Golo Mann: The History of Germany since 1789 – Part II: from 1890 to 1933

 

Introduction

It has been some time since I published the first part of Golo Mann’s “History of Germany since 1789”, covering the period from Napoleon to the end of Bismarck’s rule.  In today’s post I will continue sharing with you some quotes from the book, which I consider one of the best history books on Europe. The original’s title is “Deutsche Geschichte des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts”, first published in German in 1958. I use the English translation by Marian Jackson, reprinted by Penguin Books in 1990. For ease of reference, in each quote I will use  the page number of the 1990 reprint.

This is the second part, covering the period from 1890 to the rise of Hitler and Nazism to power (January 1933).

The third part will cover the period from January 1933 to the early 1960s. I am not aiming at reproducing the great intensity of the book, or summarize it. All I want is to present some elements of the work that are representative of its author and his views, which I find stimulating and challenging.

Timeline

A timeline from 1890 to 1933, when Hitler was appointed Chancellor.

1890 – Growing workers’ movement culminates in founding of Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

1914-1918 – World War I

1918 – Germany defeated, signs armistice. Emperor William II abdicates and goes into exile.

1919 – Treaty of Versailles: Germany loses colonies and land to neighbors, pays large-scale reparations. Beginning of the Weimar Republic, based on a new constitution. Its early years are marked by high unemployment and rampant inflation.

1923 – Adolf Hitler, head of the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party, leads an abortive coup in a Munich beer hall. France, Belgium occupy the Ruhr over failed reparation payments. Hyperinflation leads to economic collapse.

1924 – Hitler writes Mein Kampf – “My Struggle” – in prison.

1929 – Global depression, mass unemployment.

 

January 1933 – Hitler becomes chancellor. Weimar Republic gives way to a one-party state.

 

To facilitate the historical context, I added in some parts a [timeline tag].

Part Eight: The Age of William II (1888 – 1914)

After 1890 German affairs took a turn for the worse and therefore many historians came to the conclusion that Bismarck’s fall was a disaster and the beginning of all Germany’s misfortune. But it needs little acumen to show the erroneousness of this view. (p. 415)

Our character is determined partly by the reality in which we live, by the tasks that confront us. (p. 422)

The semi-dictatorship which Bismarck had exercised in order to preserve the peace, to deprive German development of its momentum, had collapsed in 1890. The verdict was final; it could not be reversed five years later. The energies of the German Reich could no longer be neutralized as in Metternich’s day. Something had to be done with them. (p.426)

Great states, that is states which under given conditions regard themselves as great, want to be influential beyond their own frontiers. History confirms this a hundred times. (p. 426)

“Only complete political dishonesty and naive optimism can fail to recognize that, after a period of peaceful competition, the inevitable urge of all nations with burgeois societies to expand their trade must now once more lead to a situation in which power alone will have a decisive influence on the extent to which individual nations will share in the economic control of the world, and thus determine the economic prospects of their peoples and of their workers in particular” Max Weber (p.434)

“Bernhard Bullow (German Chancellor from 1900 to 1909) is clean-shaven and flabby, with a shifty look, and usually has a smile on his face. Although he has no ideas in stone for emergencies he adopts the ideas of others and reproduces them skilfully… If Bullow wants to set one man against another he says with a charming smile ot the one that the other does not like him. The method is simple and almost infallible.” Geheimrat Holstein (p.437)

Once people had made the mistake of regarding the nation-state as the ultimate human goal and its “greatness” as an absolute purpose, there was no escape from the wearying game of threats and reconciliations, attempts to expand and withdrawals, of ever-changing speculative combinations; while always on the horizon there was the thing which everyone and no one believed in, war. (p.438) …alliances, however peacefully meant, always provoke others, and thus increase the danger they try to avert. (p.439)

On the contrary, in the nineteenth century Germany had been definitely popular among the Anglo-Saxons. The unpopular countries were France and Russia, France because it was revolutionary, imperialistic and restless, and Russia because it was exotic, barbarian and despotic. .. Only in the last ten or twelve years before 1914 did Germany become unpopular in Britain. The Germans lost the sympathies of the world because they did not believe that they had them and boastfully announced that they could do without them. (p.443)

