I think about paradoxes a lot, too! There are so may to ponder. When I was a child I found them horribly vexing, but through the years I've come to understand them as an essential part of being human on Earth. Also, that cheese board looks AMAZING and if I could eat dairy or gluten I would assemble one for dinner tonight!
Cheeseboard at a vineyard near Ashland, OR, and it was delicious! Paradox: what am I doing in a vineyard when I don't even like wine? Answer: gazing at the view and eating figs and cheese!
There's also the notion of paradox as apparent contradictions revealing truths--a definition liked by ancient philosophers and Renaissance poets, usually regarding religion: "God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere" (Hermes Trismegistus). There couldn't be such a circle, but maybe that's the point. Or, "Death, thou shalt die!" (John Donne)
That's a very sophisticated view of pleasure! While novelty adds piquance,I don't think most of us are such aesthetes as to prefer ambiguity. We like the chocolate lava cake, the hot tub, the unambiguous hug!
I think about paradoxes a lot, too! There are so may to ponder. When I was a child I found them horribly vexing, but through the years I've come to understand them as an essential part of being human on Earth. Also, that cheese board looks AMAZING and if I could eat dairy or gluten I would assemble one for dinner tonight!
Cheeseboard at a vineyard near Ashland, OR, and it was delicious! Paradox: what am I doing in a vineyard when I don't even like wine? Answer: gazing at the view and eating figs and cheese!
There's also the notion of paradox as apparent contradictions revealing truths--a definition liked by ancient philosophers and Renaissance poets, usually regarding religion: "God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference is nowhere" (Hermes Trismegistus). There couldn't be such a circle, but maybe that's the point. Or, "Death, thou shalt die!" (John Donne)
Thank you for these! Not sure if Donne's is a paradox, exactly, but it is catchy.
Ambivalence and ambiguity, the cornerstones of novelty—make up pleasure for most of us.
That's a very sophisticated view of pleasure! While novelty adds piquance,I don't think most of us are such aesthetes as to prefer ambiguity. We like the chocolate lava cake, the hot tub, the unambiguous hug!
But isn’t it ambiguity that motivates the hunt, and isn’t the hunt one of the prime pleasures?