aisthesis, what is this

June 7, 2024 11:52 PM

the humanities do not teach information. they teach how to change desires. and the teacher has to assume the responsibility of learning that difficult task…it is not possible to unlearn one’s privilege; and unlearn and unlearn and unlearn. i should use my privilege against the grain…: fair learning…this task is persistent … these women vote…the largest sector of the electorate in Africa and Asia…there is no specific space with the name “art” or “culture,” even when the European words are avoided, yet all of them vote [Gayatri Spivak, Vienna Festival ~2h] (second hour’s Q&A; synopsis at the split ~1h, if time’s a question)

previously, Don't judge a book by its cover, the difficulty of reading "Of Grammatology" [gbooks] also has to do with the politics surrounding the production of the translation, why do empires care so much about women's clothes?, occupy/canon, critical intimacy

shoutout: James & Grace Lee Boggs Center [.org] Grace: “what time is it on the clock of the world?”; "the only way to survive is by taking care of one another"

Aesthetic Education in the Era of Globalization [hup] “perhaps the literary can still do something” [pdf]

αἴσθησις [wiki]

posted by HearHere (9 comments total)

philosophy is a technology. technology is not a technology.

i will not elaborate on these statements. i will not be taking any questions.

this has been your bombastic lowercase pronouncement for the day. you’re welcome.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 12:59 AM on June 8 [4 favorites]

So much to dive into here, but a quick note to say thank you for suggesting the Translator’s Preface to OG, it’s entirely new to me and I’m finding it to be incredibly stimulating.
posted by Joeruckus at 2:31 AM on June 8 [2 favorites]

quite welcome! the translator's preface is half the book for me; not literally, though yes (almost) also that

bombastic lowercase pronouncements, thanks. no question, a quibble: 'philo-sophia' [medium]
posted by HearHere at 3:21 AM on June 8

PAUL
What’s in the box?

REVEREND MOTHER GAIUS HELEN MOHIAM
Of Grammatology.
posted by aesop at 4:17 AM on June 8 [9 favorites]

I honestly don't know the domain well enough to evaluate if this post is a set of intentional choices with a stylistic intent I just don't have the context to understand, or .. basically TimeCube: The Post? Like, I recognize some of the terms and names from my time in humanities-adjacent grad school, but it feels very opaque. Is the framing this opaque as an intentional reference to the Spivak quote about needing to write in an intentionally incomprehensible style to gain respect in continental philosophy? It looks like several commenters have something to say, so I'm not sure if I'm just not in on the joke, or if there is a bunch of philosophy people having fun in a thread, or maybe both? Either way is cool, I'm just surprised at my own inability to tell the difference.

I wonder if this is how non-programmers probably feel when they look at somebody's blog on esoteric computer science where you need deep knowledge in the field to know all the context/vocabulary? (Seriously not trying to be negative, just not familiar with this milieu).
posted by Alterscape at 8:52 AM on June 8 [5 favorites]

Or, on failure to fully think through my comment above and add an actual question: If this is sincere, would someone mind explaining what's going on here for an outsider without context? Like, where would I start for this to make sense? It's possible the answer is "go back, retake Phil 101, and then finish the rest of an advanced degree from there," I think?
posted by Alterscape at 8:54 AM on June 8 [5 favorites]

Mod note: A couple deleted as"noise." OP, you don't necessarily need to provide more framing for anyone with questions about the post (maybe it's meant to be "people who are already familiar with Spivak's body of work, here's a post for some discussion of that"), but also please don't muddy things up with replies that seem to be just "ha, ha, you don't understand the post," either.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:19 PM on June 8

Alterscape, thank you for your question! i am on a much needed break from being online. i have been thinking about your questions though & wanting to answer more fully. i just don't have the bandwidth (literally, and also somewhat figuratively) right now

it will take a little time to compose a proper response. please rest assured i am thinking about this as i head back towards places where my phone tells me there's "no internet connection"

where would I start for this to make sense?
philosophically, there are many starting points. i hope to be able to provide a few. this specific post was partly inspired by another thread about by GenjiandProust. start there, i'll be back soon 🙂

taz, thanks for deleting. in my rush towards this place away from the internet, any focus of my silliness was philosophy as a solely academic practice. apologies for any possible misinterpretation. i deeply appreciate the work you and everyone else do on this site!
posted by HearHere at 12:00 PM on June 9 [1 favorite]

*pulls up a chair*

i’ll share some of my wilderness reading, from a recent translation of Seneca [gbooks]
“I’m sure you recognize, Lucilius, that no one can live a happy life, or even a bearable life, without philosophy; …Above all, consider whether the progress you have made has been in philosophy, or in life itself. Philosophy is not tricks before an audience, nor is it a thing set up for display. It consists not in words but in actions. One does not take it up just to have an amusing pastime, a remedy for boredom. It molds and shapes the mind, gives order to life and discipline to action… It sits at the helm and steers a course for us who are tossed in waves of uncertainty. Without it, there is no life that is not full of care and anxiety. For countless things happen every hour that need the advice that philosophy alone can give.” [16 (also see letters 53, 76, 90...)]

found i have issues with aspects of Seneca, slavery notably [tho he’s aware enough to say “count your slaves and you count your enemies”]. yet, philosophy as an important part of daily life is a worthy insight, cf. Heraclitus, e.g. quoted by Seneca: “one day is equal to every day.”

Is the framing this opaque as an intentional reference to the Spivak quote about needing to write in an intentionally incomprehensible style to gain respect in continental philosophy?
in letter 58, Seneca says “blame Plato, not me, for the difficulty of the subject” so, yeah, continental philosophy’s been difficult for a while. i’m not trying to be intentionally opaque though, nor do i believe that Spivak was. we both face “politics surrounding the production” (see e.g. deletions above…) it’s complicated.

this is sincere, would someone mind explaining what's going on here for an outsider without context?
Alterscape, your phrasing “TimeCube: The Post” was a marvelously succinct summary of the TimeCube that is Martin Heidegger's book Being and Time, the nominal topic of Of Grammatology; later, Spivak is one of the central figures (along with Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Arjun Appadurai, and others) in establishing Post-Colonial/Critical/Globalization Theory, (though Spivak’s characteristically critical, as the field becomes watered down, later). so, “The Post” was also apropos. though you’re saying you are only passingly familiar with Spivak’s work, that was a quite enjoyable, intuitive way to address some of the problematics of Heidegger’s Nazism. “post-time” could neatly title a survey of Spivak’s work and bookend well with the video linked in the fpp.

a neat painting by Mark Tansey, Derrida Queries de Man [artchive] could be another fine place to start. Paul de Man taught Spivak at Yale. there’s an accessible interview about this, and other things, with Spivak in the LA Review of Books.

i’ve written a much longer draft & would be happy to say more, but i’ll stop for now. please feel free to MeMail me with any more specific questions. honestly, there's just a lot to say
posted by HearHere at 5:39 PM on June 10