File spoon-archives/heidegger.archive/heidegger_2003/heidegger.0305, message 243


Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 11:39:45 +0200
From: artefact-AT-t-online.de (Michael Eldred)
Subject: Re: thinking in style


Cologne 30-May-2003

allen scult schrieb  Thu, 29 May 2003 13:53:19 -0500:

>> Cologne 29-May-2003
>>
>> Kenneth Johnson schrieb  Wed, 28 May 2003 13:35:45 -0700:
>>
>> > >But I want to say "I like Heidegger's style."  By which I mean to
>>
>> > >say, the way he speaks, the way he says things.  And I will argue
>>
>> > >(somewhere, sometime) that this affection, appreciation, even
>> love I
>> > >have for Heidegger means something in the end.  Because as Dylan
>> says
>> > >somewhere:
>> > >
>> > >You got to serve somebody,
>> > >everybody's got to serve somebody,
>> > >it may be the devil,
>> > >or it may be the lord,
>> > >but you got to serve somebody. . .
>> > >
>> > >Regards,
>> > >
>> > >Allen
>> >
>> > he says it on "slow train coming', and this album was the end of
>> dylan as
>> > something that mattered to the strong life force, that rare part
>> of this
>> > force that looked ahead with vision. it was rather the death knell
>> of
>> > anything visionary from him.
>> >
>>
>> You mean rather "Serve yourself"? Help your self? To come to a
>> stand.
>> Nietzsche calls this "Eitelkeit" -- "vanity", a positive force in
>> human being.
>
>  Hi Michael, If I understand you,I agree that the vanity of whichyou
> speak can be a positive force in philosophizing.  It leadsone to risk
> speaking while still unsure what one is saying, and,of course, to
> speak as if one is more sure than one is (while not toosure).  Said
> vanity also spurs one to speak as though what they have to sayis of
> value to a given community (of philosophers, say).  Nietzsche, bless
> his heart,took what we might call "the vain style" further than one
> would think possible, and pulledit off, thereby achieving what he
> himself called "the grand style": "The grand style consists in
> contempt for the trivial and brief beauty;it is a sense for what is
> rare and what lasts long" But the Dylan quote refers to what is
> required to fully appreciate, perhapseven to understand, philosophy
> that is written in the the vain, if not the grand style.And that is
> love, which among other things, leads one to retract one's critical
> fangs, and to drawcloser and closer to the worded body of the master,
> that is, Dasein as being-with. . .somebody.  Andthe open-ness of
> being-with can come to implicate you in the being of the other, such
> that you findyourself drawing up alongside, catching up to the other
> who has "leaped ahead."  And so you choose to be in service to  the
> other.  Better out of love, than out of. . .Well here's the rest of
> the song, so you can judge for yourself who's right, and who owes
> whom:

Gruess Dich, Allen!

I think one (I) can read Nietzsche's "Eitelkeit" as a central
phenomenon, and that not just for philosophers. It kinda stands out in
"Menschliches, Allzumenschliches" -- along with "Ehre" (honour),
"Schmeichelei" (flattery) and suchlike.

Exempli gratia,
"Crossing vanities. -- Two persons meeting each other whose vanities are
equal in size have a bad impression of each other afterwards because
each was so preoccupied with the impression which he/she wanted to make
on the other that the other did not make any impression on them; both
finally notice that their efforts have been misplaced and blame the
other for it." (I 338)

All too human!

What I've been trying to say these past years: Not only beings show
themselves of themselves as what they are, but we human beings show
ourselves off as who we are. Such showing off can be mere vanity (an
inappropriate, falsely appropriated mask), or it can be genuine vanity,
i.e. the self-confidence to show oneself off in the defining stand which
one has been able to fashion for one's self -- by courtesy, of course,
of the open nothingness of being. Being vain -- standing presence
appropriately adopted.

Perhaps we need to learn to enjoy showing off to each other, not taking
ourselves too seriously in doing so. And perhaps we need to encourage
each other to risk casting and defining our very own stands in the
world.

One detects in Nietzsche's late writings that he is on the slipway to
madness in the way he shows off, overexposing his self to the world.

Michael
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>
> You may be an ambassador to England or France,
> You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
> You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
> You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
>
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody,
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
>
> You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage,
> You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
> You may be a business man or some high degree thief,
> They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
>
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody,
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
>
> You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk,
> You may be the head of some big TV network,
> You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
> You may be living in another country under another name
>
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody,
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
>
> You may be a construction worker working on a home,
> You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
> You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
> You might be somebody's landlord, you might even own banks
>
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody,
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
> You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
> You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
> You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
> You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir
>
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody,
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
>
> Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk,
> Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk,
> You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread,
> You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed
>
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody,
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
>
> You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,
> You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,
> You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray,
> You may call me anything but no matter what you say
>
> You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
> You're gonna have to serve somebody.
> Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
> But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
>
>
> Regards, Allen
>
> --
>
> Allen ScultDept. of Philosophy
> HOMEPAGE: " Heidegger on Rhetoric and Hermeneutics":Drake University
> http://www.multimedia2.drake.edu/s/scult/scult.htmlDes Moines, Iowa
> 50311
> PHONE: 515 271 2869
> FAX: 515 271 3826






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