Re: Quote (Umberto Eco)
George K. Cunningham (gkcunn01 who-is-at ulkyvm.louisville.edu)
Sat, 29 Aug 1998 19:56:32 -0400
At 10:55 AM 8/28/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi everyone, Here is a quote from Umberto Eco's book "Foucault's Pendulum"
>reminescent of Vygotsky's words on meaning and meaning of words.
>
>"The Torah allows a word to come out of its coffer; the word appears for
>a moment, then hides immediately. It is revealed only for a moment and only
>to its lover. It's a beautiful woman who hides in a remote chamber of her
>palace. she waits for one whose existence nobody knows of. If another
tries to
>take her, to put his dirty hands on her, she dismisses him. She knows her
>beloved; she opens the door just a little, shows herself, and immediately
hides
>again. The word of the torah reveals itself only to him who loves it. "
>
Foucalt was an odious man who believed in terrorism and the killing of the
enemies of the people. He favored retribution, a bloody, dictatorship, and
the
parading of heads on sticks. He rejected references to standards of justice
and reveled in blood and physical cruelty. He also was a defender of
Khomeinis regime in Iran. He ended up in the gay sado-masochistic
sub-culture
of Northern California. He succumbed to AIDs in San Francisco in 1984, still
skeptical of the scientific explanations of the cause of that disease that
were
just beginning to be understood. He asserted that science was a socially
constructed set of beliefs dominated by power structures, bureaucracy, and the
state. It is not surprising that he would actively oppose the closing of the
bathhouses that were then believed to be a major breeding ground for the
disease. One of the last quotes attributable to Foucalt was, To die loving
boys: what could be more beautiful.
Great guy.