Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 09:23:59 +0200
Subject: Re: HAB: lessons in Power, Sharon's latest production


Dear Bob,

let me make a quick comment on your post. While I generally agree with you
that what the Israeli military and top politicians did monday night was an
awful thing that no one can condemn strong enough I am still of the opinion 
that
- in itself - this political event has nothing to do with this Habermas 
list. And that
goes for your post as well.
Now that doesnt mean that the event monday night could not BECOME an important
issue on this list - however - that would entail an explication of HOW this 
event
was related to the philosophy of Habermas. It is in my humble opinion - 
extremely
uninteresting to receive a stream of posts condemning the Israeli attack with
comments we all more or less could agree on. This is NOT a list to the 
discussion
of all kinds of political events in themselves - this is a list - I quote - 
"committed to
discussing the issues surrounding any of Habermas's work and concerns."
Now one thing that could be very interesting is your devotion to a postmodern
strand of thought. I wonder why you didn't take time to discuss which 
shortcommings
monday nights event displays in Habermas' general philosophy - things that
cannot be explained in his framework but which would become intelligible in the
light of the postmodern insight that 'Power is the crux of philosophy?'
A post explicating these points would be very interesting and I am sure 
everyone
on the list would benefit from it if you would be so kind to enlighten us.
But my point is just that this is not a list devoted to the discussion of 
random
political events but the discussion of Habermas' work.

Claus


At 07:22 25-07-02, you wrote:
>Claus,
>Each of us wrestles with our angel of philosophy from within his own
>problematizations.  For me, as of course all postmoderns, Power is the crux
>of philosophy, the nothing-ness eclipsing the being of meaning.  So,
>regardless the time or discursive framework, it is always philosophically
>primal to "tell the truth and shame the devil".
>
>The atrocity of monday nite in Gaza City with its aspect of scripted
>hollywood spectacle, the F-16 fired laser-guided 1 ton bomb into densely
>populated neighborhood,...the ploy of baiting a trap with the shredded flesh
>of your enemy's children to provoke him into providing you a pretext for
>killing him, ...nso on, is a rare instance of the presencing of the full
>dimensionality of Power, Sharon's lies, his sang-froid, his bottomless
>cruelty, cowardice, cunning,....  Not often does Power emerge so nakedly as
>to render its darkness this visible.  The event deeply merits thinking;...
>in fact, the omission  were precisely that sin of trahison des clercs
>referred  by  David Hawkes.
>
>Finally, habermas pertains via negativa,  by virtue of the problem of the
>unbridged chasm between enlightenment and Power. How does enlightenment
>thinking, CA,  avoid the nihility of petit bourgeois idealism? So like Raul,
>I'd put it to you, Claus, if unwilling to grapple with the Zionists of this
>world, What redeems Enlightened Reason from insipidity ?
>
>bob
>




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