Philosophy
Today is Edgar Allen Poe's birthday. While there have been gruesome and scary tales going back to the ancients, Macabre or Gothic literature emerged as a genre unto itself with Poe and H.P. Lovecraft's writing in the 19th century. These were works of art for whom the scary was the point. It has become part of our popular art ever since.
Horror was originally invoked as a warning, as a tool to keep us from doing what we ought no. the point of the scary work was that we did not like the scary and the moral of the work was to avoid that which brought it about. But in art since Poe it has become mere entertainment.
Why do scary works, like the writings of Stephen King or the films of Wes Craven, attract us? Is the reason why it appears in the 19th century because modern life shields us from the intensity of emotion we experienced regularly before industrialization and horror takes us back to it? Is it that we have latent fears that are naturally a part of us, and the safety of modern life allows us to explore them casually? Is it like a joke where there is an incongruity between the scary world of the horror work and the more mundane one in which we live? Why do we love art that scares us?
- Terror, Horror, Gross-out, And Stephen King
Today is Stephen King's birthday. In his honor, let's play with a quotation of his. "I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find...
- Somebody Please Explain Situational Ethics To Me
One of the bogeymen of the right is "situational ethics." I will admit that I haven't a clue what it is they mean. Some mean ethical relativism, and that has its own set of problems, but others clearly intend something else and I'm not sure what...
- Philosophy Friday Fun: Coffee Flowchart
There are about a bazillion of these clever flowcharts out there, but I made another. Philosophers love coffee, so it fits. Philosophers, any scary coffee stories? P.S. You can follow me on twitter now (philosiologist). I don't really know...
- Halloween 2012
Below are all the Halloween treats for 2012. I hope you enjoyed some of them. Blood suckers of Connecticut H. P. Lovecraft treat..."The Alchemist" BE AFRAID...the Vampire Squid H. G. Wells treat..."The Star" Animation land Halloween cartoons ...
- Kurt Vonnegut...a New Biography By Charles J. Shields
"Kurt Vonnegut's dark, sad, cruel side is laid bare" A biography of the author of Slaughterhouse Five undermines his warm, grandfatherly image by Paul Harris December 3rd, 2011 guardian.co.uk A new biography of acclaimed American author Kurt Vonnegut,...
Philosophy
Why Do We Enjoy Being Scared?
Today is Edgar Allen Poe's birthday. While there have been gruesome and scary tales going back to the ancients, Macabre or Gothic literature emerged as a genre unto itself with Poe and H.P. Lovecraft's writing in the 19th century. These were works of art for whom the scary was the point. It has become part of our popular art ever since.
Horror was originally invoked as a warning, as a tool to keep us from doing what we ought no. the point of the scary work was that we did not like the scary and the moral of the work was to avoid that which brought it about. But in art since Poe it has become mere entertainment.
Why do scary works, like the writings of Stephen King or the films of Wes Craven, attract us? Is the reason why it appears in the 19th century because modern life shields us from the intensity of emotion we experienced regularly before industrialization and horror takes us back to it? Is it that we have latent fears that are naturally a part of us, and the safety of modern life allows us to explore them casually? Is it like a joke where there is an incongruity between the scary world of the horror work and the more mundane one in which we live? Why do we love art that scares us?
- Terror, Horror, Gross-out, And Stephen King
Today is Stephen King's birthday. In his honor, let's play with a quotation of his. "I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find...
- Somebody Please Explain Situational Ethics To Me
One of the bogeymen of the right is "situational ethics." I will admit that I haven't a clue what it is they mean. Some mean ethical relativism, and that has its own set of problems, but others clearly intend something else and I'm not sure what...
- Philosophy Friday Fun: Coffee Flowchart
There are about a bazillion of these clever flowcharts out there, but I made another. Philosophers love coffee, so it fits. Philosophers, any scary coffee stories? P.S. You can follow me on twitter now (philosiologist). I don't really know...
- Halloween 2012
Below are all the Halloween treats for 2012. I hope you enjoyed some of them. Blood suckers of Connecticut H. P. Lovecraft treat..."The Alchemist" BE AFRAID...the Vampire Squid H. G. Wells treat..."The Star" Animation land Halloween cartoons ...
- Kurt Vonnegut...a New Biography By Charles J. Shields
"Kurt Vonnegut's dark, sad, cruel side is laid bare" A biography of the author of Slaughterhouse Five undermines his warm, grandfatherly image by Paul Harris December 3rd, 2011 guardian.co.uk A new biography of acclaimed American author Kurt Vonnegut,...