[Xmca-l] Re: Lloyd Alexander on becoming (and Heidegger?)

[mike cole]

"For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are."

Here is an interesting line of access to thinking about such times.

Victor is 3-4 years old and he has a favorite toy. A stick with a soft toy
horse's head
on it. The "horse" (stick with head) is named Trigger. Everywhere Victor
goes, Trigger goes
with him. Until they go to a fancy restaurant. Victor is told that on this
occasion, Trigger
will have to remain at home. To which Victor replies, "But without Trigger,
I am only Victor."

True story.
mike

On Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 4:09 PM, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I didn't want to hijack mike's thread but his comment reminds me of Lord
> Dallben's line to the Princess Eilonwy as she sets off on a quest (from
> Lloyd Alexander's children's classic Castle of Llyr) and which seems to
> point to the paradox* of being and becoming:
>
> "For each of us comes a time when we must be more than what we are."
>
> And this to the notion of "becoming" - perhaps someone out there could help
> me with the literature on "becoming"?
>
> (I would add that Heidegger is quite critical of "becoming" - He has a
> quote about us becoming "who we already are" - I'm not entirely sure that I
> understand Heidegger's point - perhaps someone can help).
>
> -greg
>
>
> *NB: this is paradoxical only if one understands being as a self-contained
> thing. If being is social and caught up with others, then the paradox would
> be flipped - how is it that being could possible remain constant if social
> contexts are constantly changing. That seems perhaps the more serious
> question to ask.
>
>
>
> --
> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Anthropology
> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
> Brigham Young University
> Provo, UT 84602
> http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
>



-- 

All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable which makes
you see something you weren't noticing which makes you see something
that isn't even visible. N. McLean, *A River Runs Through it*