Heidegger

On 03/06/2006, at 3:36 AM, That Pete wrote:

>> And why must you prevaricate with the question concerning terror?
>> We’re surrounded by terror nowadays, it seems very popular on all
>> fronts.
>
> I’ve been reading this thread, trying to understand the point you
> are driving at. Is it that every group, nation, and political
> entity has at some point in the past committed some despicable,
> terroristic, or immoral act, so therefore they are all guilty?

Ummm … no. The point I’m driving at is how power relations don’t
intersect with morality, you can get as outraged as you like Pete but
that will only have an effect if it’s en masse and has an impact on
the public debate about matters of national unity and security during
this era of indefinite global war, don’t you think?

The point is also as simple as resorting to violence in order to
procure declining resources and maintain a way of life. When
practical necessity calls for it and the opportunity exists humanity
historically has always resorted to mass murder, rape and
dispossession to maintain the viability of its most profitable
communities. Whether you think this is the essence of our predatory
animality and its potential for evil or not is irrelevant to that
history which is not something merely behind us in a past somewhere
but is the historical foundation of our present reality.

More or less. And quite apart from whether you think its good to
murder your neighbours children or not, what do we moderns do if
predation is already our present and future reality?

Cheers,

Malcolm

***************************
Dr Malcolm Riddoch
Electronic Arts
School of Communications and Contemporary Arts
Faculty of Communications and Creative Industries
Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford St, Mount Lawley
Perth Western Australia
+61 08 9370 6034

Posted on Friday, June 2nd, 2006 at 8:40 pm
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Tags: morality» murder» power»