The anatomy of philosophy
God made ancient Agrippa,
a skeptical Greek philosopher
sense (feelings) cannot overcome
reason (logic) balancing sums.
The negation of reason
(logic) overcomes sense's cohesion
debate from the negative
is helpless against adjectives.
However, another medieval philosopher
by name Ibn Tammiyyah,
said "Beware Greek Logicians"
so arrogant without contrition.
Ancients failed to relate
all things they contemplated
fighting philosophy with derision
avoiding oneness and analogism.
I say poet Poe
links to Hemmingway though
also Lovecraft and Picasso
contributed to modernism's flow.
The late Harvard lecturer
Ben Shawn, artistic sketcher
composed anarchists on stretchers
Shape of Content letters.
He won Nobel prize
for teaching our eyes
exposing what we despise
our conceit and lies.
I humbly say yes
philosophers speculate and guess
open mindedness our test
with generosity and kindness.
I conceive mankind sees
perceives to decieve we
endow ideas with being
pompous over classical meanings.
Let us then agree
or at least see
not rightness of position
but unity by addition.
Praise has its place
if logic isn't displaced
both science and medicine
exist from explorative intuition.
Even use of apology
may open up possibilities
yet we fail miserably
to teach logic effectively.
The servants of civilization
are burdened by education
failing one's aristocratic station
as students ignore revelation.
We serve the unknowing
who take without owing
our duty, indeed, obligation
teach love of civilization.
by Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari
Author notes
My muse knows who.
In a list
A contest entry
- Let the best poet win! by Norman Crabtree.
675 points, ended January 23, 2007, 112 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 40 of 40
-
This is a clever ...
and intricate write. I enjoyed the read. Good job on this one. Keep writing and good luck in future writes as well.
-
Thank you my brother for your actions in establishment peace and justice. May your steps be stronger on this path and May Allah shower His bounties over you.
Thanks for sharing again and I wish you luck in this contest you have entered :-)
~Massy~
-
Thank you for entering my contest!
this was a deeply thought out poem, it had some images and was obviously well researched. thank you for expanding my vocabulary with 'negation'.
the stanza that i really liked
Praise has its place
if logic isn't displaced
both science and medicine
exist from explorative intuition.
the poems rhyme scheme reminded me of bob dylan. -
beautiful
-
wow, deep and informative, i appreciated your perspective, great job!
agape- cynt -
AWESOME
A GREAT POEM FOR THE CONTEST. AWESOME IMAGERY IN THIS PIECE.
KEEP ON PENNING
POETDONTKNOWIT -
Let us then agree
or at least see
not rightness of position
but unity by addition.
there were other stanzas more captivating than this one, but this was the knot that tied it all together. the problem with innovation is just that.... everyone wants to be right. no one can renounce their hubristicism. leaving society caught in a limbo of either taking a side, making a new side or denying all sides. no one is ever so right as ever so wrong. everyone's brain is stronger when it comes together and unites for a larger single power of thought. it's like a marriage. it is not two sided, it is the coalescence of two minsd, 4 hands, 4 feet.... making a single stronger unit to overcome more difficult challenges. our unity with our fellow mankind is an eternal vow... we've just continued to adulterate it cuz we don't know any better. -
AH WONDERFUL!!!
It's like you're saying that the people these days do not appreciate the wisdom of the past and it just amazes me how you were able to rhyme throughout the huge poem... Oh my you deserve a prize!
Or maybe now that I think about it it's kind of like... people are always fighting against other people's philosophies and are saying that their philosophy is right and not others'. Oh dear I'm confusing myself.
Edited on Dec 03, 10:36 p.m. because ''. -
for some reason,I am way behind in my reading..lol.. I missed some of your philosophy,muse, goodness now I have to read at least 3 poems ..lol good job my big brother, need to further my travels chat soon..love ya too.. Linda
-
crystaldust 31-10-05 20:57
This is even more fascinating than the physics of thought and much more clever in its exposition. I have found very few philosophers who have managed to look up from the self-absorbed task of contemplating their navels except for those whose whole lives were dedicated to merging thought with spirit. And Descartes definitely got it wrong by being too precise and, as my Jewish husband would have said, being too clever by three-quarters. I see that the contest is being judged and I would hope that you have run off with a gold trophy for the sheer brilliance of your expsition. Well done. -
My analytical side enjoyed this quite a bit. You did a phenomenal job conveying what your title suggest: the "anatomy" of.
It also brings to mind the snide comments the likes of Pascal faced when Descartes wrote rather cruelly in a letter to Huygens after his visit that Pascal
"...has too much vacuum in his head."
Well-done
~Swt
-
'We serve the unknowing who take without owing our duty, indeed, obligation teach love of civilization...' We must tend each other with mercy unrestrained...Those who have must care for those who have not...I've always disagreed with the principles of 'give & take'; I always thought it should be 'share' instead...a very intuitive & insightful piece, my Friend...well done, Amazigh... Wanda
-
I like knowing how stuff works. That is why I like philosophy because it is us analyzing us and usually getting it more right than wrong and the mind has to wonder how did we ever assume that.
-
OK, Amazigh, I love philosophosossophy... so here goes... nice history here, Amazigh... and multicultural, good touch! and then into the modern world right up to Ben Shaw!
