THE HYPERBOREAN SUN

The philosophy of Plato aimed to draw us out of "the cave" so that we are no longer enslaved by social illusions.   This effort, though no one intended it, culminated in the birth of capitalism. 2500 years later, capitalism has liquidated nearly all social absolutes and is even making inroads into organic and physical structures (biology and cognition) which a few decades ago seemed far more ‘absolute’ than mere convention, which seemed beyond the discursive altogether.   Thus the metaphor of the cave no longer points accurately to philosophy's task, and stands to be replaced.   We no longer need to be led to the sun - now we have too much sun, nothing but sun, a sun circling around the sky, neither rising nor setting, so that there is neither day nor night. This is characteristic of the arctic, also known as the hyperborean, and its musical analogue is Scandinavian black metal, which must be overcome.   Plato would have us climb out of a cave, but today what is needed is an escape from the hyperborean sun. What we need is a new absolute, a new cave, or something like a cave, to bind and harness all of this solar power.