Old Philosophy...Not So Dry and Boring

"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." - J.S Mill

To me, this quotation means that violence is only accepted when it protects others from harm. For example if a person is threatening a child with a knife and you have a gun, it is accepted to hurt that person in order to prevent any harm done to the child.

In researching this quotation I discovered that it was said by a very famous British philosopher, John Stuart Mill. This quotation was part of an essay he wrote explaining the Harm Principal. This principal holds "that the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals." This quote is an excerpt from the philosophical work, On Liberty, which was written in 1859 and it was a very radical work to the traditional Victorian readers of the time "because it supported individuals' moral and economic freedom from the state."  During the Romantic Era the people were rebelling against the traditional political values and discovering liberation politics.

Poems Worth Remembering

Music when Soft Voices Die (To --)

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

   Music, when soft voices die,

Vibrates in the memory—

Odours, when sweet violets sicken,

Live within the sense they quicken.

   Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,

Are heaped for the belovèd's bed;

And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,

Love itself shall slumber on.

I have always been a fan of Shelley. He is probably one of my favourite Romantic poets. I knew I was hooked when I read Ozymandias in which I can still remember three years later, "I met a traveller from an antique land..." So when discovering different Shelly poems, like Ode to the West Wind I came across this. Now I want you to stop reading my post and read the poem out loud to yourself. It is oh so wonderful. Now for the analysis.... not really my favourite part....

For poetry, the Romantic Era was all about the individual and their own emotions. It might not seem like it at first by there is an underlying life-affirming tone; music, something to have even after life. Shelley also mentions aspects of nature such as "violets"  and "roses" which further reflect the themes of the Romantic Era. There is also a lyrical tone that is made evident by the rhyming couplets at the end of each stanza.

Shelly will forever be one of my favourite poets.

Odd Ball Art that We Love

Friedrich's The Monk by the Sea (1809)

Casper David Friedrich was a German Romantic artist who was best known for landscapes but painted this between 1808 and 1810 when it was put on display with The Abby in the Oakwood:

These paintings were not much like his others as he was portraying God as a vast higher power directly related to the nature on Earth. They were very unlike some of his previous pieces:

The Monk by the Sea is said to be Friedrich's most radical composition and he displays the characteristics of a Romantic artist very well in his oil painting. During the Romantic Era it was very likely to have landscape paintings with an emotional twist. With the presence of the Monk the painting portrays the presence of a higher power but the irony is the strange use of depth. It is a tradition technique to have a sense of depth in a painting but Friedrich goes against tradition, very common in the Romantic Era, and uses almost no depth in the painting. The vastness of the sea and sky show the meagerness of the Monk standing in front of the expanse of what he believes to be God. 

Beethoven - 6th Symphony - Pastoral



This beautiful piece written by Beethoven in 1808. The composer said him self that the Sixth Symphony is "more the expression of feeling than painting." The Romanic Era was said to be the Age of Emotion and this piece displays this quite well. Unlike most pieces from the Classical era, the symphony has 5 movements, with a regular of 4. 
These are the 5 movements:


1. Erwachen heiterer Empfindungen bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande (Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country): Allegro ma non tropp
2. Szene am Bach (Scene at the brook): Andante molto mosso
3. Lustiges Zusammensein der Landleute (Happy gathering of country folk): Allegro
4. Gewitter, Sturm (Thunderstorm; Storm): Allegro
5. Hirtengesang. Frohe und dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm (Shepherds' song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm): Allegretto
  
In the second movement, Scene at the brook, it has been described as "one of Beethoven's most beautiful compositions." This movement reflects Nature, one of the themes predominant in the Romantic Era.
During the fourth movement, the Storm, Beethoven makes a dramatic shift from a very light, joyous tone to a sinister tone. This illustrates the emotion of the individual and is a clear reflection of the emotions felt during the Romantic Era.
Finally, in the fifth movement Beethoven shows the resolution after the storm and brings the piece back to it's original sound.

A comparison of death: Whitney Houston ~ August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012

Over the past few years we have lost many great stars, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and most recently Whitney Houston. It seems almost surreal when a big star dies. Like the world has forgotten about them until they die. Michael Jackson’s albums "Number Ones",  "The Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller" were top sellers in the United States the week following his death (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/arts/music/02sales.html). In Western societies death is almost glamorized especially when it comes to celebrities. I hope for the sake of our society that the reason celebrities are glamorized after death is because we are taking the time to remember their lives. Sadly, I don't really think this is true.

This weekend I was sitting in a restaurant with my friends for a birthday party. All of a sudden, from down the table I hear someone tell me that Whitney Houston had just died. Within seconds the news had spread all over Twitter and Facebook. I didn't really know what to think. The way I view death, it is a very personal thing, something to only briefly be talked about and then sadly forgotten. I don't think I would want my death broadcasted all over social networking sites for the whole world to have an opinion on.

I think that the Eastern societies have a good way of viewing death. I believe the difference is the way we grieve. Compared to Western societies, the view of death in a Buddhist culture is very respectful. I think that's the difference. With the information of someone's death spread all over the internet, there is a good chance at least one person is going to be disrespectful.  

The way I will remember Whitney Houston is sitting in my kitchen listening to my favourite song of hers play over and over again.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Kind of a Cliché....

“Real danger is nothing more than just living. Of course, living is merely the chaos of existence, but more than that it's a crazy mixed-up business of dismantling existence instant by instant to the point where the original chaos is restored, and taking strength from the uncertainty and the fear that chaos brings to re-create existence instant by instant. You won't find another job as dangerous as that. There isn't any fear in existence itself, or any uncertainty, but living creates it.”
― Yukio Mishima, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea

In my opinion this is one of the most powerful quotes in the novel. Something so eloquent, so simple and yet something that is usually overlooked. It takes a minute to wrap your head around the idea that the real struggle and danger in life is in fact living. Some people might say that that kind of thinking is rather pessimistic but I believe it is just a realists point of view. Sometimes our minds might wander thinking that death is really the easiest thing in life. Almost pure. And Mishima mentions in the novel, the act of death starts at birth where time is only the space in between these two. I think that's beautiful. This is not to say that life isn't worth living but maybe just one part of the circle that makes up our very existence.

Some Very Interesting, Unusual Characters

 One thing that I have learned from being in this IB english program is that you come by a lot of interesting characters, all of which relate to one another. Reading Doestovesky's Crime and Punishment and Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea I have discovered a correlation between Raskolinov and Ryuji. I find it fascinating that they are both very sheltered characters, Raskolnikov ostracised from society and Ryuji a lonely sailor. Yet they both strive for something beyond the realm of there own societies. Ryuji thinks, "There must be a special destiny in store for me; a glittering, special-order kind no ordinary man would be permitted," which I can relate to Raskolnikov because he himself believes that his state of mind is that of an extraordinary man. I think that everyone at one point in there life would like to believe that they are of a "higher standard" or are capable of something extraordinary. I believe that these characters are an exaggerated version of this and therefore even though we are shocked by their actions we can also sympathize with them. Sitting here writing this I am shocked with myself thinking I could even remotely relate to these characters.