My ambition in philosophy is not modest. I partly hate to declare my ambition because if I write quietly to myself, from an 'underdog' position, one essay at a time, I create no hype, no 'illusions of grandeur' or lofty expectations, allowing my work to hopefully sneak up on the reader in a good way -- again, one essay at a time.
However, if you look at the (evolving) table of contents of Hegel's Hotel, and you are familiar with the history of philosophy at all, you will see that in 'the breadth and scope of its integrative subject matter', Hegel's Hotel is arguably the most ambitious project that any one philosopher -- from Thales to present day -- has ever dared to tackle in one project, one treatise, one interconnected network of hopefully somewhere between five hundred and a thousand essays when it is all through -- perhaps more, God willing relative to the extent of my health and energy.
There have been many prolific writers -- philosophers and psychologists -- some of whom I will never come close to in terms of the shear volume of their work. I look at some philosophers like Spinoza (1632-1645, died at 45 years old), Kierkegaard (1813-1855, died at 42), and Nietzsche (1844-1900, died at 56, stopped writing and institutionalized by 50) -- and they were either dead and buried or institutionalized in the case of Nietzsche before I even started to tap my keys here to begin 'Hegel's Hotel'.
Diderot was the centrepiece of an 'Enlightenment' philosophical project that will probably never be duplicated but he had lots of help -- many other great philosophers helped him with his wonderous 'Encyclopedie' accomplishment. (See Diderot, The French Enlightenment).
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From the internet (Wikipedia)...
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (English: "Encyclopedia, or a systematic dictionary of the sciences, arts, and crafts") was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements and revisions in 1772, 1777 and 1780 and numerous foreign editions and later derivatives.
Its introduction, the Preliminary Discourse, is considered an important exposition of Enlightenment ideals. The Encyclopédie's self-professed aim was "to change the way people think." Denis Diderot explained the goal of the project as "All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings."[1]
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Kant 'disappeared' (to the inside of his home mainly, I presume) for around 8 or 9 years to write his masterpiece 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. That kind of individual dedication and perseverence will probably never be duplicated -- as will the finished product.
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From the internet, Wikipedia...
The Critique of Pure Reason (German: Kritik der reinen Vernunft), first published in 1781 (A) with a second edition (B) in 1787, is the most widely read work of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential in the history of philosophy. It is often referred to as Kant's "first critique," and was followed by the Critique of Practical Reason and the Critique of Judgement.
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Hegel's masterpiece -- 'The Phenomenology of Mind/Spirit' (1807)-- is in my personal opinion, the most important and influential philosophical work in the history of Western philosophy.
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From Wikipedia...
Phänomenologie des Geistes (1807) is one of G.W.F. Hegel's most important philosophical works. Translated as The Phenomenology of Spirit or The Phenomenology of Mind due to the dual meaning in the German word Geist, it formed the basis of Hegel's later philosophy and marked a significant development in German idealism after Kant. Focusing on topics in metaphysics, epistemology, physics, ethics, theory of knowledge, history, religion, perception, consciousness, and political philosophy, the Phenomenology is where Hegel develops his concepts of dialectic (including the Master-slave dialectic), absolute idealism, ethical life, and sublation. The book had profound effect in Western philosophy (particularly in the development of Marxism), and "has been praised and blamed for the development of existentialism, communism, fascism, death of God theology, and historicist nihilism."[1]
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My work here -- Hegel's Hotel: DGB Post-Hegelian Philosophy-Psychology -- aims to bring the best out in Hegel's philosophy, not the worst... I aim to 'concretize' it, 'humanize' it, and 'existentialize' it...in ways that have partly been done before by different theorists and therapists: Nietzsche (The Birth of Tragedy), Freud (Psychoanalysis), Jung (Jungian Psychology), Perls (Gestalt Therapy), Derrida (Deconstruction), Foucault (The History of Power)...but Hegel's Hotel aims to put everything above together into one huge integrative project...
There have been many prolific, and brilliant, Western philosophical writers, too many to mention right here but many if not most of them will be covered in Hegel's Hotel -- Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Bertrand Russell, Foucault, Ayn Rand, and that is not even touching other cultures... Furthermore, there have been a host of brilliant and prolific psychology writers such as: Freud, Jung, Adler, Fromm, Perls...and more...
I do not pretend that my work holds a candle to these most esteemed philosophers and psychologists -- at least not yet. Similarily, I do not pretend that my work would stand up to some of the 'rigid, technical standards' of most university philosophy programs.
