Re: [xmca] PoTAYto and PoTAHto

Andy,
take a look at people like Emmanuel Levinas or Martin Buber, and you
see that without the third, without this generalized other, which I
denote by Other, no form of mediated relation is possible. I think
you will find in the ideas of Peirce a similar thing, where the very
ability for anything to signify comes with the proliferation of
signifieds, "interpretants," and an unlimited process of semiosis.
The Other, is the generalized other, but is available to us only in
its concrete realizations as an-other. To return to the philosophers,
speech act is a promise, any (Ricœur), and the very idea of the
promise implies the third who is the judge and guardian, for the you
(though) could never hold you to a promise if there were only the
two of you, the I and the Thou. Any speech act therefore implies the
Other. And yet s/he remains hidden, especially in the individualist
discourse that populates even (some of) the messages on this list.
Cheers,
Michael

On 14-Oct-08, at 7:37 AM, Andy Blunden wrote:

I just want to know who this fellow Other is. He seems to be a
powerful character.
andy

ERIC.RAMBERG@spps.org wrote:
> Sounds very much like the Tao, Michael.
>
>
> Wolff-
> Michael
>
> Roth To: Steve Gabosch
> <stevegabosch@me.com>
> <mroth@uvic.ca> cc: "eXtended Mind,
> Culture, Activity"
> <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu> Sent
> by: Subject: Re: [xmca] PoTAYto and
> PoTAHto
> xmca-
> bounces@web
>
> er.ucsd.edu
>
>
>
>
> 10/14/2008
> 09:22
>
> AM
> Please
> respond
> to
> "eXtended
> Mind,
> Culture,
>
> Activity"
>
>
>
>
> Steve,
> it is not just that we strive but that we are part of worldly and
> world-generating events that we have no control over; but this is
> only the effect of the radical passivity that characterizes our
> experience----even if David does not want to admit to it. In the very
> process of writing these words, I am absolutely active writing the
> sentence to become what it will be and absolutely passive with
> respect to the language I realize in writing, for it is a language
> that has come to me from the other, which I use for the other, and
> which therefore returns to the other (pace Derrida). With respect to
> the functioning of the language, the meaning that straddles the
> writer of these lines with the Other more generally, and many other
> things are totally out of my control while they are within. We cannot
> think agency, the fact of writing, without also attending to the
> radically passive elements that come with language, with
> understanding, etc.
> "I . . . I . . . I" there is an ideology that I can do all, that if I
> want I can lift the earth, become a creator of myself . . .. It is an
> ideology (in the positive sense of the word) that is especially
> characteristic of the US (where any hint of assisting the collective
> is stamped and branded as "socialism")
> Michael
> On 14-Oct-08, at 6:13 AM, Steve Gabosch wrote:
> The solution in my mind is that we need to strive to be collective in
> our approach - while individually we sway, in groups we stand a
> better chance against the winds and storms that buffet us in all
> directions. One of course needs to choose the right group that
> corresponds to their core sense of the world, and the right group for
> one's group to work within, perhaps ultimately entailing numerous
> nested groups, (not all of our choice) and then changing groups as
> needed (when possible), but even within such complex situations, we
> still need to rely on others to help us guide ourselves. This means
> needing to cultivate a strong sense of cooperation and teamwork that
> is mixed with straightforward (while hopefully tactful) criticism,
> with the goal of mutual growth and empowerment. (That sounds a bit
> starry-eyed, I admit, but what the hell - cynicism is too easy).
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-- 
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Andy Blunden http://home.mira.net/~andy/ +61 3 9380 9435 Skype  
andy.blunden
Hegel's Logic with a Foreword by Andy Blunden:
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