Philosophy and Old Brazilian Ladies
I wrote: Hi, Rick. Thank you for the photos – you’re pretty good-looking. I was imagining a portly bearded man before. Haha. Your photos are safe with me. I will not post them… I’d consider it if you sent me porn… tee hee.
Rick wrote: “hahaha. No, within philosophy there are roughly two groups to be found; the classical (modern) philosophers and the post-modern ones. The first group is bearded, talks about scholastic proofs of the existence of God, and is horrified by what happened to philosophy in the 20th century (or actually, after Nietzsche). The second group (which is actually not really present in the USA… there philosophy is still very old/fashioned), is very much part of present day life… It is the same opposition you can find in painting for instance, and in music. As you can imagine, I consider myself part of the second group. Much influenced by contemporary french philosophy, extremely liberal AND Marxist. And the teachers I had were like that too. To give you an example of how much these people do not fit your ‘bearded’ grey man description: One of the most famous philosphers of today (Jaques Derrida) was arrested recently in Prague (at the age of 70) and kept in prison for smoking grass… hahaha…. Oh and that is by the way also what I remembered from studying philosophy: there were always lengly discussions on any philosophical issue, till late in the evening, but these discussions were always accompanied by huge amounts of wine… and I also fequently smoked grass with some of my teachers (still do). So… hope this changed your image of me a little bit… It is interesting though, the way you pictured me before… hahaha
Best,
Rick
p.s. yeah, the pictures I sent you probably did not really classify for putting them on the web. Don’t know why I asked you not to put them there…”
Rick wrote: “I was in Brazil… Beautiful country, only too bad about the food (definitely go to Asia for some good food). Rio was of course verrrrrry nice. We stayed in a hotel at the copacabana. Many beautiful girls in small bikinis. And even more nice guys by the way (all playing volleybal or foot-volleybal at the beach) so my girl was also very pleased. Though Ipanema was probably even better than the copacabana. It was a bit richer (not that many homeless people sleeping in the streets) and had the hippest beachware. My girl bought some really small bikini’s (would look really great on you too). The nice thing about Brazil is that sexuality is not age-bound. also on the beaches the ‘elderly’ women (say around 60) are still wearing this tiny beachware, and flirt with the guys. Great. I really like your new site by the way. Especially of course, the fact that you added the word ‘philosophy’. In the future we should do something together, maybe. I am still busy till the end of the year, but I think it would be a nice experiment of us writing an article together on the sexuality. I bring in the theory and you bring in the practice hahaha…. Think about it. kiss”Oh yes, 60-year old Brazilian ladies flirting on the beach… women who transcend mainstream (commercial) society’s standard of youth and beauty. I love that! Sexy is all in the mind.
I added the word “philosophy” to my blog, because I really like the idea of philosophy as a part of daily life, as you wrote on your last email. On my blog, I write about my life, love and sex… that’s the study of philosophy. The word “philosophy” breaks down from the latin “philo,” meaning love; and “sophia,” meaning life. Love of Life.
Write me more… I’ll publish our correspondence on my blog, and we can let the article evolve that way. It’s exciting!
yes that sounds great. and by the way, you mentioned earlier that you planned to come to amsterdam one day… well, just to be sure, i’d like to offer you again to be your guide. Amsterdam is a nice city with a great liberal history. it is for no other reason that it was the haven for freethinkers in the seventeenth century; both descartes and spinoza (the two fathers of modern philosophy) lived
in amsterdam at that time, and other great philosophers (like Leibniz) published their books over there, because they were afraid to do that in their own country. I just came back from Rome, where one can see a great statue of the greatest Italian philosopher of the middle ages, Goirdano Bruno at the Campo del Fiori. Now Italy is very proud of his legacy, but at that time they weren’t too enthusiastic about his liberal ideas; after a long search they beheaded him because of his ideas. So… it was a good idea of the philosophers who came after him to be very cautious… Even in Amsterdam at that time, not everything was possible. Spinoza, the most radical philosopher of his time, even inscribed the portuguese word ‘caute’ (beware, watch out) printed into his weapon, and he was smart enough to let his most radical work (the ethics) be published after his death…. Okay, why was I telling you this? O yeah, I offered you to be your guide whenever you would come to Amsterdam… well this was a little foretaste
As regarding to the concept of philosophy. Actually the word ’sophia’ means wisdom. But it is never a wisdom as in piling up ‘knowledge’; wisdom in this sense means a constant ‘amazement’, as Plato called it; it is a love for the world we live in from a very naive point of view. I think I sent you a text by J. Krishnamurti once. He makes a great summary of what philosophy is. An amazement for the world around us, for nature, for the people that surround us, and of course for sexuality. Philosophy should be the love for everything, in short; for life. (so in the end you are right…)
kiss,
busy bodies!
I just returned from a trip to Florida and the Bahamas….. was amazing…. the water there was so clear and turquoise color!! and we did some snorkeling and boating….anyway, gonna do some catching up at work…but will call you and catch up….
Dont work too hard… I’m not! ; )
wow… sounds like fun. I love the beach!!!
talk to ya later!
I love YOU!!!!!!