Philosophy Section Ruminations upon Ultimate Matters...and their relationship to playing the guitar FREE! 10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Become A Better Guitarist! Get It Now! Plus you will be signed up for the Guitar Principles Newsletter. Get simple tips to focus your power in practicing and get PROFESSIONAL results from your practice! Email Confirm Email Main Newsletter Beginner Tips You are guaranteed FULL privacy. Read our Privacy Policy.   Song of the Unsung Philosopher By Jamie Andreas I was drawn to the study of philosophy at a very early age. I began to read Plato at age 13, ate up Aristotle and Aquinas, delighted in Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, and have since traveled joyfully through just about all the classic philosophers up through Hegel, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche. But there is one philosopher who holds a special place in my heart, a philosopher who taught by example, and whose wisdom sank effortlessly into my mind and displayed itself in my character before I even realized its source. Only upon later reflection did I realize the enormity of this great man's influence on my life. Perhaps I took him for granted because his burgeoning career made him a star of the silver screen for decades even before I discovered him, and perhaps the mere accessibility of his teaching veiled its profundity. I am speaking, as you may have guessed, of the great American sage- Popeye the Sailor Man. What first attracted me to Popeye's teaching was his work within the branch of Philosophy known as Metaphysics, or the study of Being as Being, or Existence itself. Upon further study, I became an enthusiastic devotee of the Sage of the Sea when I saw how his metaphysics shaped his position on the other branch of philosophy so dear to my heart, Ethics, or the study of how human beings behave in relation to themselves and others. It is Popeye's insight into these two major branches of Philosophy... Metaphysics and Ethics, that I would like to discuss. Let us take up the consideration of Popeyeian Metaphysics. The greatest minds that have ever lived have struggled with these questions of Being and Becoming, of the Known, the Unknown, and the Knower. And from the very beginning, these great minds could agree on nothing. Plato's Theory of Ideas (that all objects known by the mind are simply imperfect reproductions of Universal Ideas in the mind of God) was roundly rejected by Aristotle, who was not willing to relegate the material world to a lower order of Reality. You can see that right from the get go, it is a rather daunting task for a 13 year old philosopher to try to sort these guys out, especially when one of my main purposes was to figure out what all of this meant to me in terms of how I should live my life. My question was "How does one see clearly into the truth of things in this endlessly confusing world? And, once one sees clearly, how do we know the right way, or best way, to act? Like most of us, I was asking this question: "How do I make contact with my real self, the essential me that lies underneath the acquired name and outward form that does nothing but change. How do I come to know that immortal part of me that never changes?" And this is where the beauty of Popeye's school of thought would come in like a clarifying breath of fresh air, and save the day. Popeye's genius lay in the way he would grab hold of these monumental questions and reduce them down to simple terms, laying bare their essential meaning so that it was easy to see the proper relationship of a human being to herself, and to the universe and its mystery. The first solid lesson Popeye taught me occurred when I observed how he went about making contact with, and expressing his inner nature and true self. Well do I remember the thrill I would feel as I would hear Popeye utter his most famous metaphysical maxim, always summoned forth at a moment of crises Perhaps some circumstance created by the incorrigible Bluto or the fickle Olive Oil, would cause him to doubt his own perception of who he was, causing doubt and confusion about his own essential being and nature; a doubt that threatened to immobilize this man of action. It was in these moments of crises and challenge that Popeye's inner wisdom would emerge. Realizing that his deeply felt sense of dignity would be seriously compromised if he did not marshal all of his inner resources to affirm his belief in himself and his sense of self worth, he would face his foe and boldly declare to all the world with a conviction that rose up from the solid ground of his firmly planted feet, gathering momentum as it gushed up and through every cell of his body to be announced to all the world... ..."I y'am what I y'am, and that's all what I y'am...I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!!" Following this, Popeye would use the power of this profound philosophical insight into his own being to take vigorous action against his foes, and once again, goodness, wisdom, and courage would triumph in the world. "Wow", I would say to myself, "Now there's a man!" What a high standard of personal integrity to live up to! Here is a man who comprehends himself and accepts himself, all in one stroke - and then uses the power of that certainty to act. I felt inspired, and would resolve to strive for the strength of character displayed by Popeye. I resolved that when I would find myself in a circumstance that offered me the choice of being true to myself and boldly declaring my deeply felt sense of inner truth, and thereby suffer possible loss, embarrassment, or even danger, I resolved that I would in fact declare my inner truth to the outside world. I would not allow myself to be stifled, overcome, or the victim of self-betrayal. If Popeye could do it, so could I. What impressed me the most was the difference between Popeye's self-knowledge and self-understanding, and so much of what I saw around me. So many people waste their lives wondering who they are, or why they never found themselves, or blaming other people for forcing them to abandon their true desires, yadda, yadda, yadda. So many spineless people spend their lives gazing at their own self-doubt instead of submitting themselves with attention and feeling, to the mystery of their own unfathomable being. I saw that Popeye was willing to be just who he was, even before somebody told him it was okay, and supplied all the answers to dispel his doubts and fears about what might happen if he actually decided to just be who and what he was. How very similar it was to being an artist, or even a self-actualized person! Knowing who we are, and being who we are, is the one unalterable condition required to be an artist, and really, simply