From: gvcarter-AT-purdue.edu
Date: Wed,  5 Nov 2003 09:54:01 -0500
Subject: Re: what is the posthuman ?



Glen/All,

It probably goes without saying that John Locke's Essay Concerning Human 
Understanding takes up this topic of identical planks in contrast to Eric's 
neat description of a "bricolage assemblage composed of glass, string, wire, 
and rusty cans"--the posthuman as a Rube Goldberg machine!--but for what it's 
worth the chapter on "Identity and Diversity" (pgs. 335-341 in my 1975 Claredon 
Press text) has an explication worth checking out (I think) given Locke's 
willingness to consider question of a Prince inhabiting a Cobbler, whether 
someone "who was perswaded [that] his had been the Soul of Socrates" has any 
merit, and what it would mean for Locke to inhabit two different time periods:

"Had I the same consciousness, that I saw the Ark and Noah's Flood, as that I 
saw an overflowing of the Thames last Winter, or as that I write now, I could 
no more doubt that I, that write this now, that saw the Thames overflow'd last 
Winter, and that view'd the Flood at the general Deluge, was the same SELF, 
place that SELF in what Substance you please, than that I that write this am 
the same MY SELF now whilst I write (whether I consist of all the same 
Substance, material or immaterial, or no) that I was Yesterday" (341).

Derrida, of course, does much with this, particularly the "at-this-very-moment-
that-I-write-stuff" that Locke insists on.

Anyway, perhaps there's some comparisons that might be useful here.  On page 
333 I commend, too, his story about the "sopposition of a rational Parrot."

A Parrot haunts this text like Poe's Raven, which by the way, according to the 
latest issue of Mental Floss magazine is THE SAME bird (named Grip I) who 
appears in his 1841 mystery novel, Barnaby Rudge, and is currently stuffed on 
the shelf at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Rare Books Department which 
stands over the Poe and Dicken's collections.  (Of course, this is old news of 
sorts as hasn't someone this with Flaubert?  ah well...)

best,

geof  


Quoting Glen Fuller <g.fuller-AT-uws.edu.au>:

> Eric,
> 
> That is very interesting and has given me another way to think about what my
> car dudes are doing. What happens when the sailor 'hots up' the boat? haha!
> replaces the parts piecemeal, not with 'identical' parts but parts that are
> different but the same, however, more intensive (or parts that allow for a
> greater flow, a greater intensity). It is a movement from boat to
> 'more-boat-than-boat'. Perhaps, on a scandalous line of thought, would the
> sailor (who builds this hot-rodded boat) be trying to bring the unthought
> into being? But such a movement can never be articulated or even known, it
> continually slides under. That is really what I am thinking about in the
> context of my car dues and their representations of this fragility of being
> in terms of machismo mechanics.
> 
> The tension for me is a question of time, and understandings of the present.
> In a very simple way, is it possible to think of the present in some way
> that isn't the 'future-past'? I don't see this as a radical disaffection due
> to the lack of interest in what comes after or before, rather, it is the
> complete opposite, it is a radical affection for the (moment).
> 
> Ciao,
> Glen.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric" <ericandmary-AT-earthlink.net>
> To: <lyotard-AT-lists.village.Virginia.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 3:47 PM
> Subject: RE: what is the posthuman ?
> 
> 
> > Glen,
> >
> > I recognize this is different in many ways from Deleuze's transcendental
> > empiricism, but something I have thought about lately is an 'ancient'
> > quote from neo-empiricist Quine:
> >
> > "The naturalistic philosopher begins his reasoning within the inherited
> > world theory as a going concern. He tentatively believes all of it, but
> > believes also that some unidentified portions are wrong. He tries to
> > improve, clarity, and understand the system from within. He is the busy
> > sailor adrift on Neurath's boat."
> >
> > The reference to Neurath's boat refers to the logical paradox that if a
> > boat has every board replaced on a piecemeal basis until all the boards
> > have gradually been replaced by new ones, it remains uncertain whether
> > the boat still has the same identity as before or should be seen as
> > something new and different.
> >
> > This can obviously be seen at another level as a metaphor for the body,
> > which we are all told early in grammar school replaces all its cells in
> > a almost biblical cycle of seven years, but, more in line with Deleuze's
> > plaintive question that 'we don't know what a body is capable of?' it
> > also refers to the kind of "make it up as we go along" empiricism that
> > becomes necessary to live in this kind of accelerated world, as though
> > the very earth was now mainlining crystal meth. Faster Pussy Cat Kill
> > Kill.
> >
> > We are now all sailors (or drivers) on Neurath's reckless speedboat.
> >
> > I haven't seen the Matrix 3 or Kill Bill yet, but often wonder what a
> > Kung Fu cowboy out there in the lonesome West is supposed to do, while
> > waiting for the Things from Outside to return again, like they do in a
> > bad H.P. Lovecraft/Foucault spaghetti horse opera.
> >
> > The Buddha rides again at high noon on a black stallion under a neon bo
> > tree; bringing the Dharma to the lawless town. Once upon a time in the
> > East.
> >
> > eric
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> > Version: 6.0.524 / Virus Database: 321 - Release Date: 10/6/2003
> >
> 
>