"Praise has its place
if logic isn't displaced"
now I'm guessing that is an original insight by Amazigh! and yes, logic is not even taught anymore- I took it in college, and geometry gets one thinking about proving what one says... but very few can relate... and their grounding in reality suffers! Now who is AT Al Ishtari?!! Great piece, tugging one closer to the world of philosophy! -
Thanks for you support.
-
This poem is well done!
-
Most welcome. Appreciate your words.
-
Hi, you have got me going on this write, which Agrippa are we talking about, Henrich Cornelius Agrippa 1486-1535 writer of renaissanco esoterica? who was denounced by the Dominican inquisitor Conrad Kollin of Ulm, or the biblcal Agrippa also known os Herod? neither Greek by the way, can you throw some light on this for me, all the best, Di
-
I really think you have a fantasic rhyme scheme with this piece. It's certainyl admirable considering how hard it is to find rhymes with the names of individuals, as well as words that rhyme with "philospher." In any case, I defintiely intend to browse through the rest of your postings on this site, as this poems was extremely impressive. Please feel free to return the favor and skim through any number of works contained within my own catalogue.-Curtis Meyer
-
Human logic is illogical-
All of this is rhetoric that will be dissolved and forgotten. Mankind has been regressing for 6,000 years. However, the poem in itself I really admire. My philosophy? You wouldn't believe it anyhow. BUT- this a poetry room! And this one- is brilliant. -
The study of philosophy was one of my favorites subjects. A lot of the philosphers had the most endearing concepts about life and this poem is a good reflections of them and their ideas in relation to mankinds thinking. Interesting choice for a piece...you have just inspired me again.
-
Socrates taught serving is ruling and after an argument he justified killing his antagonist, He died ignobly himself.
Thanks for your review.
Edited on Oct 14, 7:02 p.m. because ''. -
awesome write
hey this was great .. i belive that ounce you think you know everything. that is when you start growing old.. and thats just me.. and i'm babling now.. incredible writee. thank you for sharing your words with me. -
Well, if one comes away with nothing more than the knowledge that "The servants of civilization are burdened by education" he will have grown fourfold. I once read something where a man described philosphers as "obviously brilliant men who exerted tremendous mental energies painting themselves into mental corners". Also liked the Greek reference. How true.
-
I like it.
The relevance of truth does not exist without the demise of time. -
Enticingly thought-provoking!
A lovely poem on philosophers at last. Nice subtle allusion to the Islamic philosophers' influence from the Greeks ! I would be delighted if you contributed at my new Philosophy blog: mubie-philosophy.blogspot.com. -
awesome
a wonderful poem very very good! -
A wonderful poem. Very well done, written beautifully. Rhyme and flow was wonderful in this. Thanks for sharing your great work here with all of us and please never stop writing. You are a true artist.
Carol -
I thought perhaps you may like this. Just because we are primitive, which means first like first nations, doesn't mean we are at all uncivilized. When the US settlers found the Cherokee and Creek and saw their turbans and robes they likened them to the Greeks in nobility and carriage until they saw their land, tobacco and the wealth of the land wherein within a generation these nobles of antiquity became damned as stinking and untrustworthy. Still, we have our moments. Eh. LOL.
-
I actually stopped and thought about that but just forgot to correct it. Very astute on your part. Bravo.
-
When you study agrippa you will get that sentence even more. I took existentialism three times in three universities because I loved it but the logic course was more mathematics than I bargained for however my teacher back then explained how modern logic, syllogism, was binary and ancient logic of the Hebrews, Arabs and early Christians was analog like a watch where all things were related to one think, think center of the watch. Hmmm, anyway I love history, philosophy and poetry and if I can join the three, heck, I'm up for it.
-
When I wrote this I was, well, caught up in the muse. I meant every word because I felt it had to be said. Now, afterwards I look at it and say who did that, hey. So goes the muse.
-
"The servants of civilization
are burdened by education
failing one's aristocratic station
as students ignore revelation."
Ah, yes, they would consider reinvention of the wheel almost a evil thing. They borrow fromt he old and known and forget, some things can only be learned by the physical and intellectual self, and disallow the emotional and spiritual learning that comes by way of allowing for revelations.
Well done, my brother.... -
You are an encyclopaedia, aren't you?
So much told. Why, I'm fond of Ancient Greek philosophers, especially of Aristotle.
'The servants of civilization' is the most interesting stanza indeed.
-
This type work is done first in essay and then one poeticizes that essay to rhythm and rhyme.
-
That you appreciate is all I need and rest.
-
ohhh...that was really good!! Even use of apology
may open up possibilities
yet we fail miserably
to teach logic effectively.
/..that was my fav..nice use of rythem! -
My inspiration was a poet who got angry and righteous because I said elements of his poetry related to other poets in another form. Because he didn't like that form, he failed to see the academic intellectual connection and I realised it was I not he who failed since civilization is the burden of the civilized and not vice versa.
-
Amazigh,you out did the other work with this one,lol I can't keep up with your tallent,great job,in designing this piece,can't wait to see the next one, your tallent in your poetry is amazing! ..Linda
Adding your comment:
1 - 40 of 40