There are two sides in every conflict and it would be wrong to hold German diplomacy alone responsible for the intrigues and fears that poisoned the European atmosphere in the decade before 1914. Foreign policy is largely irrational and comes up against elements that are also irrational. .. Economic competition can be controlled by sensible aim of making money; the same does not apply to political competition. (p.445)

Franz Ferdinand en Hertogin Sophie in Sarajevo 1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo 1914

The trouble with all youth movements is that they fail to keep their promises, however hard they try. German youth did have ideals when it came to nation and state, but given modern society as it was these ideals could only be cultivated by a small, young circle. This led to disappointments and later also to political aberrations. (p.466) The concept of the nation had no logical place in the Habsburg Empire. (p.467)

The Habsburg monarchy was a survival of the past, the only great non-national state in the age of nationalism. (p. 468) Economic interests bring people together, politics divide them. Political activity is competitive and threatening. The question of whether you can kill me or I can kill you arises between all living beings who do not share the same laws and do not trust each other. (p. 476)

The living know they will die but they do not believe it because they have become used to life and only know life. Such, more or less, must have been the mood before 1914. (p.478)

It was an old Austrian axiom that the “monarchy” would not last much longer than Turkey. Both states were supra-national and violated the principle of the nation-state. If Balkan nationalism triumphed over Turkey it would also triumph over Austria and in Austria. The Austrians therefore regarded the end of the First Balkan War as a defeat. (p.478)

Part Nine: War

Nothing is inevitable until it has happened. (p.481)

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Text: Subscribe to the war loan! The Army and Navy expect it from you!. Date Created/Published: Berlin : Hollerbaum & Schmidt, 1917.

July 1914

His (Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria) views on Serbia were more or less those of Bismarck, namely that its plum trees and pigs were not worth the bones of an Austrian soldier. (p.482)

The War Guilt Question

Nobody knew what anybody else would do. This was the basis of the risk, of the bluff, the sportsmanship of the affair; this has always been the game of politics. (p. 492)

Moods

By nature man oscillates between egoism and the desire to destroy himself for a great cause. (p.496)

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Frustrated plans

All countries believed they were the victim of attack, but all attacked. All general staffs had long prepared and nurtured grand offensive plans which they now put into action. … After six weeks nothing was left of any of these plans and elaborate stratagems. (p. 501)

War have almost never gone according to plan; sooner or later they have developed in a way not foreseen by the strategists on either side. (p.502)

War Aims and Domestic Friction

In wartime it is not political sense that rules, but war – the generals or civilians who know how to wage it.  (p.508)

The aims had not led to the war, but the war, once there, led to the aims… Only German Social Democrats believed from the first day of the war to the last in the idea of peace without conquests, thus proving once again how superior their political education was to that of the middle classes. (p. 511-512)

It is difficult to have sensible aims in the midst of an orgy of senselessness… What would the peoples, the masses, do if they suddenly saw the whole enormous war effort as a cruel piece of foolery? (p. 512)

Changes

War is known to strengthen the strong and to weaken the weak, those who are already on their way down. The strong were those who were capable and could be made use of, but they were also vulgar, ruthless and shameless. (p. 520)

Armisticetrain_(slight_crop)

By Unknown – Press photo published all over the world. F.ex. Jan Dąbrowski “Wielka wojna 1914-1918” ( The Great War 1914-1918) Warsaw 1937, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9423922

Chronology

In other countries the crisis brought to the top the most ruthless, most imaginative politicians, Lloyd George in England and a year later Clemenceau in France. … It is logical that when war penetrates and dominates everything, when it is “total” war, the general must rule. .. Ludendorff was a tremendous worker, an expert on the new weapons, a man whose head was full of figures and names but who was irritable and brutal and in the subtleties of life as inexperienced as a child. (p. 524)

The Last Year

Just as the army leaders had  never paid any attention to the psychology of the enemy, they now gave no thought to the effect which their armistice offer must have on the German masses. (p.543)

Mass_demonstration_in_front_of_the_Reichstag_against_the_Treaty_of_Versailles
Massive demonstrations in front of the Reichstag, during the armistice negotiations of 1919

Part Ten: Weimar

Two basic documents

We know today that the wars of this century are bad for everybody and that the victor cannot undo the damage done to him by doubling or increasing to hundredfold that done to the defeated enemy. If he tries to do this he multiplies the damage done to himself. Victory is an illusion. (p. 568)

