Dirty Heads (Huntington Beach)

 

Much of experience seems to be treading water. The LSD. The Psilocybin. DMT. Factories for mind management rotating motors, cogs combusting and moving wheels. Lennon once said,

“If the Beatles or the Sixties had a message, it was to learn to swim. Period. And once you learn to swim, swim. The people who are hung up on the Beatles’ and the Sixties’ dream missed the whole point when the Beatles’ and the Sixties’ dream became the point. Carrying the Beatles’ or the Sixties’ dream around all your life is like carrying the Second World War and Glenn Miller around. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy Glenn Miller or the Beatles, but to live in that dream is the twilight zone. It’s not living now. It’s an illusion.”

Yet we backpedal over The Beatles as individuals because only a few ever learn to swim. We idolize and enshrine those people when it is the music itself that is the product of swimming. You don’t swim for yourself or to reach a destination; there is none. You swim for the music, for the people, to show others how. We all drown in the end so swim now.

---

Frank Ocean

 

Some of the Los Angeles based musical influences I was surrounded with in her hazy twilight were Frank Ocean, Dirty Heads, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre. Producing hip hop for Eli has led me to examine a lot of popular Hip Hop and contrast it with a deeper understanding of older rap and Rn’B. I’m not sure which, if any, of these artists I’ll hear in our music when it is finished in the coming weeks but what I did notice is how much of an effect working with another producer had on my knowledge of production, audio quality and use of Logic Pro X. Perhaps if I were to specifically target an artists sound with the technical knowledge I have I can create similar sounding instrumentals. This means that if a grid were applied to learning how to compose music electronically the initial foundation that genre specific grooves are laid on is an abstract technical knowledge of “How to__.” You can always watch youtube videos and learn specific tricks that others use to produce sounds but I am engaged in discovering how exactly my experience sounds when given the same tools as professionals but with no avenue specific education. What elements of music do I hear and extract? Then, how do I implement those ideas into new compositions without knowing ‘how’ it was done initially? It is through my experience of other musicians I meet in the flesh that I learn how my individual consciousness distributes expectation and anticipation in my music. When someone I respect advises me on music I will always try it at least once. There are pieces of advice that have worked for me for years and others I used for years that turned out to be holding me back. By reading texts on the effect of music on the industry of music business and the effect of music on the brain I comprehend the methods of musicians around me with greater detail, perhaps discovering patterns that they didn’t intend to be exercising. As a producer, the capability to coach an artist to attain the desired effect of their musicianship is part of my job. Listening to the needs of others and, with an open mind, absorbing the process of those around me will bring me to a broader understanding of the grid of music. There is a time for examining the intricate details of ‘how – t0′ and a time for looking at music from beyond the atmosphere through the eyes of other dreamers.

Tyler the Creator

 

The sun influenced me. Hours I would spend laying in the grass turned to days and I believe, other than the people I met, I will always remember floating two feet high over Kory’s lawn as dusk settled into a warm night. Surrounded on all sides; walls of successful and expectant people crowd around. What do you have to offer? Dreams became part of my sleep again.

“Nothing.”

Drifting off in a White Suburban I remember my 4-cylinder. I think about the young kids living in Compton beating their fists against Hollywood Blvd. I think about Childish Gambino and how he is from Georgia and how that makes sense. The thread of thought moves into Drake’s Canadian heritage, his name is Aubrey, this all makes sense. Kendrick comes on.

 

Dre comes on. “People come from all over the world for the women weed and weather.”

I fell asleep with a blunt in my hand.

I dreamt of women I’d never met.

The sun lives in my skin.

“It ain’t my fault that it’s 82 degrees and my tops peeled off.”

I never left. Im always here.

[Geo_mashup_map]

Gordie Greenbaum

5/21/15

musical cities

The Winds Of Hawaii

As I walked through the bustling “hub ub”, noise and commotion of this strange environment, it felt so new and far from home. The chatter and pure human energy with which people seemed to have ran through their everyday tasks. The busy block was filled with things that overwhelmed my senses, a great deal of meat displays which carried a salivating aroma through the wind. That along with the warm pungent blistering tropical wind, made me realize how foreign this chinatown environment had been to me, so far away and vastly different from home. The harsh humidity brought heavy sweats and heat, that whipped through the streets and created swells down the deep pacific currents. I breathed in the sweet salty air and faced into the hot island wind. Immersed myself in it, acknowledging this rare opportunity to experience paradise with all my senses. Summer-like weather stays constant, with a consistent island breeze.  Many of Oahu buildings were built with serious consideration of the wind. Not just a mild gust here and there, but a strong steady breeze that  slowly increased.

