Quote:
Marc Abrams wrote:
Keith:
Heard a rumor that when Descartes overheated he allegedly said:
"I think too much, therefore I may be no longer be, therefore I certainly hope that god exists". 
Regards,
Marc Abrams |
Ah, cogito ergo sum.
I've always preferred the other side of this coin -- I doubt I exist therefore I do.
That's kinda fun.
And I should be fairer to Descartes -- he gets all the credit even thought the whole mind/body dualism thing could be tracked back to Plato (forms) and earlier. So it is a pervasive theme in western thinking. And then Descartes sure hammered the nails deeply in to the coffin.
Now... How does that compare with Pan-Asian views of mind and body? And how does this change how we view notions of "dualism" in mind/body distinctions? Is this something we think we understand in Japanese arts or are we wearing Bertrand Russell "rose tinted glasses" when we examine these things?
Anyway... All the stuff Graham wrote is kinda familiar for me coming directly from a Tohei line (Tohei -> Rod Kobayashi -> Seidokan). But at the same time it seems forced and skewed.