First Post
Greetings!
Welcome to my new weblog. After following the phenomenon of blogging for the past 3 years or so I have finally (though cautiously!) decided to jump in with both feet and start this blog. The title is inspired by the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s 1784 essay “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” For Kant enlightenment is our emergence from our self-imposed immaturity. He claims:
Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. "Have courage to use your own Reason!"--that is the motto of enlightenment.
This quote nicely summarises the spirit of this blog (and my life), hence why I have called it “In Search of Enlightenment”. Of course by having such a grand title I run the danger of building up false hopes that I will deliver more than I actually intend to (or could) deliver. So let me be upfront from the start about my hopes and aspirations for this blog. I hope to run an intelligent and reflective blog that addresses a variety topical issues (especially in politics and philosophy). And I hope to do so in a way that does not undermine the other various commitments I have (e.g. work, family, etc.). A few weekly blogs should permit me to run an interesting blog and still meet the other commitments I have (he says naively :)…). Furthermore, I hope this blog will actually help me in my research. I intend to blog on topics related to my academic work, as well as issues that should be of interest to the more general public. So please keep an eye on this site. Once I figure a few more things out (I really a novice when it comes to this technology) I hope to get things rolling....
Cheers,
Colin
Welcome to my new weblog. After following the phenomenon of blogging for the past 3 years or so I have finally (though cautiously!) decided to jump in with both feet and start this blog. The title is inspired by the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s 1784 essay “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” For Kant enlightenment is our emergence from our self-imposed immaturity. He claims:
Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. "Have courage to use your own Reason!"--that is the motto of enlightenment.
This quote nicely summarises the spirit of this blog (and my life), hence why I have called it “In Search of Enlightenment”. Of course by having such a grand title I run the danger of building up false hopes that I will deliver more than I actually intend to (or could) deliver. So let me be upfront from the start about my hopes and aspirations for this blog. I hope to run an intelligent and reflective blog that addresses a variety topical issues (especially in politics and philosophy). And I hope to do so in a way that does not undermine the other various commitments I have (e.g. work, family, etc.). A few weekly blogs should permit me to run an interesting blog and still meet the other commitments I have (he says naively :)…). Furthermore, I hope this blog will actually help me in my research. I intend to blog on topics related to my academic work, as well as issues that should be of interest to the more general public. So please keep an eye on this site. Once I figure a few more things out (I really a novice when it comes to this technology) I hope to get things rolling....
Cheers,
Colin
posted by Colin Farrelly at 10:18 PM
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