I have a copy of a short paper on 'how to write an acceptable university philosophy essay and I have to confess that most of my essays probably break all the rules -- and yet I am not writing for a university here; I am writing for many different people from every walk of life who likes to read and learn -- and hopefully, at least partly, be entertained as well as educated; I wish not to lull you to sleep before you finish the first essay -- otherwise, why waste my time and energy, as well as yours. If you don't like what you are reading, you won't be around for long to waste your time and energy. No writer is going to please and/or entertain everbody but every writer has a responsibility to be as clear and passionate as possible relative to what one writes about. Otherwise, why write? To put yourself and others asleep? (It might save sleeping pills.)
Thus, it is partly the 'technical university anal-retentiveness and orthodoxy' that I am still partly rebelling against -- a projection of my ongoing love-hate relatioship with universities and the world of academia within them.
I want to 'jolt this crowd awake' -- to show that it is more than the world of academia that can write meaningful, important philosphical works...And that I don't have to 'jump through all of their academic hoops' to deliver a significant philosophical essay. Every good philosopher does not have to pass through a university -- indeed, this may be exactly what kills many a potential philosphical spirit.
Nor is philosphy about everything from the 'neck up' -- that is perhaps the worst stereotype about philosophy that our culture has.
In this regard, Hegel's Hotel is a call to 'philosophical relevance and everyday functional importance' -- not a manuscript that is aimed at learning more and more about less and less until you have to search for the relevance of the subject matter under a high-powered microscope. Meanwhile, the world around us is crashing and burning from philosophical stupidity, unbridled narcissism, righteousness, unilateralism, and a lack of integrity, compassion, and caring about our fellow man and the environment we live in.
My work is aimed at bridging the gap between 'the creative brilliance of academic philosophy at its best' and the common-sense pragmatism of every-day living philosophy. 'DGB(N)' stands for 'Dialectical Gap-Bridging (Negotiations)' which is the essence of the process of my integrative work.
Now, obviously, it takes a lot more than sheer ambition to become good -- let alone great -- at anything. In philosophy, it takes a strong intellect, a strong knowledge of what you're writing about, preferrably lots of experience in living, a strong passion for your subject matter and your mission, and the perseverence and will-power of a bulldog to finish what you start. I have accomplished nothing yet except a growing assortment of hopefully interesting essays on different philosophical subject matters -- the dialectic, epistemology, politics, religion, romanticism, narcissism, natural health, and more...
Letting down all my pretenses and defenses about modesty, and speaking egotistically, by the time I am through 'Hegel's Hotel: DGB Philosophy-Psychology', I want it to be considered the best philosophical work of the early part of the 21st century.
Furthermore, I want it to be considered one of the most important integrative projects in the history of Western philosophy. Look at the table of contents again and tell me that Hegel's Hotel -- if it finishes what it says it will finish, and finishes it well -- that it won't deserve this type of accolade. All I need is the time and energy to finish it. Well, obviously, the talent, intellect, and integrating ability as well...
God, grant me the time, health, and energy to finish Hegel's Hotel. I am 53 years old now. I want to be finished Hegel's Hotel by my 60th birthday (ouch!) -- that would be March 3rd, 2015. Wow! Dare I think that I might be lucky enough to live that long. It might be a stretch.
What I am offering the reader which is different than most philosophical works in the past -- and comes with the invention of the 'blogsite' -- is the opportunity to experience Hegel's Hotel being built piece by piece, essay by essay. Reductionism and concrete particularity meets abstractionism and wholism over the course of time.
In this regard, I have created a 'New Essays' blogsite to accomodate all my new essays and allow those readers who want to follow the evolution of my work -- the building of Hegel's Hotel -- the opportunity to do so. (Google...DGB Philosophy, New Essays). My new aphorisms and self-awarenesses section can be found in the blogsite of the same name (i.e., this blogsite here).
After a certain period of time, all my new essays will be classified and filed into the particular section of Hegel's Hotel that they seem to most fit -- my epistemology essays in the epistemology section, my religious essays in the religious section...and so on. I expect that Hegel's Hotel -- and the essays in it -- will be constantly revised as re-classified under different section names until the work as a whole is finally finished.
That's the gameplan -- and having bared my raw ambition and egotism -- it remains for me simply to deliver the goods, deliver the promises as set out here. In this regard, I am no different than any of the potential presidential candidates as each of them -- Obama, Clinton, McCain -- lay out their presidential gameplan for the upcoming years, or on a lesser platform, any and every one of us who has ever applied for a job -- and, if everything goes right, put our 'best foot forward'.
Here's to substance, quality -- and delivering on 'big promises'.
-- dgb, April 8th, 2008, modified May 31st, 2008, June 1st, 2008.
