[Read
the following question in the Carrie from Sex and the City journalism
format please...]
In
these postmodern times we can find a new richness in meaning to the
old tradition of desire?
Okay,
so this sort of question is really Carrie Bradshaw's style; however,
if prompted I would answer that we feel the pain of want more often
and more fiercely today. Whether this does or should permeate and
even drive philosophical inquiry is maybe another matter to take up.
Desire's particularly interesting character lies in that it is a
longing for what is not; the notion that human beings can be so
compelled by what isn't is rather extraordinary. My initial reaction
however is one of sadness because to know that human existence is
driven out of absence comes with a profound feeling of solitude. I
find the discussion of the Cartesian ideal about philosophical
autonomy relevant here. I don't prescribe to a particular standpoint
with regards to an autonomous philosophy; however, it does seem to me
that it is possible that philosophy is a way of reaching out towards
others from a place of solitude. Perhaps the original lack that we
feel is an absence of others and then maybe of an Other, who help to
alleviate feelings of solitude by supplanting them feelings of
purpose or direction. One of the best ways to ensure a long lasting
connection and guard from feelings of absence is to ensure it in the
preservation of ideas, the philosopher’s fecundity.
Philosophy
is Eros because it is the search for that which will never be
realized. Human existence is Eros by nature because we are driven
towards that which we will and never could see completed. I believe
that there is sadness in this notion and beauty as well. That is, if
all that we have created for ourselves has been out of a feeling of
lack that can never quite be satisfied. If the absence that we desire
is characteristic of the Good and if it's beauty that we are disposed
to crave, this picture for me becomes more palatable. In relationship
to the idea of solitude, it seems that being able to commune with the
Good, this ultimate Other, would be the most satisfactory completion
of our desire because it is the lack of the Other's presence that we
feel so deeply. It appears that we are searching for a perfection
that couldn't possibly be found in the realm of existence, yet it is
precisely because we feel its absence so strongly that we know of its
possibility.
I
am reminded of the Kabbalist origin story told by Isaac Luria. The
story goes that in the beginning everything was God and it was
perfect; however, if God takes up all the space in the universe,
there is no room to create within this God's infinitude. The first
act of creation is then an act of retraction. In this negative God
space, God places the vessels that contain the elements of creation
and into the vessels God puts the divine light. Yet, these vessels
cannot contain the divine the light and so the vessels shatter. What
is then left are sparks of the divine which are contained within
everything. According to this story any act of creation first
requires a contraction or absence, yet what motivates this creation
is an inspiration via “light”.
Perhaps
it is relevant that since I am not a religious person my first
intuition upon dealing with God language is to attempt to secularize
it. I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing because we
often employ difficult words such as God, when we have
representations of beauty all around us, though I do think that there
is inspiration in our desiring what is un-worldly beautiful. I
believe that we're pre-disposed towards what is Beautiful or Good,
and that it is able to provide us with a sense of meaning that draws
us out from feelings of solitude is wonderful. That we are constantly
desiring what is impossibly Good in that it is unobtainable, is even
more wonderfully human.
----------------------
This
entry is adapted from a response paper I wrote for grad school. Oh
yeah, I'm in grad school now for philosophy... anyways, I thought it
might work for this blog as well!
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