This photo shows the shadow of our cat Phoebe looking out the window at birds while one of our other cats, Buck, hunts the shadows of those same birds. I think this proves that Buck is a Platonist. But what is Phoebe? Help me out philosophy majors . . .
Ha, a great one før Lazy, dreamy Sundays!
Phoebe is out there with the birds, so she belongs to the Actual, Permanent, True Reality
Buck on the other hand is stuck in the Fake world, the world of deceitful senses, where everything is ever-changing and subject to constraints of time and space.
That about sums the two of them up, shadows or no shadows. Buck is always confused. Phoebe sees All.
Perhaps, a cat sleeping on the floor dreaming of ideal birds is the Platonist. Love ur blog.
You crack me up!
An Epicurean? According to Wikipedia, “Epicurus believed that what he called ‘pleasure’ is the greatest good, but the way to attain such pleasure is to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one’s desires.”. As she watches out the window, Phoebe is observing how the world works, while the window pane teaches her the limits of her desires. Maybe?
Buck is studying the allegory of the cave…Phoebe says Sundays aren’t for education – they are for real play (but in doing so she gave him an example).
I think Phoebe is an Aristotelian. She is taking an empirical approach, relying on her observations and experience in watching the birds. No shadow-riddled caves for her. She seeks the clear light of direct understanding. We may never know what conclusions she is drawing from her observations of the Universe, but I am sure they are profound…
Indeed!