Kimani and I spent several days walking around a vast amount of Honolulu, Waikiki and other nearby surrounding towns.  We noticed a pattern of short and stalky buildings in parts of the town, that had been affected by strong winds over a long period of time. Over centuries, the island landscape has been honed by humans to best withstand the intense elements that the north shore of Oahu, in particular, has to offer. We experienced one of the most visually stunning island breezes. We saw the rain and vaporous clouds move over the luscious mountain top, that were getting slowly pushed by the wind. As we looked out on the raging sea from our lookout on the  serene white sand beach I noticed how different the wind here affected the waves, it seemed to just toss the water in all directions. We also ran into a stunning piece of modern art downtown in Honolulu that completely captured just how powerful the wind was, able to propel two gigantic pieces of steel, in a way framing, the natural phenomenon of these strong air currents. north eastern trade winds blow through bi annually causing all sorts of varying intense types of weather, one of which being rains that make for the extremely lush and fertile valleys, pineapple plantations, average rainfall in hawaii is between 25 and 30 inches a year.

Wind is also what makes for some of the different types of sports that hawaii is known for, including paragliding, wind surfing, surfing. none of this would be possible without wind, the winds bring in swells that make for the extreme weather conditions and waves that the islands are known for, this appears in such movies as riding giants, where some of the top surfers in the world battle deadly 50 foot waves. it seems hawaii is defined by this type of extreme , and almost fantastical islands. Still part of our country but so far off deep out there in the middle of the abyss that is the vast body of water we call the pacific ocean.

Reflecting on this epic journey now from my comfortable northwest home it seems so far away, so lost in time, or as if my lovely days spent wandering the sun soaked beaches palm trees rustling in the island breeze. Inside the trees of the jungle is where the wind would die down a bit, but as I looked at the tops of the trees I noticed the limbs still moving with a good amount of force.  The floor of the forest was able to experience a moment of calmness with the help of the jungle canopy helping to block out the initial wind gusts.

It was a lot of fun and interesting being  able to experience how the natural winds on the island were able to help influence the outcome of the place and help for the locations of certain buildings, tents, and other structures.  Im very curious now to see what other places in the world are influenced by wind as much as Honolulu, Oahu is.

As I sit on the plane flying back home, reading Ernest Hemingway’s A Movable Feast, I have a feeling of disappointment.  A feeling that I didn’t make the most of my time while abroad. Like I spent too much time alone and not meeting new people and creating new and wonderful relationships.

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people, and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few who were as good as the spring itself (A Movable Feast, pg. 41)

Now I disagree strongly with Hemingway’s views of people and happiness. I think that it is our own egos that gets in the way of our own happiness. That is to say we just allow people to get us down when we don’t need to. But where he is right is there are people out there that truly are as good as the spring itself. And I think it’s not just a very few. I like to believe it is most. All this is to say that I think true happiness comes with people and relationships. I forget that often, and I feel that I forgot that too often on this trip to Paris. Of course I was extremely happy and made some amazing memories Biking through the Alsace wine region, and hiking to the top of Ben Nevis in Scotland. But what is sort of amusing that is I found more joy making small talk with the baker down the street from my apartment most mornings than I did summiting the tallest peak in the united kingdom.

I have had the time of my life on this trip and I will never forget the memories I have made and music I have heard. I just want to share that the memories that that made me happier than anything else were the ones that involved positive human interaction.

I am home now and it feels so good! But I am already starting to miss the places I’ve been on my trip. Getting up in this morning I wasn’t able to walk two blocks down the street to the nearest cafe or bakery, or another two blocks to the next nearest bakery and cafe. I wont be able to walk around Olympia at night on any given day of the week and fine wonderful live jazz being played at some random bar or cafe. Also I woke up at 5:00 this morning which is a pain. Stupid jet lag. But It is nice to have the apartment to myself this morning to be able to just sit, sip some (actually good) coffee and write my last blog post for this quarter.

Once again it has been an amazing trip and I look froward to sharing in detail all of my adventures with the class, friends and my family. And what will be even cooler over the next week will be to condense down all that I have learned over the past 6 weeks and turn it into something I can present to all of you.

