Arlo, On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 1:47 PM, ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > > Just sharing this, as it was brought to my attention today. The "Straight > Dope" question of the day is "What is the present?". > > http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3214/what-is-the-present > > Obviously, 'Cecil' has some fun with his answer, and, in that light, I think > it's an answer you'll find entertaining.
Dan: Cecil's a trip. Or maybe he's on one. Anyway, he wrote: "Both Aristotle and Saint Augustine saw the present as no more than a single mathematical point, of zero size and duration, separating the past from the future. Philosophy students will be relieved to learn that I concur." I'm not sure I do. Concur, that is. Been reading What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy (library copy, of all things) and came across this: “A real work of art destroys, in the consciousness of the receiver, the separation between himself and the artist.” So a real work of art destroys what Aristotle and Augustine saw as the present, that separation we feel from this and from that. Past and future cease to exist. I think most of us here know that feeling of being caught up in a book or a movie or a play or a song or a painting or a good conversation to the extent all else disappears. That's what (I think) Tolstoy is on about. Yeah, the dude's a little more serious than Cecil but I suppose anyone who can compose War and Peace has a right to be a bit more intellectually rigorous than sardonic Cecil. Thanks, Arlo. Always a pleasure. Dan http://www.danglover.com Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
