Heidegger

— michaelP wrote:
> Pete, as rene tirelessly points out again and again, (anti)americanism is
> not (anti-)american; in some sense, perhaps the whole globality is nothing
> but an americanism (whether pro or contra);

The Mitchell paper makes the same point. I think it’s in the Der Spiegel
interview where Heidegger says that Americans’ philosophy is more
properly pragmatism, rather than americanism. No wonder so many complain
about his misleading neologisms…

> the question for me is: what is
> it (wrt the americanist globality) that is neither pro nor contra
> americanism? That is: how is it possible to see americanism (where “see” is
> more than simple recognition)? where is the seeing done from that can espy
> americanism (with its pros and contras)? [Perhaps this is a bit like asking
> for that (newtonian) observer that actually sees the earth orbit the sun and
> actually sees all bodies moving for ever in a straight line at constant
> velocity, er, unless acted on by a force…]

I don’t think there’s a single answer for wht Americans act the way
they do because there never is for something complicated, (and man’s
finitude precludes it) but its definately helpful to listen to what
Americans have to say, look for the simplest explanations for the
what motivates them, and avoid trying to coerce the facts into
ideological frameworks or other systems. Capitalism and self interest
are a large part of explanation, so definately follow the money, but
don’t stop for conspiracy theories. The behavior of their
corporations is more simply explained as attempts to increase share
values, than as a xtian fundamentalist master plan to create an
empire.

On the other hand, to understand anti-americanism, what others
mean by it, you do have to consider the ideologies they espouse
in order to make sense of what they are referring to. That’s a
start, but most important is to look at what motivates them.
Thus, anti-americanism is likely to reveal more about the people
that express it, than about America itself.

Posted on Monday, June 5th, 2006 at 3:30 am
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