File spoon-archives/heidegger.archive/heidegger_2003/heidegger.0303, message 322


From: "Anthony Crifasi" <crifasi-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Anthony Crifasi's justification for war
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 04:28:18 +0000


Malcolm Riddoch wrote:

>Are you seriously claiming that you and the US administration have 
>surpassed metaphysics and entered a post-Heideggerrean epoch of morality 
>beyond will to power?

Geez Malcolm, ethics did not have to wait for Levinas it to be ethics! Just 
as Dasein did not have to wait for Heidegger before its essence could be 
existence! Your talking as if Levinas suddenly "transformed" ethical 
phenomena through his analysis. That's like saying that Heidegger suddenly 
transformed every Dasein's essence into existence with his analysis! The 
phenomena have been there, so George Bush does not have to know Levinas in 
order for Levinas to apply to what he is doing! Just as my essence was still 
existence even before I studied Heidegger.

Anthony Crifasi

>You are laughable sometimes Anthony, and your logical retreats are 
>superficial in the extreme and boxing you into an absurdity.
>
>I can't see how your justifications for war based on the legalities of UN 
>resolutions and the need to suppress 'untrustworthy' states are anything 
>other than simple conservative arguments for the use of violence. 
>Especially since the US administration does not recognise the authority of 
>the UN or the jurisdiction of any international court, it recognises only 
>its own authority, which is the authority of the US president, and it has 
>the power to assert this authority no matter what you or I think about 
>justice. Where is the Levinasian ethics here?
>
>Traditional notions of justice are guaranteed by an authority such as god 
>or a belief in the inviolability of human rights. Heidegger points out that 
>these are nothing more than an assertion of will to power, and all major 
>power elites now explicitly guarantee their own justice and truth without 
>recourse to these traditional notions except where propaganda and the 
>control of public opinion is concerned. It is a simple statement of fact 
>that the the US administration has declared a global war on terror with the 
>intent to realign the geopolitical order for this next century, and without 
>regard to notions of justice or morality except where global and especially 
>domestic public opinion is concerned. It recognises no authority apart from 
>its own, it is enforcing that authority at the moment without regard to 
>anyone except its domestic constituency, and this enforcement will change 
>the geopolitical order into the next century. It's called a 'war on terror' 
>and the battle for Baghdad is just the second campaign in a publicly stated 
>US war plan that encompasses Iran and North Korea.
>
>Your puerile justifications for this realignment are meaningless cos they 
>have no power to justify anything. But they can influence public opinion, 
>and in the end it is US public opinion that will judge George W. Bush and 
>his Republican war at the next election. Your justifications are not 
>philosophical, they are Gerede. But this is where I see Levinas' notion of 
>morality coming into play because world public opinion does have an 
>influence on US domestic opinion, and if 'we' care for the other 'they' 
>will argue for world peace, the equitable distribution of wealth and an end 
>to all suffering (deep ecology anyone?). This is the stuff of Levinasian 
>ethics and all you are doing is parroting the dominant propaganda. The US 
>administration does not need your help in this matter, it controls a vast 
>corporate media machine that is doing the job quite well already, at least 
>in the US market and while the body bags and burnt babies are kept to a 
>manageable PR level.
>
>Regards,
>
>Malcolm
>
>
>
>     --- from list heidegger-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---


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