Weeks away from his trial on charges of impiety and corruption of youth, Socrates had a discussion with the Athenian prophet Euthyphro on the meaning of piety. Euthyphro offered that the pious is that which is loved by the gods, to which Socrates asked, "Is the pious (τὸ ὅσιον) loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?"
Socrates stumped Euthyphro in one question. Other times, we face questions that go in circles, as in the chicken and egg. Often, the questions go on forever, in an infinite regress, as when a child asks "why" endlessly.
Practically, we all know we can not ask "why" forever. But where, then, in the infinite questions, do we choose to stop, to pause, to rest?
I've been set in motion by gnawing questions. Some are existential, some are about ethics, some are driven simply by curiosity. There are many proposed answers out there, and I imagine we have all implicitly have cobbled something together, whether we know it or not. Many of these answers feel truthy, but are not framed in precise enough ways that my brain can understand, or are in apparent conflict with other truthy statements. This is just my attempt to systematically re-examine what I've put together for myself, see where I can make connections with others, and imagine where I might change.
Maybe this adventure is going to take me on explorations of philosophy, or maybe diversions into neuroscience and AI. Maybe it'll take me through experiential approaches, and simply enjoying a good song. Hopefully at some point I'll come to a to a place to (or process of ongoing) rest, where I can live comfortably with regress, and with no regrets.
If this is the first post you are reading of this blog, you may also want to start here to help you navigate the content.
Loosely, this is the first post of the introductory “How to…?” series, establishing tensions I want to explore. Many questions, light on answers, so don’t freak out if you think some of the answers are obvious. Other articles in the series:
How to write (and read) this blog? Mostly a reminder to myself.
How to say good bye? On grief.
How to grade? On intention and unintentional consequences.
How to live with horror? On anguish in the world, and ourselves.
How to choose happiness? Actually a 6-part series.
Thanks for reading the inaugural post of No Regress.