Emergence in Art and Philosophy

I think the magic out of human collaboration is especially vibrant in the processes of art production. In performed art and music this gets especially concrete. Something closely related to emergence.

A few years ago, in the winter tween 2004-2005 I had the pleasure of arranging my first and yet until this day only theatre play from Riksteatern. I've been working with plays and stages for years, but somehow this one and only contact with Riksteatern as a small town producer - t'was in Arvika - made me believe in the theatre art form. And the play? Kärlek Extra Allt, directed by Farnaz Arbabi and performed by Micke Wranell, Isabel Reboia and Magnus Tingsek. The script was a collage of nine writers and in through the actors it came alive. A phenomenon described as emergence. It made me believe in theatre as an art form; with a potential to make change. The latter three years I've been loosely connected to the free theatre group UngaTur (Swedens finest!) which has kept my belief in theatre going strong.

Now, after a few years of successful plays Farnaz Arbabi has collaborated with a "directors eye" upon Moral Science Club. I've found the Cambridge University short history over the Moral Science Club. Here's an excerpt:

"No account of the Club would be complete without a brief description of the most notorious meeting of all (possibly excepting I Hacking's lively 1998 summary of knitwear production techniques in British Columbia). This was the poker-involving confrontation between Wittgenstein and Popper at a meeting of the Club on 26 October 1946 at which Popper read a paper entitled 'Are there Philosophical Problems?'.

Opinion is divided over exactly what happened at that meeting. Some say that Popper and Wittgenstein, having lashed one another into a philosophical frenzy, came to blows, each armed with a poker. Popper himself states in his autobiography that Wittgenstein brandished a poker at Popper, demanding an example of a moral rule, to which Popper replied: 'Not to threaten visiting speakers with pokers', whereupon Wittgenstein is said to have thrown down the poker and stormed out of the room. Others say that it was Russell who made this amusing remark. Consistent with all of these views was the opinion of the Secretary, W. Hijab (Trinity), who says in his minute that the meeting 'was charged to an unusual degree with the spirit of controversy'. (The occasion is the subject of a best-selling recent book, Wittgenstein's Poker)"

This excerpt helps me conclude that art and philosophy has one thing in common: Put enough great egos in the same place and you'll reach critical mass, whereupon fighting will occur. If this is to be called dogfights because of the fights obvious goal of being Top Dog, is still to be pondered of.

Anyway. Go see Moral Science Club if you're in Stockholm and understands Swedish. Arbabi is a excellent director in my book, and Meidal a topnotch actor. If you don't believe in theatre, I urge you to go see this.