But the world cannot reverse gear; it cannot. It can fall or decline, like Greece or Rome, but it can never reverse gear. (p. 569)

It is an old truth that one should place least trust in one’s own right, in one’s own power and its duration when one is on top; then is the moment for humility , the moment to doubt of one’s own merit. There is always something in victory to be ashamed of. (p. 570)

The German Government signed the treaty… The Germans signed under protest because they had no choice. They called the treaty a “dictation” which indeed it was; because genuine negotiations had taken place only between the victors, not between victors and vanquished. Such a treaty does not last linger than the political situation on which it was based. (p. 570)

The Weimar Constitution presupposed that the Germans were agreed on the basic concepts of their communal existence. That they respected each other and were prepared to live together. It was possible to have differences of interest and opinion, they existed everywhere and could be dealt with, But the nation needed to be reasonably at peace with itself and with the rest of the world. If it was not no constitution could help it…(p.574)

weimar_billions_note_medium

Unrest, Followed by Apparent Consolidation

Munich thus became the center both of Bavarian opposition and of an all-German conspiracy against Berlin democracy… Berlin was supposed to hold together the divided, threatened and deeply dissatisfied nation. (p. 576)

The economic chaos of the post-war years, the growing inflation brought with it a profound change. (p. 577)

Consequently the supporters of the old order possessed at least two attractive arguments in favor of a counter-blow from the right; the new democratic authority had feet of clay; and it allegedly offered no guarantees against the Communist or anarchist threat. (p.  582)

spengler
Oswald Spengler

The Intellectuals

Spengler, like Hegel, was aware of living at the end of an historical epoch, and he was stimulated by the war as Hegel had been by Napoleon’s appearance…What was dangerous for Hegel, the glorification of war, the worship of power and success, Spengler took over. (p.618)

What made Oswald Spengler into a central intellectual figure was his description of the present and the immediate future. (p. 619)

“Blood for gold”, was what Spengler taught, and “work for moneybags, blood for gold” was what the National Socialists sang later.  (p. 620)

By praising old Prussia but criticizing the monarchy, by ridiculing the ideal of progress, by glorifying war but claiming to be a socialist, by completely overthrowing conventional ways of thinking in politics Spengler became the co-founder of an intellectual movement which the present writer cannot ignore, however confused it was and however little came of it in the end. It was called the “Conservative Revolution” . (p. 620)

Karlsbad, Gustav Stresemann mit Gattin und Sohn
Stresemann with his wife and son

From Stresemann to Brüning

[Timeline: With the end of the First World War and the start of the November Revolution, Chancellor Max of Baden announced the abdication of the German Emperor Wilhelm II on 9 November 1918. He also appointed Friedrich Ebert as his own successor as Chancellor. The Council of the People’s Deputies, a provisional government consisting of three delegates from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and three from the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), took over the executive power on the following day and called for a National Congress of Councils on 16 to 21 December to convene in Berlin. This Reichsrätekongress set elections for a national assembly to take place on 19 January 1919.]

1919 was the great hour of democracy but it was not a happy hour.  (p. 623)

The people was a chaos of conflicting hopes and fears. Chaos does not resolve itself on its own; what is needed are ideas and determination and not just a well-prepared constitution. The leaders of the Social Democratic Party replaced determination to govern by determination to keep order and by considerable, affecting integrity.(p. 624)

At the 1919 elections to the National Asembly more Germans voted for the Social Democrats than voted for the National Socialists even at the time of their greatest popular triumph in the summer of 1932. (p.683)

In fact the party which decided the fate of the Weimar Republic was the Center. (p.626)

Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-15436-0010,_Weimar,_Nationaltheater,_Denkmal_Goethe-Schiller
Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar

(Stresemann) He received no thanks for any of his achievements and he was blamed for everything that he had failed to achieve. .. The good period of the Weimar Republic was thus, on closer inspection, not so good after all. Nor was it felt as such.  (p. 627)

The relationship between between Germany and the new Polish state could not be good. Poland had been created at the expense of Germany, as Prussia had been at the expense of Poland… The Germans felt superior to the small Slav nations in a very different sense from that in which they felt superior to the French. It seemed natural to them that Poles lived under Prussian rule because the strong expands at the expense of the weak … But the same mutual, arrogant dislike separated Germans and Czechs, the latter regarding themselves as morally superior and the former as basically stronger, as having the justification of history behind them. (p. 628)

