At 11:12 PM 4/20/01 -0400, Family Man wrote:
>In a message dated 4/20/2001 10:16:12 AM Central Daylight Time,
>illonph@pacbell.net writes:
>
>
>>"It seems ridiculous to me to attempt to study society as a mere observer.
>>He who wishes only to observe will observe nothing, for as he is useless in
>>actual work and a nuisance in recreations, he is admitted to neither. We
>>observe the actions of others only to the extent to which we ourselves
>>act." - Jean Jacque Rousseau
>
>
>BRAVO
>
>HUZZAH
The absurdity is not in mere observation per se, but in *believing* one can
be (i.e. "attempting to study society as") a passive, disinterested,
"objective" observer. Observation is a form of activity, as Rousseau points
out, and a very basic one at that. The ability to observe defines the very
nature of what it means to live [i.e. respond actively in an environment]
(cf. Maturana & Varela, 1980, 1987; Merleau-Ponty, 1961, *hundreds* of
buddhist and islamic authors, numerous scholastics, expressionists, other
phenomenologists besides M-P, anyone who has thought about the difference
between space and time, being and becoming, wave, particle disjunctions etc
etc etc).
Lord, this is an old chestnut.
Too tired.
Phil
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