a person. I y'am what I y'am! The quest for knowledge of ourselves summarized in the great Socratic injunction "Know thyself" has always been a centerpiece of philosophical speculation. The great French philosopher Rene Descartes began the age of rationalism that replaced the Medieval worldview with the statement "Cogito Ergo Sum", or "I think, therefore I am". Now granted, there are probably more books written about the importance of Descarte to the history of philosophy, but for my money, I'll take Popeye any day. Why, you ask? It is because Popeye's metaphysical certainty did not rest upon his awareness of himself as a mental being, a thinking being. Rather, all of the power, and beauty of his philosophy lay in his awareness of himself as an emotional being, a feeling being. I found that, as someone who was discovering herself as an artist, this viewpoint was of infinitely greater service to me. An artist does not create art and beauty based on what they think, or on their awareness of themselves as a mental being, but rather on what they feel, and on their awareness of themselves as an emotional being. It is the emotional essence and power of our being filtered through the mind, which is transformed into art, whether it be a song, a painting, or a poem. This is why I resonated so strongly with Popeye's teaching and example as opposed to the traditional masters of Western Philosophy. I will share with you one other great teaching of our celebrated sailor that has inspired me throughout my life. Like the previous teaching, this proclamation would always precede a monumental display of Popeye's personal power and conviction - used always, of course, in the service of good. There is no doubt that Popeye was a peace-loving man by nature. He was kind to children, woman, old folks, and everyone of good will. But he was no fool, and he was no coward. If you were cunning, you might prevail upon his good nature almost to the point of overcoming him. However, peace loving prophet though he was, woe to those who made the mistake of believing that a being with the moral clarity of a Popeye would ever purchase peace at the price of his dignity, principles, and honor. Brought to such a crisis point by some persistent ne're-do-well, mere minutes from annihilation, a rally of Herculean proportions would swell our hero's heart. He would summon his strength and his will with a power that can only come from the repugnance and outrage of a heart that is pure being forced to confront the workings of a soul that is empty and black. Let evildoers beware as the forces of righteousness assemble at Popeye's side, along with the crescendo of a stirring military melody and an 18oz can of spinach, to accompany the fateful announcement... "That's all I can stands, 'cause I can't stands no more!" This crucial and essential moment comes to us all; we might say our lives are filled with such moments, great and small, where we are called upon to respond, from the very center of our being, to a challenge that, if left unmet, would leave us less than we should rightfully be. In these do or die moments of unquestioned willingness to act regardless of risk and for the sake of dignity and integrity, fear must be ignored, and our actions must have the power and spontaneity of a mother bear protecting her cub. In my life, I call this moment my "Popeye Point". Every significant turning point in my life has been the result of reaching my "Popeye Point" over some situation or another. Well do I remember being a teenager stocking shelves in a supermarket and feeling like I was completely wasting my life. I stood there and became filled to the brim with disgust and despair. The next day, I quit and went into New York City to see what I could discover that would help bring me closer to the musician's life I wanted. I didn't know what would happen, or how I would survive without a job, but anything was better than what I was living with. It led to my discovery of a new teacher who would guide me to a new level of playing ability, which eventually led to a new career as a performing musician and teacher. This is merely one such moment in my life where I hit my "Popeye Point". Like all of them, it was a moment of intense feeling, of confrontation with the enemy (in this case, an inner enemy) and the decision to act in spite of fear, all out of love for myself and the refusal to be less than I am and should be. That was all I could stand, and I could stand no more. Most people are conditioned to be guilty and out of touch with their feelings of anger. Anger scares people. This is unfortunate, because anger is one of our most valuable emotions. In the developed person, it is a delicate sensing mechanism that tells us something is wrong and needs attention. It is just like pain is to the body, alerting us to danger. Aristotle said of anger: "Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way... that, is not easy." Popeye, and other enlightened beings, always know when anger is appropriate, and are able to use it at the right time, in the right way, for the right purpose. Let us take heed. Each of us will have such moments throughout out lives. These are the defining moments, the turning points of our lives. If we are ready for these moments there will be, in addition to the fear, an encouraging feeling of certainty as well. At such times, the fear of things remaining as they are becomes far greater than the fear of doing what is necessary to change them, and so there is a certainty that doing anything is better than doing nothing. At such times, I would find the greatest source of strength not from Socrates, not from Aristotle, not even the great general Marcus Aurelius - no, it would be from Popeye that I would draw my strength. When we find ourselves beset by circumstances and people that are intolerable, or even degrading to our sense of who we are, we must decide whether we will make a last stand. We will decide whether to feel the moment, and to feel ourselves, and to feel ourselves in that moment, strongly enough to make the commitment that a Popeye Point demands. For guidance and inspiration on the mysteries of this vital process, I suggest you consult the Master himself. These two fundamental lessons offered by Popeye the Sailor Man give much needed guidance for those of us seeking wisdom, and the happiness that wisdom brings. These lessons could be summarized thus: Know thyself, and be thyself. Like Popeye, I have found the strict adherence to these commandments to be the one certain path to all that is good, in myself, and in the world. Copyright ©2008-2009 Jamie Andreas. All Rights Reserved. Spread the Guitar Principles message - you CAN be a great guitarist! Back To Philosophy Main Menu