"For Nietzsche, Bataille, and Blanchot, experience has the function of wrenching the subject from itself, of seeing to it that the subject is no longer itself, or that it is brought to its annihilation or its dissolution. This is a project of desubjectivism."
"...however boring, however erudite my books may be, I've always conceived of them as direct experiences aimed at pulling myself free of myself, at preventing me from being the same."
"Which means that at the end of a book we would establish new relationships with the subject at issue: the I who wrote the book and those who have read it would have a different relationship with madness, with its contemporary status, and its history in the modern world."
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Initiatory Books
Lately I've been thinking of Daniel Quinn's and Derrick Jensen's work somewhat as books of initiation. I've also thought of my struggle to express myself here and in my journal as an initiation also. Why? Because I think Western Civilization is dying. It's at its end. And when the majority of the people in this society don't understand this on a conscious level one needs someone to articulate this to them or they'll think that they are going nuts. And eventually after one has this articulated to them they have the urge to express themselves also. Anyway, I ran across these quotes in A Terrible Love of War by the 20th century philosopher Michael Foucault that rationally explains what I'm getting at.
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2 comments:
On the contrary. Western Civilization is quite healthy. If not, why is the rest of the world copying its structures, its capitalism and democracy. I can't see any other Civilization waiting in the wings ready to take over.
What you are seeing is Western Civilization going through some tough ordeals. But the West has experience similar ordeals before and come through them. Of all the civilization that have existed the Western is the one that has been most resilient and adaptable to change.
Perhaps. I'm not going to get too worked about it. Civilization and capitalism are going to do what they're going to do. It'll be interesting to see how the social structure adapts as time goes on.
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