Thank you all so much for reading this and and keeping in touch. And for leaving such thoughtful and thought provoking comments that helped make my trip so much better than it already was. I hope to see all of you very soon.

With lots of love,

Aaron

The Sunset from my apartment on my last might in Paris.

It has been a full circle. Berlin to Bonn, London, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona and now back to Berlin. Plans changed. Ideas changed. Questions changed. Attitudes shifted, weight was lifted, discoveries were found. This crazy idea to go to Europe was realized and now is imbedded in my bones. A shift that is unexplainable and detailed. There is a feeling in each country, even in each city. I can make generalizations, but it feels unfulfilled. I can put it all in boxes and separate the boarders further than they already are, but it seems like all is running parallel. There is a place for each group of people and learned, or unlearned societal norms. I can talk about the history, about the government, war, repression, victories, religion, and bars, but it is all arbitrary when you walk into a hostile at 2am after an emergency train ride to Berlin before ANOTHER train strike, and you get greeted with people that feel familiar immediately. The connection is humanity, seeing a person as a person, an animal as a beautiful soul, and have care for fish. There is an awareness that I have gained of protection. I am less, although still naive that I need to have discretion when it comes to letting people into my sphere of interactions.  There are enough people in the world that I can be met deeply by few, and leave many to the outskirts of awareness. I have been pulled into some peoples spheres on this journey that I did not enjoy. I can’t walk around Germany or France without protection, aka a slightly grumpy face or efficient walk. Nothing negative happened but I was unaware of men clinging for attention to such degrees before entering Berlin and Paris. This was very annoying and I had to be rude to get them to leave me alone. I’d rather just walk fast and not give the chance that that is going to happen. I have met many like minded people at shows that I have attended and this is comforting and inspiring. When I ask what is the difference between America and Europe, the first thing that comes to mind is the transportation system. There is freedom on the rail. I do not feel trapped in a small town when I am in a city like Berlin. I do not feel limited to my own ideas here, people readily have been open to share ideas. I met a friend on the train and instead of continuing separate ways we are meeting up tonight.

I am sitting in my hostile in Berlin. The wifi only works in the main area. The main area is a bar with separate rooms with black leather couches. The table I am sitting at is dark chipped wood, with classic  wooden chairs chairs. It is 12:08 am and this is the first time I am sitting down. The receptionist is telling me to go outside to see the fire spinning show.  How am I supposed to write about what I am doing when I never have time to sit down?

In the hostile I am staying in (Berlin) I have met two people who have spoken to me about Darwinism. One attitude was that there was no afterlife, that everything was black. They understood that energy never dies. This to me is like a candle that is lit and blown out. The body is a vessel for the flame of life that holds the fire that will go out, but the potential for fire never dies. Fire can burn any vessel. He was also a very extreme socialist. He believed in the collective, more than the individual. Like a flame, he saw that we are all the same spirit.

The fundamental principle to how a society functions is a moral compass that subconsciously or consciously directs individual actions.

When I read the myths of German folklore all of the characters actions are based on a belief system that is ruling them. What is the difference between a God and a heathen, their perception? What we worship external is a reflection of what is inside.

When I walk through a city I see only what catches my eye. What catches an others eye may be completely different. What I see is built upon my perception. And yes, I have an agenda, without an anticipated outcome.

Some of the oldest houses in Germany were built in the 14th century. The LVR-Freilicht Museum is a great example of the beginning to building a city. Tied by the scriptures carved into the door frames, the tiny cathedral and the wine press, a village turned into a city. Over time technology advanced with investors of interest. What was all cobblestone and dirt before is slowly being paved with smooth streets now. Before sky scrapers the villages were quiet, without cars, beeping transit lines, and the electronic drone.

The ways of the village were simple.

Presses for wine

tools for woodworking,

wooden barrels for butter

dried herbs for tea

crosses for protection

churches for divination

closet beds

drawers for clothes

The road is made of mud and cobblestone

The village is a tightnit space where bread is baked fresh

The beds are tiny and when a person dies the stayed in the house for days

for the family to say their final goodbyes

The steeple is a tiny house

where prayers are lit with candle light

The doors are etched with words

around the outside

The past is praised in museums

We are standing on the shoulders of graves

Moving on with the future

is like trucking the past on the cracked cobblestone

The cobblestones are heavy

and old houses are bought to be moved into a museum.

