Genesis

This is my first blog. I used to keep a journal, several times, but it never quite stuck and I could never quite keep up with it. I hope this changes. I'm starting this blog for a few reasons. Firstly, though I tend not to make (or keep) New Year's resolutions, I resolved this year to start a blog because it's been a while since I've written anything other than Facebook posts, emails, or research papers, and a blog will give me the chance to jot down whatever. Secondly, I think that this is probably as good a way for my friends to keep up with my life as social networking is, and this will actually give them some insight into my thoughts and actions than the superficiality that Facebook affords. Finally, my girlfriend Kirsten is about to graduate with a Matser's degree in Speech-Language pathology and enter the real world and I am (presumably) about to begin my graduate school career and retreat from the real world (presumably) so in any case, our lives are about to change drastically, and the stability of sitting down at my computer semi-regularly and pecking out some thoughts seems like it will be a good catharsis. So, here's the format:

The Title

The title, "Conversations with Philemon," refers to the most important figure Carl Jung is said to have conversed with in his "confrontations with the unconscious." The phenomenon entails actually participating in one's dream or fantasy life to the point that literal conversations within one's own psyche can occur. The structure of the unconscious, according to Jung, is such that archetypes common to all cultures (the elderly guide, the reluctant hero, etc.) manifest themselves in our unconscious and are used as templates for all sorts of literary and personal creations--from myths and folklore to Star Wars to the figures we meet in our dreams. "Myths are public dreams; dreams, private myths." One figure for Jung was Philemon, specifically the incarnation of Philemon from Goethe's Faust, based on the Baucis and Philemon story from Greek myth. Through Philemon, Jung began to regard his own thoughts not necessarily as products he had created but a reality within himself that was dynamic and could be explored in much the same way Livingston explored Africa or Armstrong explored the moon. This reality, while subjective, could be investigated as if it were objective by conversing with these mythic figures in our own unconscious. As fas as my blog is concerned, I'm attempting to treat it as a dialogue or conversation with my own psyche, filtering the exterior through the interior.

The Objective

The objective of my blog is the objective of any blog I suppose: to record my thoughts. But I feel some caveats are appropriate. Though I don't want to limit myself in any way, what I'm going for in this blog is an intellectual conversation, with myself and anyone else who want to participate, about everything that interests me. Primarily, I imagine I'll write a lot about history and historical issues, topics on medieval thought and antiquity, philosophical issues (especially metaphysics and epistemology), the philosophy of science and in particular science/religion issues, and Jungian psychology, particularly the psychology of mythology. I'd like to keep the blog at least somewhat topical, though the more and more I read and surf the web, the further my interests move from the here and now. Is anyone still reading? I guess in general, I want the blog to be "intellectual," whatever that vague and somewhat pretentious term means. So, no topic is off the table, but I'll likely never write much of anything that can't be discussed intelligently. Think Underground article (for those who knew me from high school)/newspaper editorial with an even more personal bent, plus research paper with personal annotations included.

The Anti-objective

I suppose what I'm trying to avoid is two things: simple descriptions about what happened to me today and random thoughts without context. I'm not against those types of blogs at all, it's just not what I'm terribly interested in wrting about (or thinking about for that matter). If you couldn't tell from my profile and the previous thousand words or so, I'm a Jungian, and I feel the need to contextualize all of my thoughts with the greater collective unconscious that is our human culture. I used to despair at the idea that "nothing's new under the sun" but now I take comfort in the fact that we are all connected in some way by the structure of our minds. I'm sure that there will be plenty of times where simply relating the events of the day will be informative and the sort of self-reflection I'll need to make sense of everything. For now though, be prepared for tirades on medieval nominalism, the necessity of falsificationism, Chomsky's views on anarcho-syndicalism, and interpretations of synchronistic events in my own life. Seriously, is anyone still reading?