Author Archives: leewatkins

What is Philosophy?

Posted on July 30, 2020 by leewatkins

It’s a question philosophers like to ask from time to time, never arriving at a universally satisfactory answer. If you start to read Hegel, you might arrive at the notion that philosophy is the science of Spirit coming to know … Continue reading →

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Spirit is the Light of the Morning

Posted on June 29, 2020 by leewatkins

“Its shape is in fact shapelessness, the all-embracing light of the morning.” – J.N. Findlay, Analysis of section 686 of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. It’s impossible to see where light begins and ends. You can see it in the green … Continue reading →

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The Enjoyment in Writing

Posted on May 15, 2020 by leewatkins

Past, present, and future are bound together when Henry Miller is writing. “The past is the springboard, the present the melting pot, and the future the delectation.” The past is the springboard because it is from the memories of his … Continue reading →

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Orpheus

Posted on April 15, 2020 by leewatkins

Orpheus is playing his lyre with tears in his eyes, begging the rulers of the underworld to return Eurydice to him. All Pluto and Persephone want is to be rid of those dewy eyes, tearing at their heart strings. They … Continue reading →

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The Stone House

Posted on March 21, 2020 by leewatkins

I’m a fan of RPGs, and tomorrow I’ll be running a game of Call of Cthulhu over the internet for some friends. Below is the introduction for the scenario I’ve just made. Fans of H.P. Lovecraft might recognise the reference … Continue reading →

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Building

Posted on March 20, 2020 by leewatkins

“We have no need for genius – genius is dead. We have need for strong hands …” How to start writing? Take a building block and set it down. It is Paris, 1930 perhaps, and a day in the life … Continue reading →

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Tree Spirits in The Golden Bough

Posted on March 14, 2020 by leewatkins

In spring, early summer, or midsummer the villagers would go out into the woods to cut down a tree. They’d bring it back to the village and set it up there (“amid general rejoicings”); or, in other villages, they would … Continue reading →

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See What I’m Saying

Posted on February 18, 2020 by leewatkins

First sentence of William Burroughs’ The Wild Boys: “The camera is the eye of a cruising vulture flying over an area of scrub, rubble and unfinished buildings on the outskirts of Mexico City.” Burroughs thinks in pictures and his books … Continue reading →

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How to Begin (Notes on the Introduction to Hegel’s Phenomenology)

Posted on January 28, 2020 by leewatkins

It’s no use starting with the assumption that thought and being are identical. For one thing, no one will know what you’re talking about. Hegel started by looking at the philosophical thinking of his day and showing how it was … Continue reading →

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Hegel’s Democratic Spirit

Posted on January 23, 2020 by leewatkins

The Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit is a good place to begin with Hegel. The key question he’s asking in these pages is: What is philosophy? And his answer tells us a lot about what kind of philosopher he … Continue reading →

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