Philosophy by John Milton

Matt Faunce

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Apr 2, 2023, 3:00:22 AM4/2/23

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Philosophy

“How charming is divine Philosophy !
Not harsh, and crabbèd, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo’s lute,
And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets,
Where no crude surfeit reigns.”

by John Milton

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 4, 2023, 6:25:45 PM4/4/23

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"John Milton wasn't really a philosopher."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 4, 2023, 6:26:29 PM4/4/23

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"Um, excuse me, but..."
Poets and other writers often write themes in praise of things they don't really like personally.
They're called "encomia".

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 5, 2023, 5:07:04 PM4/5/23

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No, really. John Milton didn't think much of philosophy, or is at least "commonly supposed" not to.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 8, 2023, 5:14:12 PM4/8/23

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"Hmm."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 11, 2023, 7:51:06 PM4/11/23

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"Budget-buster": John Milton as Ralph Cudworth?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 20, 2023, 11:41:02 AM4/20/23

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"Maybe not. Maybe Milton and Cudworth were not the same person."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Apr 23, 2023, 11:31:18 AM4/23/23

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"Was he Isaac Newton, too?"
"No, no, that's not what people think."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 1, 2023, 5:26:42 PM6/1/23

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"Next, you're going to be saying that Hobbes was Oliver Cromwell."
No, I'm not.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Jun 2, 2023, 11:24:56 AM6/2/23

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"Like that could even be."
Oh, were you alive in the 17th century?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Aug 26, 2023, 11:42:57 AM8/26/23

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"Oh, ha ha, yeah, um, dude..."
Well, *if you weren't there*, man, *if you weren't there*...

Jeffrey Rubard

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Aug 26, 2023, 4:52:17 PM8/26/23

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"In Vietnam?"
In the 17th century, man. That's what I said.
"Hmm."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Aug 27, 2023, 11:55:28 AM8/27/23

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"Really. We didn't live in the 17th century."
These days, it's hard to get "expansive" mindsets to settle on a "conceptual impossibility".
But sure, no you didn't live in the 17th century.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Aug 27, 2023, 5:32:54 PM8/27/23

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"You lived in the 20th century."
Sure, sure I did, I'm in my forties, born in 1979, it'd be like that.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 3, 2023, 5:10:16 PM9/3/23

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"And John Milton lived in the 17th century."
Sure, sure he did.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 4, 2023, 2:38:20 PM9/4/23

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"No, like, really. John Milton, 1608-1674."
That's what they say his dates were, sure.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 8, 2023, 11:39:28 AM9/8/23

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"Not earlier or later?"
I guess it's conceivable, but those are the attested dates.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 8, 2023, 2:14:40 PM9/8/23

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"Do they usually lie about those things?"
???

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 11, 2023, 11:28:36 AM9/11/23

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Who would 'they' be in this context?
"You seem to wonder the same thing yourself."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Sep 21, 2023, 6:31:19 PM9/21/23

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It's a pretty meaningless word, really.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 4, 2023, 5:21:47 PM11/4/23

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"But seriously, you really think Milton could have 'literally' been Cudworth?"
Yeah, it's possible.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 14, 2023, 2:53:26 PM11/14/23

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"Is John Milton, is his work, relevant to our present time, though?"
No, it's 'a view too fine'.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 17, 2023, 11:18:34 AM11/17/23

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"What do you mean?"
Miltonians ask for too much, kind of.
"I see. I see what you mean."

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 19, 2023, 2:17:02 PM11/19/23

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"Didn't he write 'Areopagitica', too?"
Yeah, but on the 'asking for too much' theme...

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 21, 2023, 5:12:00 PM11/21/23

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"But the free press is important!"
It sure is.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 23, 2023, 2:36:05 PM11/23/23

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"It is a funny word, though."
Yeah. You probably should go right to the obvious-but-stupid 'play on words', really.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 23, 2023, 2:36:43 PM11/23/23

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Wider World: "Dude! I don't feel like talking like this with you." Yeah, feminism is important.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 24, 2023, 4:38:53 PM11/24/23

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Poofy Cheese: "So... did you ever meet John Milton, then?"
He died three hundred years before I was born, so no, no I didn't. #factualreality

Jeffrey Rubard

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Nov 30, 2023, 2:11:52 PM11/30/23

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Poofy Cheese:
"That seems believable."
Are you somehow both highly 'suggestible' and far, far too incredulous about stuff as well?

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 2, 2023, 11:25:00 AM12/2/23

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It seems like that would be wasteful of people's time, to be 'gullible' about dangerous schemes and extremely distrustful of the veracity
of fairly common pieces of information volunteered to you...

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 7, 2023, 11:36:11 AM12/7/23

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Like how Henry Kissinger and Sandra Day O'Connor are deceased, and so on.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 7, 2023, 4:36:31 PM12/7/23

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"Compare with... 'Four hundred years ago, John Milton and Ralph Cudworth were the same person'?"
Yeah, sure.

Jeffrey Rubard

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Dec 9, 2023, 11:12:06 AM12/9/23

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"What if they weren't?"
I could imagine that too.
"Imagine it?"
It's a 'figure of speech'.