Heidegger

>Allen,
>
>I remember having a brief discussion with you on
>Spinoza a long time ago. Can’t remember what I
>said but I do remember it held the aproval of my
>understanding.

Isn’t it interesting that we can remember
undergoing a particular sort of experience of
language, in this case an experience of
Sichverstehen, (I remember it the same,” a
Sichverstehen of a Sichverstehen”!) without
remembering the content. I don’t mean to make
too much of this, but I have this experience
quite often.

It brings to mind a few things. First
Heidegger’s formale Anzeige, where the form
performs a function irrespective of the content.
It’s what Kenneth Burke called the symbolic
function of language, i.e. rhetoric. It’s
something like music where form satisfies certain
“appetites.” Spinoza would probably think of
such linguistic pleasures as part of the disease
of the imagination. If we could only just think!

>Continuing to try to bring this closer to
>Spinoza, the rhetorical experience of language
>is constituted by our “capacity to be affected.”
>which Spinoza, as per the text below, would
>characterize as passive:

>”I say that we are passive
> Bk.XIV:2:1891.
> as regards something when that something takes place with-
>
>
> in us, or follows from our nature externally, we being only
> the { inadequate, } partial cause
>{ that is not clearly and distinctly
understood. }”

The rhetorical dimension of language is “of
language,” we being only partially at cause and
not clearly able to understand. What I’m trying
to say here is that in some, or large part we are
subject to language and can act only through it.
I don’t think even Spinoza’s artful attempt to
contain language within a geometric frame
outsmarts the determination of language to force
its will upon us.

I think the best we can do under the
circumstances is to think language as such,
language as it wants to be thought, observing our
capacity to be affected even as it is being
affected.

I think Spinoza’s capacity to be affected is a
gift, to him and to us. But I wouldn’t know any
of this were it not for Deleuze.

At any rate, Tympan, thanks for the luscious
serving of Spinoza you offered and Merry
Christmas, “if that would be fitting to the
occasion.”(quote adapted from the original
Dickens) And to the rest of you.

Allen

>I came across this hypertext of Spinoza which is
>good for exploring him through the good linking
>it provides. For instance I was clicking on the
>links stemming from this text where it says
>”small print, logical index”:
>
>Def. II. (1) I say that we act when anything takes place, either within
> us or externally to us, whereof we are the adequate cause;
> that is (by the foregoing definition) when through our nature
> something takes place within us or externally to us, which
> can through our nature alone be clearly and distinctly under-
> stood {PcM}. (2) On the other hand,
>3P1; 4P2, 5, 15, 23, 33, 35, 35C1, 52, 61, 64.
>
>
>http://www.yesselman.com/e3elwes.htm
>
>I don’t know if the above link takes you to the
>exact line but there it is. I was following it
>just because it said what I always remember
>Spinoza to say. For him it’s about learning to
>be more active rather than passive. So… he
>writes
>
>
>
>Self-approval is pleasure arising from a man’s contem-
>
>plation of himself and his own power of action (De.xxv.). (2) But a
>
>man’s true power of action—or virtue is reason herself (III:iii.), as the
>
>said man clearly and distinctly contemplates
>her (II:xl., II:xliii.); there-
>
>fore self-approval arises from reason. (52:3) Again, when a man is con-
>
>templating himself, he only perceived clearly and distinctly or ade-
>
>quately, such things as follow from his power of action (III:Def.ii..),
>
>that is (III:iii.), from his power of understanding; therefore in such con-
>
>templation alone does the highest possible self-approval arise. Q.E.D.
>
>
>This is what makes a person happy rather than
>depressed and wanting to do nothing and risk
>even less. Virtue is power that resists the
>influence of the passions on the will or resists
>an external power. This makes us happy which is
>an emotion but one that we are the adequate
>cause of or one that we come to understand. He
>writes,
>
>Def. III. By emotions I mean the modifications of the body, whereby
> { The feelings are
> the active power of said body is increased or diminished,
> °JOY or °SORROW. }
> aided or constrained, and also
>]together with[ the ideas E2:2P24-32
> of such modifications. E3:Endnote GN:2; 3P14.
>
> { efficient cause }
>N.B. If we can be the adequate cause of any of these modifica-
> tions, I then call the emotion an activity, otherwise I call it
> a passion, or state wherein the mind is passive.
>
>
>So “joy” is an energetic activity that makes us
>want to do stuff whereas passion is a depressing
>emotion that makes us passive. Our own
>self-image is certainly enhanced as we know from
>observing the experience of happiness.
>
>
>Self-approval is in reality the highest object
>for which we Mark Twain
>
>can hope. (5) For (as we showed in IV:xxv.) no one endeavours to pre-
> [
>end ]
>serve his being for the sake of any ulterior object, and, as this
>
>approval is more and more fostered and strengthened by praise
>
>(III:liii.Coroll.), and on page 223 the
>contrary (III:lv.Coroll.) is more and
> ] honor [
>more disturbed by blame, fame becomes the most powerful of incite-
>
>ments to action, and life under disgrace is almost unendurable.
>
>
>
>And.. one last quote:
>
>Honour is pleasure accompanied by Wolf:ST:17-1
>the idea of some action of our own,
>which we believe to be praised by
>others. { Ambition, E3:XXX(4):150, E4:LVIII:226 } 4P49, 58; 5P36S.
>
>
>
>
>Tympan
>
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Posted on Sunday, December 24th, 2006 at 4:10 am
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