tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post4146791523698619080..comments2023-11-03T11:37:04.473+00:00Comments on nothing new under the sun: Eliot on memorybyron smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938334606675769903noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-46958678549002679852008-02-18T02:35:00.000+00:002008-02-18T02:35:00.000+00:00I like the Eliot quote. Good intentions are a tric...I like the Eliot quote. Good intentions are a tricky thing though - I wonder whether they are the motivator as often as we like to think?Meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05400747412761753914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-12721303959775920832008-02-18T02:07:00.000+00:002008-02-18T02:07:00.000+00:00Awe: A Dialogue By Dorothea LaskyHe was always dis...Awe: A Dialogue <BR/>By Dorothea Lasky<BR/><BR/>He was always distant.<BR/>No he wasn't<BR/><BR/>Yes he was, you told everyone.<BR/>Sometimes he wasn't<BR/><BR/>And what about poetry?<BR/>My friend said she wanted to kill herself because she couldn't write a poem <BR/><BR/>Well, what's it to you?<BR/>I understand, I want to kill myself now<BR/><BR/>And what about the real one over there. He Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778378081009405985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-32719177754712190952008-02-18T02:05:00.000+00:002008-02-18T02:05:00.000+00:00I was referring to such things as conflicts betwee...<I>I was referring to such things as conflicts between our desires...</I><BR/><BR/>It seems to me the underlying, abstract desires, the ones that ultimately drive us, are not in any way intrinsically conflicted. (I'm talking about things like physical needs and comforts, the desire to be loved and respected and the desire to offer love and respect, physical affection, etc.) The disharmony only Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778378081009405985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-46310234770189514272008-02-18T00:45:00.000+00:002008-02-18T00:45:00.000+00:00Marty - intention is not irrelevant; my comment wa...Marty - intention is not irrelevant; my comment was merely intended (!) to rule out the (commonly held) opposite position - that intention is all.byron smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17938334606675769903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-13251810211008683532008-02-18T00:32:00.000+00:002008-02-18T00:32:00.000+00:00An act of harm done with good intentions is still ...<I>An act of harm done with good intentions is still an act of harm.</I><BR/><BR/>So what does a virtue theory of ethics have to say about this issue? Isn't it possible to be a little too deontological?Martin Kemphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17908454108625787731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-57976882302694131322008-02-18T00:27:00.000+00:002008-02-18T00:27:00.000+00:00Our body and our environment do severely limit wha...<I>Our body and our environment do severely limit what we are capable of</I><BR/>These are parts of our limitations, but were not primarily what I was referring to when I mentioned our inability to secure our desires. Just as much, if not more, I was referring to such things as conflicts between our desires (both internally and with others), the opacity of some of our desires to our own byron smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17938334606675769903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-48155919483034574062008-02-17T21:55:00.000+00:002008-02-17T21:55:00.000+00:00a sufficient grasp of cause and effectIs cause and...<I>a sufficient grasp of cause and effect</I><BR/><BR/>Is cause and effect a sufficient way of thinking about our actions and the world?Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03148452877425621293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-2177529165325306592008-02-16T15:03:00.000+00:002008-02-16T15:03:00.000+00:00Our body and our environment do severely limit wha...Our body and our environment do severely limit what we are capable of, but are options are still wide enough that any particular problem might be overcome if we build a sufficient grasp of cause and effect. I love <I>Four Quartets</I> precisely for the humility it teaches - and I love your statement "all our actions must be committed to God in hope and open to repentance." That is very true. But Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778378081009405985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-68432024057954389512008-02-16T11:30:00.000+00:002008-02-16T11:30:00.000+00:00Dawn, thanks for that suggestion. Would you be abl...Dawn, thanks for that suggestion. Would you be able to expand on it a little? Why do you see lack of understanding and information as more significant than our inability to secure our desires?byron smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17938334606675769903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28189019.post-86597467986789672172008-02-16T04:39:00.000+00:002008-02-16T04:39:00.000+00:00More limiting than our inability to act is our lac...More limiting than our inability to act is our lack of understanding and information, but also those limitations are ones that, with patience, we are more likely tto be able to overcome.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04778378081009405985noreply@blogger.com