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Friedrich Ebert (center) with Konrad Adenauer (right) in the 1920s

The Weimar Constitution provided for the election of the President by the people, by all men and women entitled to vote. The first President, Ebert, had not been elected under this procedure, but had been appointed by the National Assembly. After his death in the spring of 1925 it became necessary to hold an election. The united right chose Hindenburg as its candidate and Admiral von Tirpitz persuaded him to accept the honour – two veterans of 1870. Hindenburg was elected, although by a narrow majority. Had the Communists not put up a third candidate, the “popular bloc”, represented by a mild Center republican, would have triumphed over Hindenburg’s “Reich bloc”. (p.631)

The idea of the Weimar Republic , to the extent that it had one, was compromise, peace between classes, not class struggle to the bitter end. (p. 635)

A few months later, at the beginning of October (1929), Gustav Stresemann died after a stroke. This was a loss of the kind which the Republic could least afford at this moment. Like no one else Stresemann had kept Parliament together, had personally made possible the compromise between labor and capital, and by his diplomacy had given meaning to Germany’s existence as a state among states. (p. 636)

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NUREMBERG, 1929. HITLER AT THE 3RD PARTY CONGRESS

Crisis and Disintegration of the Weimar Republic

In the Reichstag of 1928 the Nazis has mustered only 12 members and the Nazis were considered as part of the “lunatic fringe”. Hitler made no progress as long as things were going tolerably well in Germany.  But starting in 1929 the economy collapsed.

The Nazi Party had the advantage that it was in no way involved with what had happened in Germany since 1919.

In Germany the storm now turned against the Republic itself, against the whole “System” and all who had been part of it. (p.643).

[Timeline: Brüning was appointed chancellor by Hindenburg on 29 March 1930 when the grand coalition under the Social Democrat Hermann Müller collapsed.]

When the votes were counted in September 1930, it appeared that the supporters of the National Socialists had increased tenfold (my note: from 12 to 107). The New Reichstag was scarcely capable of doing the things which a Parliament is supposed to do, of positive investigation and decision.

The system by which Germany was governed depended on the pleasure of the President.

Reichskabinett Brüning I
Brüning’s first cabinet, March 1930.

After 1930 only the Army and the President – two not very republican institutions – stood between the Nazis and the Republic (p.685).

In 1932 Germany produced scarcely half of what it had produced in 1929.

[Since 1929, Germany had been suffering from the Great Depression as unemployment rose from 8.5% to nearly 30% between 1929 and 1932, while industrial production inside Germany dropped roughly 42%.]

It was the misery and the fear of misery which drove people into the Nazis arms. (p.654)

[Timeline: In March 1932, presidential elections pitted the incumbent Hindenburg, supported by pro-democratic parties, against Hitler and communist Ernst Thälmann. Hitler gained roughly a third of the vote and was thus defeated in the second round in April by Hindenburg, who gained a narrow majority.]

In Germany civil was had threatened since 1930; this was not a climate in which the economy could flourish.

sa_zeitschrift.jpg

All the major parties by this time had their own “strong arm” squads. By far the most limitant group, however, were the Sturmabteilungen – SA for short – of the Nazi Party, an army organized to fight a civil war.

[Timeline: In April 1932 Brüning had both the communist “Rotfrontkämpferbund” and the Nazi Sturmabteilung banned. The unfavourable reaction in right-wing circles further undermined Hindenburg’s support for Brüning.]

It is impossible to single out all the elements, poisonous or healthy, that fed the Nazi movement. (p. 656)

[Timeline: Hindenburg at the end of May 1932 was persuaded to dismiss Brüning as chancellor, replacing him with Franz von Papen, a renegade of the Centre Party, and a non-partisan “Cabinet of Barons”. Papen owed his appointment to the Chancellorship to General Kurt von Schleicher, an old friend from the pre-war General Staff and influential advisor of President Hindenburg. Schleicher selected Papen because his conservative, aristocratic background and military career was satisfactory to Hindenburg and would create the groundwork for a possible Centre-Nazi coalition. Papen’s cabinet had almost no support in parliament and only three days after his appointment, when faced with the opposition, had Hindenburg dissolve the Reichstag and called for new elections, for 31 July, so that the Reichstag could not dismiss him immediately.]

