Sthg you wrote made me think. "I spend a large part of my time in what
passes for the rural in
Britain and have
spent a lot of time in cities. I see no difference at the ethical" Is that true? Farmers have the same ethics that bank officers have? I know, this is a horrible generalisation, but still - it sounds bizarre. How come experience does not affect their ethics. Experience is affected by where you live, isn't it? I just found your statement really striking. I will have to think about this for a while. It doesn't feel right or wrong, just strange...
And so we move to the question of "what is ethos for?" or "what good does it do you?" or simply what does it serve? Happiness of course. A clearly defined ethos makes life simpler, doesn't it?
Happiness is the purpose of life & the quest for it is the meaning. Joseph Cambel says sthg like this as well, replacing happiness w/ bliss. (I like the idea of Cambel in the room w/ Aristotle : )
So anyway, ethos is a tool or a skill to have so that you can lead a happy life, the Greeks said. No northern European (French & German mostly) investigations ala "what
is is?". Instead, the Greeks dealt w/ very simple, down to earth, useful, practical philosophical issues. How can I be happy?
First, belong. Cause this defines you as human. (so, come on, participate in the digital era, don't demonise computers) Then, choose how to do so: be clear as what your ethics are so as to not suffer from confusion, errors, mistakes; so as to not be cornered having said one thing & done another, so as to be trusted by others & have faith in your self, thus be self-assured, thus confident. (wanna blog? ok, do it). Then choose your politics. Your strategy in other words. So as to fight your battles in a system that can actually get better, so that you can improve in the long term, be more sucessful. (how will you blog?)
I am actually smiling as i write this cause my logical sequences are somewhere in between silly & obvious. Yet, I want to shake off any assumptions - have them drop from the tree & then see which one i want to keep & which to throw.
So, continuing the prev. par, yes Blogging can be godlike too - i love that you brought up such a word!
There's so many of us, yes. But any more than 5 or 6 people is "so many anyway - at least as far as knowing what each thinks goes. Exactly because there's so many of us, some stand on a Vima and try to be heard. To explain. To express. To speak. To share. To be exposed, to open up. Just like in the agora - too many people there too, for 5thcBC standards.
I say: sharing is the ethos of the digital world citizen. And you say:
"I share in all sorts of ways. I
go online when I need to… I really don't follow you. Being online is habitual
for me. No more"
Sure, you share in many ways - that makes you human. Choosing to share within a non-geographical space, though, - to share w/ strangers, in the presence of other strangers, whom you'll probably never meet, but engage with on an intellectual level does state sthg about you. Not everyone does it, right? Many could even judge you for doing so. Or wonder. But your ethos is such that allows or even dictates it. And this ethos is shared by all who do it, just like you shared ethos w/ everyone in that march. Would you say marching is habitual for you? No more?
thanks for talking more about the thing i did not understand.
"Politics arises
because we all have different ethics and behaviours" - that is very interesting. I would say that about diplomacy maybe : politics arises because we all have different behaviours. We have different behaviours because we have different ethics probably, which we negotiate though some form of diplomacy. Yet, to be able to do so (do politics, diplomacy, dialogue) we must have some ethos shared. Cause we might disagree & i might want to talk about it, while you might want to shoot me. This is not politics, nor diplomacy of course. Our ethos would be so different then that we wouldn't be able to apply our politics. I must think more about this - i found what you say very interesting.
demanding your data in order to let you download a brochure is their policy no? what is the difference of policy and politics you think?
What is "bedraggled"?
Dictionary.com said "wet,limp"...?
I use it a lot as well, esp. when i work : )
and, alas, i must get to work now once more. It is pretty hot here in Athens. In 2 days I'll be in Budapest & in 3 in Warsaw - they tell me it might be hotter there though... where are you based & how is teh weather there?
xxxeugenia