 

Travel has been the remedy to see all of the invitations

To cast security away and find reverence in every story untold

of the history that lives in the walls heavy with story like a cobblestone

The story of how things are the way they are now

The old is mixed with the new

History is preserved and destroyed

A constant debate

Do we hold the time we have now

With the reverence we have for the past

How can we see what will be missed later?

When we destroy history

As developments grew, society was imbedded with the interpretation of the bible set by the catholic, and now christian moral compass. My thesis is that what people believe, is how they behave.

My time in London allowed me to see the extant of the wealth of the royal families. The wealth of the people also seems high. The people in the subway were more rushed than anywhere I have seen in Europe. It genuinely felt like a race, a place to get out of the way. The people were dressed nice in white and tan colors a lot. They all must work hard if they hardly have time to walk slow. The people pay taxes to both the parliament and monarch.

Under God lives royalty

Drinking from golden bowls

drenched in gorgeous luxury

Diamond crowns

Golden spoons

While peasants pray to have their sins forgiven

While the king changes religion

in search of an heir to the throne

in a wives body

The facade of the church falls away

King Henry’s heir is the daughter

of the wife he beheaded

All books burnt

speak to us now

to be written again

I don’t have any answers about what is right, or what is wrong. Christian, catholic, paegan, monotheism, polytheism, monarchy, patriarchy, socialism or darwinism.

It is clear though, that each country has its own style. Berlin is a place that is not concerned with cacky pants. It is in fact cheap and sexy. When I return to Berlin I feel like the world opens up. One plot of land, several districts and I can’t believe I’m coming back to the states in 2 days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The morning of departure in the province]:

 

After an approximate twenty hour trip, I arrived back home last night. I noticed my trip in the Philippines has afforded me new senses to experience my familiar environment. Here I am typing starting this post in a café, back in downtown Olympia, when just yesterday I was pouring a cup of coffee so that I could conjure up my goodbyes at dawn next to my grandparent’s banana leaf garden in the middle of a Philippine province. I greeted my home with a shock, like I had when I arrived in Manila, though a different kind of shock. This was shock of underwhelmingness. The sterility of the “ideal” part of the States is much more evident to me now. Although it is true that America’s does have its myriad of blemishes, we can look at the laws and what is actually enforced to see that a precise and industrial efficiency pervades how it and its general population operates.

The imageability of roads, of both neighborhoods and expressways, in the Philippines has great diversity and excitement I now realize – insofar as “excitement” denotes an awareness of hazard or other stimulation. After my return, it was strange being in a car and surrounded by others that adhered to their lanes, rather than a semi-considerate free-for-all. And on Philippine roads, there is no shortage of sensuous temptations: carabao grazing in proximity to the remains of a harvested rice fields burning near and far, condos in proximity to squatters, congested business signs, horizontal pillars of pedestrians, and colorful traffic that shares with clouds undefined motion, to name a few. The environment’s visual texture consists of an overwhelming amount of figures, which obscures the ground from which those project against. In contrast, the drone soundscape of the road is barely surprising, although one will hear more distinct human voices from in their car than on a road in Olympia, Washington.

 

[An insect (cicada?) in the province performing its music with no metric restriction (in fact, many native Philippine instruments were made to imitate the buzzing sounds of insects such as these); you can hear karaoke and the occasional car in the background]:

 

As discussed in previous posts, imprecision and indefiniteness are some key characteristics in Macéda’s ideology as a result of his fieldwork in remote Philippine cultures. Upon reflection, I have found that these two characteristics pervade even the modern Philippine environment, more in the daily operations than in the predominant music. The “loose” operation of traffic I described above serves as an analogy for the general lifestyle and, ultimately, the musicality of imprecision and indefiniteness. While many returning retirees and other local residents reside in lavish gated houses ornamented with columns and/or high-rise condos, the majority of the population live on a day-to-day basis. The life of the latter is indefinite, unpredictable. (Certain privileges afforded me this perspective with little to no cost to me).

Macéda found that musicalities in native lifestyles were more than mere analogies, they were directly connected to their relationship with nature. In my (limited) observations of the contemporary life in the modernized regions, there is a different interface between the similar traits of imprecision and indefiniteness, and the predominant Western pop music being sung in the shower and broadcasted on the radio. In other words, these traits appear in a different context and to a less severe degree than the native culture. The aspect of Western-influenced pop culture – and therefore its music – is not only the remnants of Western musical and life values initiated during colonial times, but it also “updates” the aesthetic of the modernized or modernizing regions.