February-1932-Reich-President-Hindenburg-with-his-grandchildren-at-a-lunchtime-walk-in
February 1932, Reich President Hindenburg with his grandchildren at a lunchtime walk in the gardens of the Reich president’s palace, the present day location of the memorial. Image Source: Das Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-13171.

[Timeline: The July 1932 elections resulted in great gains by the Nazi Party; with 230 seats, it was the largest party in parliament but without an overall majority. Neither the Nazi Party nor Hindenburg had a governing majority, and the other parties refused co-operation. Neither side had a majority on its own, and no coalition could be formed to create a governing majority. Thus, Papen’s minority government continued, leading to another election in November.]

[Timeline: The results of the November 1932 election were a great disappointment for the Nazis. Although they emerged once more as the largest party by far, they had fewer seats than before, and failed to form a government coalition in the Reichstag parliament.]

The Weimar state was thus more an appendage of the Empire of William II or the Bismarck than it was a distinct historic epoch; it was an interregnum between two eras, the second of which was, as we know, infinitely worse. (p.685)

In an interregnum the strongest takes over and it was Hitler who happened to be the strongest. (p.686)

Machtergreifung-Hitler-u-Papen
January 30, 1933, shortly before 5 p.m .: After the first photo shoot of the new government of Hitler, the Chancellor looks deep into his vice Chancellor’s eyes

[Timeline: In the November 1932 election the Nazis lost seats, but Papen was still unable to secure a Reichstag that could be counted on not to pass another vote of no-confidence in his government. Papen’s attempt to negotiate with Hitler failed. Under pressure from Schleicher, Papen resigned on 17 November and formed a caretaker government. Papen told his cabinet that he planned to have martial law declared, which would allow him to rule as a dictator. However, at a cabinet meeting on 2 December, Papen was informed by Schleicher’s associate General Eugen Ott that Ministry of the Reichswehr war games showed there was no way to maintain order against the Nazis and Communists. Realizing that Schleicher was moving to replace him, Papen asked Hindenburg to fire Schleicher as defence minister. Instead, Hindenburg appointed Schleicher as chancellor.]

How small the people sometimes are who are in a position to make history, how base their motives, their thoughts, their character… This enmity, this paralysis of German politics caused by the conflict of the mass parties, gave them (the Nazis) their chance… An industrial society in a state of great political excitement could be ruled either democratically or demagogically and tyranically. (p.677)

In the end there was nothing sinister about the way in which Hitler came to power, because he was politically the strongest and had the most vehement popular movement behind him.(p.678)

[Timeline: On 9 January 1933, Papen and Hindenburg agreed to form a new government that would bring in Hitler. On the evening of 22 January, in a meeting at the villa of Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin, Papen made the concession of abandoning his claim to the Chancellorship and committed to support Hitler as Chancellor in a proposed “Government of National Concentration”, in which Papen would serve as Vice-Chancellor and Minister-President of Prussia. On 23 January, Papen presented to Hindenburg his idea for Hitler to be made Chancellor, while keeping him “boxed” in. On the same day Schleicher, to avoid a vote of no-confidence in the Reichstag when it reconvened on 31 January, asked the president to declare a state of emergency. Hindenburg declined and Schleicher resigned at midday on 28 January. Hindenburg formally gave Papen the task of forming a new government.]

Reichskabinett Adolf Hitler
The Hitler Cabinet on 30 January 1933

[Timeline: In the morning of 29 January, Papen met with Hitler and Hermann Göring at his apartment, where it was agreed that Papen would serve as Vice-Chancellor and Commissioner for Prussia. It was in the same meeting that Papen first learned that Hitler wanted to dissolve the Reichstag when he became Chancellor and, once the Nazis had won a majority of the seats in the ensuing elections, to activate the Enabling Act. In the end, the President, who had previously vowed never to let Hitler become Chancellor, appointed Hitler to the post at 11.30 am on 30 January 1933, with Papen as Vice-Chancellor. While Papen’s intrigues appeared to have brought Hitler into power, the crucial dynamic was in fact provided by the Nazi Party’s electoral support, which made military dictatorship the only alternative to Nazi rule for Hindenburg and his circle.]

