John Dunn

Will and creativity denied

Monday, 6 May 2024 at 23:50

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Will and creativity denied

Yes- there was always something strange in Marx’s upturning assertion about Hegel. The truth is that Marx espoused Spinozism, the denial of human will and creativity. Marx took much from Hegel, but Hegel too was a Spinozist, inheriting his concept of Absolute Spirit from Judaism and Kabbalah. For Hegel, the origin, substance, purpose and direction of the universe was the realisation of an infinite knowledge, consciousness, or mind. Like the Kabbalists, Hegel held that the world’s beginning, substance and end is to be found in an infinite, all inclusive, Absolute Being. This Absolute, which is analogous to the Kabbalist’s Ein-sof, is conceived of by Hegel as the Absolute Spirit, a notion that is itself present in many kabbalistic works.

© John Dunn.

This question needed answering

Monday, 6 May 2024 at 01:47

Baruch Spinoza

This question needed answering

In Spinozism, I came to a retrospective understanding of my own Marxist thinking - and there were two surprises. Firstly, what I had once thought of as dynamic and revolutionary in my attitude was essentially passive and static. Secondly, this state of passive acceptance has triumphed as the underlying principle of all thought in today’s world as it applies to ethical and scientific matters. In both instances, the animal soul has defeated the divine.

I was left with a question. If the power to create something new where nothing existed before is the defining factor in what it means to be human, how did mankind arrive at its present dehumanised condition? This question needed answering before I could ever hope to answer the ‘who am I?’ question.

© John Dunn.

Ilyenkov

Sunday, 5 May 2024 at 02:10

Ilyenkov

Evald Ilyenkov, the Soviet Marxist, fell under the evil curse of Spinoza. Parsifal might as well have chosen Klingsor as his guide to the Grail. Ilyenkov must have known that there is no such thing as Marxism - only Spinozism, which means without room for contingency, man has to understand necessity and subject himself to it.

© John Dunn.

The evil curse

Friday, 3 May 2024 at 02:19

Marcel Journet as Wagner's Klingsor

The evil curse

Through error and the path of false righteousness I too came. An evil curse drove me about in trackless wandering, never to find the way to healing.Numberless diversions, false battles and conflicts forced me from my path even when I thought I knew it. And what was the evil curse? Dante metaphorically rendered it as the siren, Wagner did so as Klingsor. And what emanation of the dark side of the Zarathustrian bifurcation did I face? - Spinozism and its offshoot, Marxism.

© John Dunn.

The siren screams long and hard

Thursday, 2 May 2024 at 02:20

Siren, Conor Walton

The siren screams long and hard

The siren screams long and hard, drowning out the divine voice. Deafened at maximum each animal soul has its own methods: music, internet, interminable travelling, meetings, business activities, gregarious chatter, pornography, eating out, cinema, charity, sport, work, alcohol.These are characteristic of our time, but in all epochs evil had one task — to lead the pilgrim away from the true path. Perceval went on many a misguided adventure, lost many battles and made wrong turns in the woods. The life-journey is not a straight line, we all know about that.

© John Dunn.

Psychiatrised and clinicised

Wednesday, 1 May 2024 at 02:22

Psychiatrised and clinicised

The siren now is the politico-media complex, which urges us to go with the current, be at peace with the world, leaving the animal soul with a yearning for uniform uniqueness. Populations are psychiatrised and clinicised. He’s fat - it’s an illness; he’s lazy - it’s an illness; he’s addicted - it’s an illness. Explanations can be found on the level of the animal soul. To never transgress and just allow everything to happen, this is an animal level of existence. The journey must begin, but I need more sleep. I need to prepare, but I’m not in the mood, better tomorrow.

© John Dunn.