John David Ebert Lecture on Joseph Campbell Part 1

[faunflynn]

Thanx again.

Kudos.

[pmallon64]

I really love Joseph Campbell with all of his optimism, affirmation of life and encyclopaedic knowledge of the development and function of mythology in human evolution. I wish some of the "new atheists" like Dawkins spent more time reading Joseph Campbell and less time bashing their own extremely narrow perception of what religion is.

[johndavidebert]

Testing...

[mebooky]

@johndavidebert I agree. He's not the end all be all. No one is, but for me he came along and delivered a message right when I needed it and so for that I am forever grateful. I still have a mountain of reading to do of course but I'm happy just being on the right track and discussing these ideas with you all here.

[grey167]

Yes i extremely enjoyed this informative interview..

5 *****

[grey167]

Very interesting interview, extremely enjoyable and informative..

peace, light, love and wisdom ..

5 *****

[fuzydude]

Hello - if you didn't notice - this is YouTube..... its a video site..... and you posted a still picture for 9:48 minutes.

[chimpa2340]

Read Joe Campbell's works and your world will change forever. This guy is a typical professorial prognosticating Bow-tie Lecturer who obviously has something against Joe. Joe did not hate anyone to my knowledge and he was indeed a clear and original thinker with a great wit and an overall world-view that I would much rather take than that of The East (Automon); or of the Middle-East of needing hours of worship to, as Joe might say, "Monolithic Metaphors."

[bodhibliss]

Ironically, Joseph Campbell thought of his approach as basically pessimistic (especially in the short term). An attendee at "Ritual & Rapture" (with members of the Dead) asked Campbell if he detected a lightening of his pessimism about the future of humanity, and J.C. cheerfully admitted he was as pessimistic as ever. Maybe we are confusing a cheerful demeanor with optimism?

[mebooky]

@bodhibliss I see what you are saying. I agree he was pessimistic when he talks about Elliot's Wasteland and how we're stuck in it as a society without a living myth. But with the hero quest he was championing the individual and creative people especially. Finding your own myth and the source of your own life. That is the optimism I'm talking about. He said that can we save the world by saving ourselves. A vital life vitalizes. And it was his vitality that inspired me.

[RainmanCT]

informative and interesting. not sure why all the criticism of campbell's optimism. hope was the only thing left in pandora's box.

[mebooky]

I would just like to say one thing about Joseph Campbell's optimism. I think criticizing it is a personal value judgment. His joy and enthusiasm really sparked my interest in the myths. His insights rang true to me on many levels and opened up spiritual possibilities again. That was for me invaluable. I think his real message was one of compassion, saying yes to life and all that. The world is dark enough on its own and hell is not hard to find after all.

[bootyman234]

Well said!

[grey167]

@mebooky I could not agree with you more my enlightened friend ..

peace and light .

[mebooky]

Faustian Man: Are you writing off the entire country of Japan?

[johndavidebert]

Bookboy:

They don't have any, which was precisely Spengler's point. The West is the only civilization right now with new ideas and which keeps generating new ideas, both technological and ideological. The rest of the planet is largely taking after us, which seems somewhat unfortunate, since the consumer worldview of democracy wed to globalization is ultimately a trivial one.

[Enleuk]

"The West is the only civilization right now with new ideas"

Define now, new and idea please.

[fourplusseven]

It's not merely that it's trivial my friend -- it's that it's desperately self-destructive and based on false mythologies of progress, as Spengler entirely saw.

I share your point of view.

[bookboy]

Faust needs to really read Spengler before he makes comments. Knowing the difference between Civilization and Culture, where is China's new ideas?

[TheFaustianMan]

Funny, I thought the Larsens' listed Spengler as THE major influence on Campbell in their book?

I am not saying, he did not pull from other writers, but I believe he leaned too much on Oswald.

I have no idea what you define as "culture" and how it can be sick or healthy-so you may be right. I don't have the intellect to see things that black and white about so many individuals.

You have inspired me to do a video series on the errors of one Joseph Campbell. Thank you for your words.

[johndavidebert]

Well, let me know when the video is up and running. I enjoy criticism, if it's done thoughtfully. No one is infallible and I do admit that Campbell had his failings. (The incessant optimism for one makes one want to throw up).

[mikeandrakeem]

The incessant reference to yourself as "one" makes one want to have explosive diarrhea. If there is anything to learn from Mr. Campbell, it is humility.

[TheFaustianMan]

"Any fool can make something more complex. It takes a real man of genius to make something simpler."

Alas!-I am no genius, like I said, this was all my opinon. I had no facts to back up what I was stating-or did I?

Funny, why did I think Campbell said that thing about the moon?-I mean especially if you, a man who lectures on Campbell, says he didn't?

"There are youngsters among us, even now, who will be living on that moon; many others who will visit Mars." -Joseph Campbell. c. long time ago.

[johndavidebert]

Dear Faustian Man (funny name for a guy who doesn't like Spengler):

I would say that your views on Campbell are extremely simple-minded. He did not just attribute all his scholarship to that hack Spengler, but to a whole group of formative writers like Nietzsche, Goethe, Schopenhauer, Jung, Leo Frobenius and many others. Spengler was only on influence among many.

I don't know where you get your information but Campbell never made any predictions about people living on the moon.

[TedyBere]

Joyce, Mann and Zimmer

[TheFaustianMan]

In my opinion he ruined his whole career by attributing his scholarship to that hack math-teacher Oswald Spengler, and completely fell short on any staggering work of genius, because he drew so heavily upon Spengler.

"...so that whereas both India and China may be looked upon as intrinsically fulfilled, burned out, or, as Spengler termed them, Fellaheen, Japan is young, still dreaming, and able..."

[TheFaustianMan]

Ethically I have trouble with him writing off entire countries as "burned out". Furthermore he never even went to China.

And lastly, as time seems to do to brazenly foolish authors, as Campbell was, at times in his career, his "predictions" about Japan and people living on the Moon were ultimately all wrong.

Look at the Japanese standard of living, or their economy. Hell, the Japanese themselves refer to the 1990s as "the lost decade."

Ironic, how he championed Japan, and not China or India.

[johndavidebert]

Don 't be blinded by the present economic successes of India and China. Culturally speaking, they have nothing left to contribute to the world. Economic success is no marker of cultural health. Both civilizations are long past their golden ages, which occurred in India during the Gupta period and in China during the Tang Dynasty. You apparently have no understanding of the difference between a healthy culture and a sick one. If you haven't read Nietzsche, then this is no surprise.

[sparklefarkleboy]

Thanks. Great overview on Joseph Campbell. Part 3 especially was an eye opener for me.

[ih8gluten]

Joseph Campbell's, The Power of Myth series changed my life so profoundly -got me on to comparative mythology and literary themes.

[wwardlaw]

Thank you for posting. My favorite Campbell quote is his simple suggestion to everyone: "Follow your bliss."