Subject: Re: Zollikon: Unconscious
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 06:05:55 -0800




Michael,

Getting back to your posting, you wrote that:



...beings show themselves off  as what they are in the open dimension of
being's truth.

>>> Why "showing-off" instead of "showing"?

One could say that this is  the showing-off of beings in the third person.
(This is a key to thinking beings in the valuableness, their worth.)

>>> You lost me here. First person as "I am." Second person as "You are."
Third person as "They are." How does this tie into thinking beings in their
valuableness?

But there is also the showing-off of beings in the first person for the
second  person,

>>>Woops. Perhaps an example would help.

that is to say, human beings too show off in the openness of  being's  truth
for each other. In fact, human beings _are_ such only in their  showing off.
In my view and to my mind, the insight into the showing-off of human  beings
is the phenomenological key to thinking through human interplay or
togetherness,  i.e. Mitsein or 'intersubjectivity' in multiple scare quotes.

>>> What are "multiple scare quotes"?

Phenomena  such as  vanity/modesty, flattery, persuasion, social
standing/falling, depression,  etc. have to be rethought in the light of
this insight into showing-off in the dimension of _alaetheia_.

>>>Yes, I think this is very important. My daughter had a philosophy test
the other day, a final in her class. Really, a single question (at root) was
asked by the teacher. It was: "What difference does all this make to you?"
So he was asking if and how the questions of the class, the struggle with
the semester's thinking, made (if any) to the personal experience of the
student. A pretty tough question to answer, I think. But I ask the same
question of my self often. Now that I have understood a bit more...taken one
more step along the road...what difference does it make to me, in my life,
with my dealings with others...the beings of the world, my self casting?
These issues of modesty, and flatery etc. hit home directly.


Human being is not only marked by exposure to the play of truth and untruth,
but  also the interplay of human beings is beset by their necessary,
compulsive showing-off in the striving to stand and _be_ somebody.

Nobody wants to see the phenomenon of being somewho, for it is an assault on
the vanity of being somebody.

>>>I missed something here. Think you missed this world "somewho". What word
did you have in mind?

And yet, it is wise to recall the 53rd. fragment  of Herakleitos: _polemos
panton men pataer_,  Strife/war/polemic is the  father of all..." Strife
here is the struggle to allow a phenomenon to show itself, for it  > to be
seen. To see a phenomenon means to see it in its being. This requires
learning to think, which is much  different from trusting in an authority
such as  Heidegger or anyone else, following faithfully in their footsteps.

>>>On the whole, this section of your posting is quite dense and hard to
follow. Could you spoon-feed me a little?

Michael S.




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