Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 12:49:42 -0400
From: edwin ruda <edwin.ruda-AT-verizon.net>
Subject: Good/Evil-Repeat


Intro:     Hope this imessage is more readable than former copy. 
             Please excuse the presence of Nichi (my favorite 
             pseudonym), on the Heidegger site. A ficticious dialogue 
             with him seemed appropriate at the time.

             A  Play-full Act of Words, Not War                 

Nichi;      I told you long ago, ask yourself who's asking the
             questions, and
             who's answering, a case of questions chasing question marks.

ER:        We have a down-to-earth crisis here, Fred, I mean if we don't 
             get answers soon, we won't be asking questions either.

Nichi:     OK Edoepus, what's the question?

ER:        For starters, who's the culprit here? You know - it looks
             like the old case of a crow judging a beauty contest; 
             a crow always takes first prize while the doves cry, 
            "bad judgment." Only what we have here I'm afraid, is a 
             life-death deal, not a good-looks prize.

Nichi:     First question: Ask yourself whether your judgment or the
             enemy's judgment is good or evil.

ER:        I say mine is like a shining rainbow, and theirs a blacked
             out Hell in the waters of Lethe. And they say the opposite.

Nichi:     Stop right there! Let's chuck the image-concepts and get to
             the nitty-gritty. What's at stake here is nothing less than 
             LIFE itself, whether you want to preserve, enhance, and 
             enrich it, or if you're willing to smother it.

ER:        Not so fast with the "good life" thesis. Suicide martyrs may 
             sacrifice themselves and others for the sake of a truth
             concept, but their judgment to die is made for the sake of the
             OTHER so that the lives of others will thrive.            
 
Nichi:     I'll say it again - forget "true" and "false" moral judgments,
             kid, they're only images of the world that philosophers invent
             to suit their own moral values.
             

ER:        What would the Oedipus question be, then?

Nichi:     It's still a question of L-I-F-E. not a rehash of the defunct,
             plebeian virtues of "equality before the law." What Man
             needs, is an extravaganza of LIFE, not a flattened
             yeasaying to uniformity.

ER:        What about a good war in the name of LIFE?

Nichi:      Not my cup of tea. A high-spirited warrior is not your
              slavishly, imitative, patriot, soldier. On that score,
              here's an old quote of mine: "Your enemy you shall seek, 
              your war you shall wage ---for your thoughts."

ER:        I'll think about it.


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