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Drupal Community. The Architect and the Organism: What Plato & Aristotle have to say about Drupal. Presented by Matt Butcher. About Matt. Web Developer since 1995 Author of seven technical books Actual real-life philosopher. http://technosophos.com Twitter: @technosophos Drupal: mbutcher.
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Drupal Community The Architect and the Organism: What Plato & Aristotle have to say about Drupal Presented by Matt Butcher
About Matt • Web Developer since 1995 • Author of seven technical books • Actual real-life philosopher http://technosophos.com Twitter: @technosophos Drupal: mbutcher
Question One: Who was Plato’s Teacher?
Question Two: Who was Aristotle’s Mostfamous Student?
“All philosophy is a footnote to Plato.” A. N. Whitehead
Philosoraptor • Quite possibly the true teacher of Socrates. • Author of “Tractatus Logico-Raptus” • Short and pithy questions • Extinct.
Socrates • 5th Century B.C.E • Controversial teacher • “The Socratic Method” • A character in the dialogs of his most famous student. • Sentences to death for the “corruption of youth” • The father of western philosophy http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anderson,_Domenico_(1854-1938)_-_n._23185_-_Socrate_(Collezione_Farnese)_-_Museo_Nazionale_di_Napoli.jpg
Plato • Student of Socrates (he was probably in his mid-20’s when Socrates died) • Like Socrates, an Athenian • Traveled widely • Wrote numerous books, mostly in the form of dialogs http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plato_Silanio_Louvre_Ma3654.jpg
Aristotle • Student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander the Great • Instrumental in the development of… • Philosophy • Natural sciences • Literary theory • Political science • Biology http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aristoteles_Louvre.jpg
But what does any of this have to do with us?
The Most Important Slide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sanzio_01.jpg
This says it all… http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sanzio_01_Plato_Aristotle.jpg
Plato Forms, Perfection, and Reality
Ideal: Having to do primarily with an idea, or a mental object. This does not entail perfection. So what’s the ideal girlfriend/boyfriend?
The Cave http://xkcd.com/876/
He returns to the cave to tell his fellow prisoners what he has seen. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gua_Tempurung.jpg
The LSD Chair Esinem Design
Intellect & Art Plato would not have liked the Raphael
Plato is an architect. Aristotle is a biologist.
Aristotle Metaphysics, Change, & Hylomorphism
Aristotle is all about becoming change dynamism
Metaphysics: The thing that comes before physics. (Philosophers get paid for saying stuff like that)
Aristotle in 3 Words • Stuff (hyle) • Potentiality • Actuality
Impress your friends and loved ones… Hylomorphism It means turning stuff into things. I am not kidding, philosophers get PAID for this.
Functional vs. Imperative Functional Imperative (OO or Procedural) Focus on BEING What is the current state? Objects (structs, etc.) are first class Encapsulation Structures • Focus on BECOMING • What transformation is occurring? • Functions are first class • Dynamicity of runtime • Process
Functional Programming Pay attention to the process of running the code, what it is becoming, not what’s its state is.
Aristotle would worry about placing so much emphasis on data structures, objects, classes, and state. Focus on the movement – they physis
Drupal is lost in the middle (like medieval philosophy)
Drupal was Aristotelian • Stuff: simple types • Potentiality: hooks • Actuality: runtime hook invocation But it was never really functional
But it might just be the most Aristotelian system ever made
Toss this little phrase out at dinner… Drupal isn’t a CMS. It’s a hylomorphic engine! You can singlehandedly settle the CMS/Framework debate and sound suave while doing so.