 

Clustered across Manila, massive economic enterprises advertise monolithic-mindsets by their sheer size, and with surrounding cranes foreshadowing even more growth and resource-use. It is not difficult to perceive that for a person whose family’s lively-hood in the city depends on selling flip-flops and single cigarettes in between car lanes, a modern aesthetic, whose grandest advertisement are the towers I described, may be the only viable avenue and also consolation. The “gain”-based sect of the modern aesthetic exploits nature rather than “accommodates with nature”, or at least does not place explicit importance on harmony with it as in the “primitive” cultures of SE Asia. The Western influence on Philippine pop music means that it adheres to “Western idioms” (see top of “April 28th” post), in which strict, precise and closed systems of time and harmony dominate the aesthetic (see also “May 5th” post). A precise and “closed system” mindset can also be seen in imitations of American infrastructure, and far more so, of course, in America itself: the gated community, the blocky expressway and overpasses, the financial district versus the residential developments, mass-producing factories for disposable products.

My goal here is not an ethnomusicological report on modern Manila, but rather extending upon what I have gathered of Macéda’s works, in order to elaborate my interpretation of his ideas. Like I mentioned in the third paragraph, a degree of imprecision and indefiniteness that Macéda said of native cultures can be seen today, just not in the popular music culture; then I noted this caveat as being a key difference between modern Manila and pre-colonial Philippines in the interface between lifestyle and music aesthetics. For instance, though consumer-level automobiles is owed to modernity, a looseness of lifestyle is demonstrated when pedestrians and drivers stop and go in any place on the street or sidewalk (if there are any) at will; and no local is surprised to see five people situated on the roof of a work vehicle. Most to all public transportation has no fixed schedule, forcing one to approximate time – indefinitenes. Free improvisation with what is available – in any aspect of daily life – and indefinite measurements is still present in the life of modern Philippines, and is something I will dearly miss from here in the U.S.

 

Here is a taste, a video of some friends and I interacting with the environment (the friend, a local, who put together the video happened to choose “Western” popular music):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Im Back!

 

That was a wild trip. So much happened and it was an incredibly inspiring thing to do. I have lots of ideas now that i’m back and i’m excited to keep moving forward with them through this project and many to come after. Just the act of displacing oneself can be such a mind altering experience and has brought me so many ideas. This project that I have been working on has also been doing a number on my brain and has shown me a whole new way of looking at things. Like the sketching exercises, following a shot list as I walked through the city helped me look much more closely at everything around me. Finding and framing content was a big part of this new kind of sightseeing experience and in doing so I feel that I really strengthened my ability to understand and capture my personal way of seeing the world. By pointing my camera at the parts of the world that capture my attention I can share (to some extent) my perspective. By structuring that information into a semi chance based story structure with intentional and consistent variable adjustments I am able to animate those bits of the world that caught my attention into a sort of story of feelings and implications where the viewer is taken from realm to realm, descending down a mountain from an unstable summit to a tranquil base. It is a simple concept and a simple video that doesn’t ask for much other than a set of open eyes and ears from the audience.

 

I’m going to finish out the shot list in olympia. This includes going back and filling any missed shots from along the way as well as filling in a large section of lost shots (there were about 120 shots that got lost while transferring files). Im not too worried about it at this point and I think that this will turn out to be an interesting project. I think it will work to have shots of olympia appearing seldomly dispersed among shots of barcelona early in the video, followed by a section of shots from olympia, returning to shots of barcelona, then again to shots of olympia for the end. The shots that were lost were of the alleyways. The doors, the shops, the graffiti, people, tourists. Its kind of a shame to lose all of that but that’s the way it goes when you’re working with bad computers. I’m editing what I have so far now so that I can see how it looks and figure out what I need to go back to shoot. There were about 150 shots that went into the first three minutes. The pace of the film slows in the later section though and 150 shots will be more like ten minutes.

 

I have started working with a singer to get one of the parts done and there are a few others that I am in communication with (fingers crossed). Some people are also interested in making a version of the song that could be performed live (something I am very interested in) but for now I’m mostly interested in getting a recording. I’m beginning work on rewriting the music so that it will be easier to read and a few mistakes will be corrected. This is the first time that I have tried writing music and though the organization came pretty quickly to me, I’m tripping up on some of the finer details. Luckily I have some good people around me showing me the right way to do things and helping me get this done. If you look at my last post you will see that the way that I wrote the music, though legible, is weird and doesn’t conform with alot of the basic rules, When some people look at it they immediately say “oh you did ____ wrong”. Basically I’m trying to polish it up.

