Christopher,
You find the example interesting, and so do I. I also find it offensive. But
wait. I mean: sure, I can see that, clearly, is often the case. But to use
the geo principle there is such a totalizing move. Sometimes (perhaps often
times) what happens in an urban cafe is "chatter", but other times it is
not. And ditto the "country silenti": at times, such silent can be
profoundly alienated/alienating, yet at other times, sure it can be very
authentic. I think of conversations I've had in a bar, how the conversation
can rise out of the confines of the bar into this broader understanding,
even "lubricated" by alcohol. Or I recall wonderful philosophical
discussions, or intensely personal moments. Here the Heideggerian
undestanding, his "deployment" of categories (chatter, authenti speech;
country, city) is downright brutal, I'm afraid.
In this respect, Heidegger appears, to use a similie, like a musician, a
Mozart expert, say, coming in and imposing Mozart's classical style on a
Chopin ballade, pointing to "wrong notes", either blindly ignoring what's
happening, or trying to whack the piece into some proper submission. Yikes!
Thanks for the correction on the Trakl poem. I like this direction, BTW, and
would like to pursue it in more detail if possible.
Regards,
Tom
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"It is only after one ceases to reduce public affairs to the business of
dominion that the original data in the realm of human affairs will appear, or,
rather, reappear, in their authentic diversity." -- Hannah Arendt
Crises of the Republic; lying in politics, civil disobedience on violence,
thoughts on politics, and revolution. Hannah Arendt [1st ed.] New York,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich [1972] pages 142-143
Tom Blancato
tblancato@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Eyes on Violence (nonviolence and human rights monitoring in Haiti)
Thoughtaction Collective (reparative justice project)
521 Main Street
PO Box 495
Harmony PA 16037
412-453-0211
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