in which i say a little bit

[molishka]

In an attempt to clear my head and end writer’s block. [Things Are What You Make of Them - Bishop Allen] I’ve never been so stuck on something I love. And I do love Gadamer, but somehow, nothing comes. I’ve been sitting here since 3:30 and written barely two pages. I haven’t stopped staring and thinking, but I’m no longer lucid. And that’s okay, writing this midterm doesn’t really require lucidity at this point, just some sort of structure. Some sort of word flooding page business. But nothing coming, nothing coming. (my memory well she was packing / and I knew she would never come back / she handed me a letter and then she vanished in the black // And the letter said things are what you make of them / things are what you make of them / and you know what I mean / yeah you know what I mean) I’ve fallen in love. It’s great. And I am happy. I like dancing around to words. I am enjoying my life, there is not really any aspect that frustrates me. I’ve been relearning that people are unreliable. And the one’s that aren’t, well there is a reason they stick to me. [Pablo Picasso - Citizen Cope] And that’s another thing. Constant unreliability. That’s bullshit. I’m glad I have (for some odd reason they keep calling you a painting) found the good people. And I’m sure I will have them always. It’s keeping me alive to have those few. Like the recreation of JesMol. Constant postcard relations with Elisa. And mi Jaime. Those John’s that infuse my life with goodness. (It’s true what they say, two johns do make a right) [Empire City - Bishop Allen] But I’m digressing; there’s a reason for being alive. And if I could just introduce Gadamer to the conversation, my paper might write itself on accident. All I have to say is that I have four questions, a four day extension, and less than four pages written thus far. But, let us not forget that I did turn in a forty page paper on last Sunday, which is worth celebrating. I love this project. I am ambitious and learning so much about the relations between art and politics. [the bear - My Morning Jacket] And I feel like I’m making progress. You can’t help but feel proud as you write a real research paper. Alive and smiley. I have been getting rejected. This is the week for that I suppose. Rejection. And I will deal with it. Some day I may even talk about specifics. Although it remains unlikely. So, one of the questions is “Focusing on the notion of phronesis, explain how Gadamer’s hermeneutics can be understood as practical philosophy.” To this I say, it takes time to understand. Gadamer recognizes this when he suggests that the important thing is being aware and open to the other. Also, Gadamer never wanted to present a philosophy which, like Kant’s, was not applicable to life. Heidegger (I think) talks about [Charm School - Bishop Allen] how philosophical thought comes from practical and then, in turn, must return to practical life. This means that philosophy can’t be about …well about things that can’t be practiced. You have to be able to live philosophy, not just talk about it. Which does not seem brilliant, but it is. [Rendezvous Potrero Hill - Architecture in Helsinki] “Practice, as the character of being alive, stands between activity and situatedness.” [Bullet and a Target - Citizen Cope] So, what am I saying. Ok, so, you have an opinion. And you acknowledge that it is completely different from the other opinion’s surrounding you. So if you hold tightly to your opinion, you won’t grow or understand. Ok, this is obvious, but somehow still the main point. But where was the question again? Ah yes, I want to look at how thoughtful [It 5 - Architecture in Helsinki] reflection can help understand Gadamer’s hermeneutics as practical for every day life. [Like Dylan in the Movies - Belle and Sebastian] Like I said, this is just not happening. I know what is being said, but can’t seem to verbalize in a useful way. I hate feeling like I’m just summarizing notes from class - which, in my case, are basically verbatim Risser. That’s not anything new or substantial. And so I return to my books, consider what I’ve learned. Question myself. What am I? Who am I? What happens in the sky. I need to be done with this and the pace is halting and slow. I don’t feel like I know this well enough. I can’t summarize. Deep breath. And of course I can do this. I’ve done it before. I know how to write. I know how to explain philosophy. I still love this, even in the stress. And it does make me frustrated that my fun class has me all up in arms, but sometimes the things that are fun get unfun because of timelines or stress. But seriously, I’m still alive. [Boys You Won’t - the Wrens] So let me walk myself through questions and answers. If this is not fun, there’s a reason I’m doing this. So, “Hermeneutics as Practical Philosophy” talks about the history of more practical hermeneutics. And [She’s Losing It - Belle and Sebastian] he traces the way hermeneutics grew from a specialized area of study applied only to the fields of law and religion, to a broad field covering, well, all understanding. So, how does he do this? He starts by talking about the original meaning behind philosophy, according to Aristotle. How philosophy is science, and is practical. But then the idea of “practice” came to be attached to more negative things like compromise or haphazardness (which, no are not bad in and of itself, but the connotations shifted too) via the enlightenment’s love affair with the scientific method. [Ghost’s Are Good Company - Bishop Allen] So what is practice then? What does it mean and what does it mean for philosophy? Practice is “the actuation of life.” Which, for philosophy means the kind of philosophy that can be acted upon in life. (and then I’ll change my ways before me ways change me) This also means that there should be an awareness of preferences, that they exist. [The Cemetery - Architecture in Helsinki] [Girl Inform Me - the Shins] Clearly, I’m being productive. So, yes. “As the theory of interpretation or explication, it is not just a theory. From the most ancient times right down to our days, hermeneutics quite clearly has claimed that