As for now I’m focusing my attention on pulling something together for final presentations. I have video clips to show and will have audio recordings as well. Aside from the project that I have been posting about I have done some other things this quarter too. I made a birthday gift for my little sister in the form of a song a video that I am thinking about presenting. I also had so many great experiences and learned about so much while I was in Barcelona so I’m sure that I will be able to fill a lot of my time talking about that too. I’m really excited to see everyone’s projects and hear about everyones experiences!

In my last post, I tackled my thoughts on why I want to consciously realize my philosophy, and why I think it’s important that everyone pursues their individual philosophy. This week I’d like to get into some of what I’ve learned from other philosophers, as well as share some of my own thoughts on the ideas they bring up. I had hoped to do this in a separate post, but, as I’ll explain later, I’ve been very busy this week. Regardless, I hope that the ideas I’ll be writing about can stimulate you to think about your own philosophies.

After I decided to tackle my philosophy in a broader respect rather than simply exploring how I thought of music (though, to be fair that itself is not exactly a simple topic), I realized how important it was to build a philosophy from the bottom up. If you are going to build a stable building, it’s a good idea to ensure you are building on solid ground. Likewise, a stable philosophy necessitates a solid starting point. Thus, we begin by looking at metaphysics.

Philosophy may be seen as a series of questions (a la Alain de Botton) as well as the rational development of answers to these questions. Metaphysics begs the question: “What is?” Thus, it’s not hard to see how metaphysics makes up the foundation of a philosophy. Let’s then take a glance at the metaphysics proposed by two of the most influential philosophers of all time, Plato and Aristotle.

Plato’s theory of forms posits that there are two planes of existence, the material realm (with which we interact) and the higher realm of forms. Plato put forth the idea that the material realm is imperfect and constantly changing. If you look at a book, you may notice its shape (probably a sort of cuboid), or perhaps the color of its  binding (let’s say it’s red). When you take these aspects of the book and think of them separately, you are thinking of the form of a cuboid or the form of the color red. Plato argued that these forms presuppose the book or even your ideas of them. He thought that there was another realm, which we could perceive with our minds, in which the forms existed in permanent, perfect states. Our material world was thus created by this world of forms, and all objects in it were simply imperfect representations of these forms.

Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, agreed with Plato in thinking that an object consisted of forms, but he differed in thinking that the forms were inherent aspects of the object, rather than existing separate from it in another realm. To put his argument in simple terms, a thing is what it is. Aristotle explained this idea by breaking objects down to their causes. Let’s think about that red cuboid book again. Aristotle would say that it’s material cause is the paper, the ink, etc. that constitute it. It’s formal cause is its blueprint or design, the structure of it. It’s efficient cause is that which predicated it, its author, those who turned the wood into paper, etc. In effect, the reason it is. Finally it’s final cause is it’s purpose, that which it aims to become (something to be read by someone).

Now, some will say that these philosophies are mostly grounded in epistemology (which we’ll get to a little later). I agree, but each of these arguments has, at its core, an easily discernible metaphysics.

Plato (left) walking alongside Aristotle (right).

 

In Raphael’s famous painting, The School of Athens, Plato and Aristotle are placed in the center- each is carrying a book of their own philosophical writings, and facing the other as if in conversation. They are also each gesturing with their free right hands. Plato points up, and Aristotle holds his hand out in front of him, horizontal to the ground. Plato believed in a higher realm, whereas Aristotle argued the importance of this realm. Plato was an idealist. Aristotle was a realist. Thus we arrive at the ideas which lay at the core of their philosophies. Plato held that ideas are absolute. Aristotle held that reality is absolute.

So… what is? René Descartes’ famous phrase, “I think, therefore I am,” seems to answer this question. To argue against the statement is to contradict yourself, and thus in my studies I have not come across any philosophers who have not accepted the truth of this statement. Thus many have used this as their axiom.

I plan on adding more to this blog post, but midnight is fast approaching. I’m also very tired, so I’ll complete my train of thought on this subject, as well as include updates about my latest goings on, tomorrow.

 

Work Cited:

 

Raphael. The School of Athens. Digital image. Museos Vaticanos. N.p., n.d. Web. May May 2015.