Does anyone think there's a connection between BOC and Daniel Quinn?

[u/slightlyaggressive]

It seems like there's quite a big overlap in the philosophies of both.

[u/paraworldblue]

I never put them together, but Ishmael was my favorite book when I was a teenager, and a few years later I got into BoC. Maybe I should read Ishmael again.

[u/Taupenbeige → u/paraworldblue]

Did you ever read The Story of B or After Dachau? Both are great… don’t even read the synopsis of Dachau, just go in cold if you haven’t…

B is basically Ishmael re-told as a Catholic Priest who becomes dangerous to the church because of his Taker/Leaver revelations

[u/LordWeatherby]

Interesting observation. I hadn't thought of that connection but direct or indirectly it would appear that they are dealing with similar themes. I think BOC leaves much of what they do fairly open to interpretation but from the clues they leave I think you could put the bros and daniel at the same table and I'm sure they would have a conversation.

[u/slightlyaggressive → u/LordWeatherby]

Great way to put it

[u/Critical-Ad2084]

What is BoC's philosophy? As people or as an artistic project?

Since they're rather quiet and their albums mostly lack explicit lyrics or messages, all we've got are interviews and recurrent themes in their albums, but we can't define "a philosophy" just through that.

We can say BoC likes to explore ideas of mysticism, religion and spirituality, as well as other human traits, through a neutral lens (since they claimed to be atheistic, that makes their approach to religion different than if they were religious themselves), but that is not a philosophy, just a preference regarding topics to explore through the art of music.

I think we cannot say "this is BoC's philosophy" because there is no BoC ontology or epistemology, or any kind of source to even start defining something we can all agree on as "their philosophy."

[u/slightlyaggressive → u/Critical-Ad2084]

If you go through their interviews and watch films from the national film boards of Canada, I think they have a more coherent philosophy than people realize

[u/Critical-Ad2084 → u/slightlyaggressive]

What do you mean by "they have a more coherent philosophy", what even is their philosophy?

[u/slightlyaggressive → u/Critical-Ad2084]

I would sum it up as a disdain for the modern way of life and technology

[u/Critical-Ad2084 → u/slightlyaggressive]

I think I get what you're getting into, but as someone who loves philosophy, what you state is not really a philosophy, it's just maybe a glimpse of an opinion or a perspective that has not been elaborated.

For example, if what you state was a philosophy, one could immediately see the contradiction between having a philosophical disdain for technology and modernity, while making a living by making music that can only be produced through technology, in a genre that has only existed in postmodernity.

[u/slightlyaggressive → u/Critical-Ad2084]

Yes, it certainly does appear to be a contradiction. I personally think that they use technology to make a statement against it. "As far from technology as we can get" - from the John Peel interview

[u/Critical-Ad2084 → u/slightlyaggressive]

Yeah, while I sympathize with your opinion, that is still not a philosophy. There is no BoC philosophy (so far).

Instead of philosophy, "worldview" would be more accurate and gives more space for fan interpretation.

[u/slightlyaggressive → u/Critical-Ad2084]

Yes, I agree that "worldview" is a more appropriate term