aesthetic Materialism

  In epistemology, parsimony; in ontology, lavishness.

I see myself on the side of philosophy, and what I mean by that is that I am not an artist. I have made some art.  That's true.  But ultimately, I'm not an artist.   What I mean by that is that I am interested in things the way a philosopher is interested in things.  I'm not interested in things the way a true artist is interested in things.  I wish I were, but so far that avenue has been mostly closed to me. I'm not an artist, but I've been around artists.  It's wonderful to be around artists.  Wonderful and terrible. Artists have one kind of interest; philosophers have a different kind of interest.  I'd like to say, "Neither one is better than the other; they're just different, that's all."  But that's not true.  The way that artists are interested is superior to the way that philosophers are interested.  But, sadly, I have never been interested in anything the way an artist is interested - merely the way a philosopher is interested.

 I take it as axiomatic that we seldom if ever know what interests us about something.

  Problems with Consequentialism   Problem #1: the Problem of Regress / Avoidance of the Problem of Ethics   Synepeia: Hello, Asophos!  Asophos: Hi, Synepeia!  What's up? Synepeia: Well, I'm fine, but I've heard that you have many problems. Asophos: Really?  What are you talking about? Synepeia: Well, I've heard that you have been arrested and are due to appear in court. Asophos: That's true - but it's hardly a problem. Synepeia: Oh I see - you think that you will be found innocent without much difficulty. Asophos: No, I think they will probably find me guilty. Synepeia: Then you think you'll get a light sentence? Asophos: No, I think it will be quite heavy. Synepeia: Don't tell me you are planning to escape and become a fugitive? Asophos: Of course not! Synepeia: Then how can you say you have no problems? Asophos: Well, if I had actually done something wrong - that would be a problem, for certain.   Synepeia: But you just said you weren't innocent.

[This post is a continuation of What is Philosophy ?  You might want to start there.] What does "interesting" mean? I don't hope to completely answer this question here, and it will be the focus of many other essays, where I will dive deeper and deeper into this topic.  But we can at least begin to tiptoe below the surface here.  It's difficult to even know how to begin to describe the interesting.  We won't fully define it here, but there are some good hints that point toward a definition. First: I am not using the word "interesting" the way, for instance, Kant does when he writes about our judgement of beauty and the sublime as being disinterested - that is, interest understood as a kind of personal gain (of pleasure).  In a way, you might almost say that I am using the word "interesting" in exactly the opposite way that Kant does.  We will return to this question again and again, in different forms, so I want to have you keep thi