its reflection upon the possibilities, rules, and means of interpretation is immediately useful and advantageous…” [Black Cadillacs - Modest Mouse] It’s useful in theology, religion. Then, there was a new interest in classic texts. And all of a sudden, hermeneutics can move beyond specifics and into all texts. Huzzah. [Saint Simon - The Shins] However, even this surge in interest in hermeneutics stemming from the interest in classics failed to connect explicitly hermeneutics and practical philosophy. And then suddenly the connection was made. And it implied “a totally new concept of understanding and self-understanding.” Because remember, all understanding is a sort of self-understanding. Which (this is a digression) is different than narcissism. Because with narcissism, your world is always small because you define things based on yourself. With the self-understanding Gadamer is talking about, it’s more about being open to the other in a way that acknowledges your prejudices without letting them stand in your way of learning. Ok. So this is kind of helping me think, but not helping my paper. [Do the Whirlwind - Architecture in Helsinki] Maybe I’ll keep going though, because what can it hurt, at least my fingers will be moving. And maybe something will come out on accident. [The Seed 2.0 - the Roots] “Self-understanding is always on-the-way; it is on a path whose completion is a clear impossibility.” “The task of understanding is not merely that of clarifying the deepest unconscious grounds motivating our interest but above all that of understanding and explicating them in the direction and limits indicated by our hermeneutic interest.” [Maybe You Can Owe Me - Architecture in Helsinki] “Understanding, like action, always remains a risk…..where it is successful, understanding means a growth in inner awareness.” “Hermeneutics has to do with a theoretical attitude toward the practice of interpretation.” “heightened theoretic awareness about the experience of understanding and the practice of understanding, like philosophical hermeneutics and one’s own self-understanding, are inseparable.” [Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine] Take, what, seven? For Gadamer, … ok. So maybe I need a different question. What about this: Give an account of the problem of truth in art, and then explain in detail how Gadamer is able to “retrieve” the question of truth. Specifically, address the questions of how play is a clue to an ontological explanation of the work of art and hot the work of art is to be thought ontologically as “image” and “presentation.” Right? Right. [Bishop Allen Drive - Bishop Allen] So first of all, truth in art demands different understanding than truth in the natural sciences. Because a priority was set during the Enlightenment for universal truths based on the scientific method, certain ideas were ascribed to truth as requirements, like evidentiary proof and occurrences, such as experiments, that can be repeated to yield the same results. However, within the human sciences, the idea of creating a set of rules does not make sense because they are not based on generalities, but instead on unique cases. This means that an understanding of the human sciences must be found elsewhere. [The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - Postal Service] In an attempt to give a theory for understanding art, the idea of abstraction and approaching the piece untouched was suggested. However, Gadamer critiques this position because it is impossible to come into an experience without your past experiences. So the problem becomes how truth can be found in art without turning it into something skewed by the viewer projecting understanding onto the art. To find truth in art, Gadamer suggests a hermeneutical approach, bringing art into the definition of texts. He believes that if one views art as an experience not “falsified by being turned into a possession of aesthetic culture” it is possible to gain an understanding of art. So how do you gain this understanding? What must be done? [Quarter to Three - Bishop Allen] [What’s In Store - Architecture in Helsinki] (that’s why when we get together / there’s no need to be clever) I don’t know what I’m doing, but it’s not philosophy. I’ve never been this stuck before. Clearly I haven’t been engaged enough. Despite my love, I have not been dedicated to Gadamer. But I don’t know if I quite buy that because I have been reading and understanding it all. Something just screams at me. My writing is boring and dry, and I want to be proclaiming the radicalism of Gadamer. But [You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies - Simon and Garfunkel] what can be done? I keep trying. I am going to go directly to a question and write for fifteen minutes. Then I’ll return here and report. Ok, so I’m starting over. I sat still for six minutes, and though it was extremely strange for me, I didn’t get anything done. [Son’s Gonna Rise - Citizen Cope] So I have at least notes for each one. Granted, of four, I have one note on one, three on another, a page written for the other, and two whole pages written for the fourth. I have never been so deliriously incapable of writing. I don’t quite know what to do other than be distracted by typing only. I am not looking around on the internet. I am not reading something else. I am only going through my philosophy books. And typing notes, and thinking about progress. Man, this is tiring. And frustrating. Maybe someone will call. I’m not sure what to do. I mean, approaching my prof and talking about how I somehow cannot focus and I am sorry that’s the case but I can’t even bullshit…I don’t know how that will go over. I’ve never been very good at bullshitting, because I don’t have patience to write about something that is just blowing steam. What is the point of that? If I don’t have something to say, then it means I’m missing something about the subject. But now I don’t even know where to start. The combination of overwhelming and tiredness and burnt out on thinking is going to get to me. And maybe, nothing is getting to me and that’s why I have writer’s block.

another update may be in order one day soon.