What to do, what to do?

Pantagruel August 18, 2022 at 00:16 2250 views 11 comments

I've often wondered about what motivates people, and what people would choose to do if external limitations were removed. Earlier this year there was a post by a TPF member claiming to be a billionaire and asking what to do. I made some remarks about the emptiness of consumerism and mentioned I was about to receive an inheritance. It finally came through last week and it was double my most optimistic expectations.

So what did I do? Bought all the really pricey titles that have been accumulating on my Amazon wish list of course.

The Philosophy of the Enlightenment by Ernst Cassirer
The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Volume 1: Language by Ernst Cassirer
The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Volume 2: Mythical Thinking by Ernst Cassirer
The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Volume 3: Phenomenology of Cognition by Ernst Cassirer
The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms: Volume 4: The Metaphysics of Symbolic Forms by Ernst Cassirer
Understanding and Explanation: A Transcendental-Pragmatic Perspective by Karl-Otto Apel
The Adventures of Transcendental Philosophy: Karl-Otto Apel's Semiotics and Discourse Ethics by Eduardo Mendieta
Critique of Instrumental Reason by Max Horkheimer
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society by Jürgen Habermas
Knowledge and Human Interests by Jürgen Habermas
Foundations of Transcendental Philosophy by Johann Gottlieb Fichte
The Grammar of Systems: From Order to Chaos & Back by Patrick Hoverstadt
Introduction to Systems Theory by Niklas Luhmann
The Knowledge Book: Key Concepts in Philosophy, Science, and Culture by Steve Fuller
Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought by George Lakoff
Existential Anthropology: Events, Exigencies, and Effects by Michael D. Jackson
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by Sir James George Frazer

Other than that, nothing really compelling jumps to mind. I can buy all the books I ever wanted now, which is nice. But I still have to do the reading....

I'm really stoked for the Apel (whom I've never read). And Habermas (I've read four of his books recently). And of course Cassirer. And...well, you get the idea.

I'm keen to translate some of this into practical action, and I've been trying to get political lately. But the reality of political parties is just terribly disappointing. I'd be up for a revolution though, cognitive or otherwise.

Comments (11)

Agent Smith August 18, 2022 at 11:56 #730330 0 likes

[quote=Ms. Marple]Most interesting.[/quote]

Here's what I would do if I were in your position - unable to decide "what to do" with a large sum of legally-acquired dough: Just deposit it in a bank that offers a good interest; while your moolah multiplies in a safe place, you can mull over how to spend it in a sensible/good way, oui?

Pantagruel August 18, 2022 at 13:02 #730352 0 likes

Reply to Agent Smith Yes, it is all going into GICs (which are the highest rate long-term deposits in Canada). I'm actually pleased to find that, other than expanding my library a little more aggressively, I'm not really motivated to make any impulsive purchases. I did buy a Mini Cooper (which I've always wanted) but it was time for a new car (my 2004 Ranger is getting up there and I don't need a truck anymore) and it wasn't outrageously expensive, fairly economical actually.

Agent Smith August 18, 2022 at 13:23 #730358 0 likes

Reply to Pantagruel Way to go! You got this!

Now...

[quote=Genesis 1:28]Go forth and multiply![/quote]

those greenbacks! Your odds of becoming a millionaire/billionaire have just gone up mon ami!

Pantagruel August 18, 2022 at 16:05 #730386 0 likes

Quoting Agent Smith

Your odds of becoming a millionaire/billionaire have just gone up mon ami!

:rofl:

Agent Smith August 19, 2022 at 05:07 #730631 0 likes

Reply to Pantagruel :smile:

Pantagruel August 20, 2022 at 20:58 #731265 0 likes

Right now my current problem is deciding between Fichte's Foundations of Transcendental Philosophy and Cassirer's Philosophy of the Enlightenment. The pet project I've been bringing into focus is one of "reformation". The enlightenment is a well described socio-intellectual-historical phenomenon. The reformation is, I think, perceived as more of a political period, but it has significant intellectual content. I think that the idea of progress has grown to be sanctified to the extent where things are discarded just because they are not new, which is an obvious mistake. Dewey writes about the fact that what is modern is the most ephemeral thing of all.

Metaphysician Undercover August 21, 2022 at 01:10 #731341 0 likes

Reply to Pantagruel
Now you've really got something to do. Read, read, read! That's if reading qualifies as doing something.

Pantagruel August 21, 2022 at 01:15 #731345 0 likes

Reply to Metaphysician Undercover Yes, I'm dropping to 3 days a week in February, I'm definitely going to up my reading time then. :up:

Agent Smith August 22, 2022 at 02:32 #731732 0 likes

Quoting Metaphysician Undercover

Read, read, read!

Best piece of advice I've heard in a long, long time!

:up:

Pantagruel August 24, 2022 at 07:54 #732554 0 likes

I just went in to our local library and offered my technical and other skills as a volunteer, so I'll be doing that in the coming year too.

Agent Smith August 28, 2022 at 05:10 #733837 0 likes

Quoting Pantagruel

I just went in to our local library and offered my technical and other skills as a volunteer, so I'll be doing that in the coming year too

We're proud of you! Keep it up!