Pink Floyd and Philosophy, (Chapters 16-19)

As mentioned before, these chapters are written mostly by university people, and it has become a pretty standard cliché that such professors are typically left wing in their politics.  Also mentioned earlier was the fact that such intellectuals routinely misrepresent Capitalism, using the term as a substitute for “Greed,” which is itself often grossly misused.  For instance: “For [Walter] Benjamin the socialist, however, this democratization of art and criticism leads to the crucial question I mentioned earlier.  All this is made possible by an industry devoted to reproducing and distributing art purely for economic gain.  And, any socialist would recognize, this results in unfair exploitation of those responsible for creating the commodities, even if these commodities are recognized as art, since capitalists keep the surplus value created by workers as profit for themselves.”  Whew!  This might have been lifted from Das Kapital itself!  [Notice how the fact that the artist gets paid a lot more than he would have without the help of the “greedy capitalists” is completely ignored.  Typical.] 

But these last four essays are focusing on mental disorders, and what philosophers – and Pink Floyd - have to say about insanity.  Anyone with more than a minimal knowledge of Pink Floyd’s origins is familiar with the idea that the band seems to be haunted by the “ghost” of Syd Barrett.  We may get a little tired of hearing about the person who originally fronted the band, but appeared only on the first, relatively unimportant album; but the remaining members of the band have apparently been rather obsessed with Barrett themselves, judging especially by their lyrics. 

Philosophers who write down to the unwashed masses (who write articles for the lay person who has very little background in philosophy) like to present what they feel are some of the more colorful illustrations that have been used to make a point.  One of the most overdone illustrations (at least in this series) has been Aristotle’s cave, where people perceive the world via the shadows of real events as seen on the back wall of the cave.  This is supposed to show that we don’t really see the world as it is, but only as our imperfect senses show that it is.  Another overdone illustration in this book is the ancient Greek story of the dichotomy of Apollo and Dionysus.  All you really need to know about this story is beautifully displayed in the first (quite lengthy) song on Hemispheres, by Rush. 

Yet another overdone illustration from philosophy in this book is the story of Sisyphus, condemned by the gods to roll a boulder uphill over and over, only to watch it roll down and start the process again.  This is supposed to illustrate the existential futility of mankind’s constant struggle to make the world a better place.  Both these stories make great talking points in a college Humanities class, but professors apparently milk them for much more than they are worth.  Gotta keep it entertaining for the kiddos (geez, I hate that word).

 

The shining star (or crazy diamond) of this section is the final selection, “Living Pink,” by Steven Gimbel.  (Our editor knows how to wrap things up on the right note!)  Gimbel examines five different approaches people take to staying positive in a difficult world, “…living in a way that makes sure we don’t just snap one of these days and cut someone into little pieces.”  This includes numerous examples of lyrics from Pink Floyd’s oeuvre, including perhaps my favorite song ever, Comfortably Numb.  This essay, along with several others, makes the whole book well worth our time to read it!

Join us in July for Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood!  This is one of the newer works from the brilliant woman who gave us The Handmaid’s Tale.  Comments on the first quarter of the book will begin July 5th.