"If meanings and distinctions remain personal, then it is
hard to say that we have communicated anything significant to others. =
And
if we are only concerned about what my thinking means to me, then what =
is
true for me may not be true for you, man."
The classic case against relativism: It refutes itself.
And there is no need to discover a "third way" between the relative and =
the absolute: we already are that third way. It is who we are as human =
beings, in the methexis. Our very mode of being refutes relativism (i.e. =
our presuppositions of standards and the fact of our communication). Our =
being is also ecstatic and erotic in its movement towards the =
transcendent source of our thinking and our being (e.g. towards the =
beautiful itself, as in Plato's Symposium; i.e. towards an absolute we =
strive to grasp).
"I've been reading this listserver for quite some time and I feel fully
justified in asking what is meant by "thinking," if it is not a concept =
by
which to circumvent coming to some kind of shared understanding of
concepts. And if the answer is "just to let beings be in their Being," =
then
I'll go turn on my lava lamp and light one up, man."
Har! You speak well.
Now here's a provocative question for all: How is the presupposition =
behind "essence and existence" any different from that behind "thinking =
and being"?=20
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---
hard to say that we have communicated anything significant to others. =
And
if we are only concerned about what my thinking means to me, then what =
is
true for me may not be true for you, man."
The classic case against relativism: It refutes itself.
And there is no need to discover a "third way" between the relative and =
the absolute: we already are that third way. It is who we are as human =
beings, in the methexis. Our very mode of being refutes relativism (i.e. =
our presuppositions of standards and the fact of our communication). Our =
being is also ecstatic and erotic in its movement towards the =
transcendent source of our thinking and our being (e.g. towards the =
beautiful itself, as in Plato's Symposium; i.e. towards an absolute we =
strive to grasp).
"I've been reading this listserver for quite some time and I feel fully
justified in asking what is meant by "thinking," if it is not a concept =
by
which to circumvent coming to some kind of shared understanding of
concepts. And if the answer is "just to let beings be in their Being," =
then
I'll go turn on my lava lamp and light one up, man."
Har! You speak well.
Now here's a provocative question for all: How is the presupposition =
behind "essence and existence" any different from that behind "thinking =
and being"?=20
--- from list heidegger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---