towards philosophy

I don’t think Moore’s exposure of the Republican politicians who colluded in declaring the Iraq war as being more than reluctant to put their own children in harm’s way was in any way gimmicky. It underlines a real issue, which we don’t seem to have learned from since the Great War. The gap at that time between the pollies and military brass and the common foot-soldiers has since been heavily criticised, but we have returned to this situation. The American soldiers were unprepared for the basic physical slog and stench of war, but even more unprepared for the reception they received from those they had ‘liberated’. Someone forgot to tell them that the Iraqis belonged to a proud and ancient culture and that they wouldn’t take kindly to foreign invaders telling them how to run their affairs.
So Moore’s film doesn’t tell me anything much that’s new (apart from a few specifics), it just reinforces my sense of outrage at what I already know. The domestic homeland security stuff was both funny and depressing, but the sense of fear so successfully generated has prevented people from uniting against the regime’s insidious practices. It all seems a lot more grim now that the regime has been re-elected, but life goes on. For some of us at least.

I weigh, according to a very untrustworthy but internally consistent set of scales, about 77.5 kilos, butt naked. Just had toast with butter at Sarah’s, tsk tsk.

Weather’s hotting up, making the garden a less pleasant place. Began the major job at Sarah’s place of digging paving stones sideways into the earth to create an edging for the lawn path.

An important meeting between myself, Esther, Shane from CYFS, and Matt, the new lad I’ll be looking after. Hopefully this’ll be a lengthy engagement. Matt’s sixteen, just, and had been described to me by Esther as withdrawn to a fault. He also has learning difficulties and attends a special school in Windsor Gardens. He’s also been described as having limited domestic skills. He’s a slightly-built lad, answers questions very briefly but enthusiastically, and wasn’t too withdrawn at interview. He had a good time fondling the kitten, and he’s moving in next Tuesday. My worry is that we’re clearly poles apart, and I’m not sure what I’ll be able to provide for him apart from the basic safe haven. He may be bored witless by what will seem to him thoroughly unadventurous company. But he’s into computers, games and doing stuff on his own. Not reading.

Philosophy Now magazine has made me neglect New Scientist a little. This issue deals largely with that current bugbear of mine, gods, religion and the truth. So I’ll revisit some of my previous comments in the light of this new reading. For example, Keith Ward’s claims about God’s attributes in NS (Nov 27, p19) would be described as traditional and anthropomorphic by Steve Stewart-Williams (see Philosophy Now 47, p21). Theists generally attribute to God our best qualities, to the power of infinity. Supreme goodness, omniscience and omnipotence are extrapolations from our own experience, but we have no real option, for a non-anthropomorphic god would simply be too remote, and possibly unimaginable.