It was because of Papen’s activities that Hitler became Chancellor in a particular way and this fact alone should have been enough to make Papen remain forever silent in shame and remorse. (p.679)

Once in power (1933) Hitler therefore found it terrifyingly easy to assume absolute control, and the political parties in particular were reduced to dust at his touch. (p.687)

What seemed to begin as a new chapter in German history became the adventure of a villain who forced his will on Germany and through Germany on a large part of the world. (p.688)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Light and Shadow: A “Fluxus Eleatis” Discourse

“Our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and come to nought as the mist that is driven away with the beams of the sun. For our time is as a shadow that passeth away and after our end there is no returning.” Wisdom of Solomon 2.4

Participants

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer

Ernst Gombrich, British-Austrian art historian

Mr. F, wanderer

Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian poet

Ms. B, anthropologist (of unknown ethnicity)

Marcel Proust, French writer

Miss. T, gourmant

Junichiro Tanizaki, Japanese author

Leonardo (da Vinci), Florentine painter, artist, scientist

Martin Gayford, English, Art critic

The Discourse (Fragments)

Ernst Gombrich“By shadow (ombra) is meant that which a body creates on itself, as for instance a sphere that has light on one part and gradually becomes half light and half dark, and that dark part is described as shadow (penumbra)Half-shadow (mezz’ombra) is called that area that is between light and the shadow through which the one passes to the other, as we have said, gradually diminishing little by little according to the roundness of the object. Cast shadow (sbattimento) is the shadow that is caused on the ground or elsewhere by the depicted object . . . .” – After Filippo Baldinucci, Vocabulario Toscana dell’Arte del Disegno, Florence 1681.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Where there is much light, the shadow is deep. A shadow is made when an object blocks light. The object must be opaque or translucent to make a shadow. A transparent object will not make any shadow, as light will pass straight through it.

Junichiro Tanizaki:  Why should this propensity to seek beauty in darkness be so strong only in Orientals? The West too has known a time when there was no electricity, gas, or petroleum, and yet so far as I know the West has never been disposed to delight in shadows. Japanese ghosts have traditionally had no feet; Western ghosts have feet, but are transparent. As even this trifle suggests, pitch darkness has always occupied our fantasies, while in the West even ghosts are as clear as glass. This is true too of our household implements: we prefer colors compounded of darkness, they prefer the colors of sunlight. And of silver and copperware: we love them for the burnish and patina, which they consider unclean, unsanitary, and polish to a glittering brilliance. They paint their ceilings and walls in pale colors to drive out as many of the shadows as they can. We fill our gardens with dense paintings, they spread out a flat expanse of grass.

Mr. F: The opening aria in Handel’s opera Serse (Xerxes), sung by the man character, Xerxes I of Persia, is about the shade of a plane tree.

Ombra mai fu (Never was a shade)

Tender and beautiful fronds
of my beloved plane tree,
let Fate smile upon you.
May thunder, lightning, and storms
never bother your dear peace,
nor may you by blowing winds be profaned.
A shade there never was,
of any plant,
dearer and more lovely,
or more sweet.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Young St. John the Baptist (The Burlington House cartoon)
(London, National Gallery of Art)

Leonardo (da Vinci): Shadow is the obstruction of light. Shadows appear to me to be of supreme importance in perspective, because, without them opaque and solid bodies will be ill defined; that which is contained within their outlines and their boundaries themselves will be ill-understood unless they are shown against a background of a different tone from themselves. And therefore in my first proposition concerning shadow I state that every opaque body is surrounded and its whole surface enveloped in shadow and light. . . . Besides this, shadows have in themselves various degrees of darkness, because they are caused by the absence of a variable amount of the luminous rays; and these I call Primary shadows because they are the first, and inseparable from the object to which they belong. . . . From these primary shadows there result certain shaded rays which are diffused through the atmosphere and these vary in character according to that of the primary shadows whence they are derived. I shall therefore call these shadows Derived shadows because they are produced by other shadows . . . Again these derived shadows, where they are intercepted by various objects, produce effects as various as the places where they are cast . . . And since all round the derived shadows, where the derived shadows are intercepted, there is always a space where the light falls and by reflected dispersion is thrown back towards its cause, it meets the original shadow and mingles with it and modifies it somewhat in its nature.

Martin Gayford: “According to ancient sources, the first artist ever to use this device (chiaroscuro: contrasting light and dark) was an Athenian named Apollodorus. It was he, according to the historian Plutarch, who ‘first invented the fading in and building up of shadow’. Apollodorus was called ‘Skiagraphos’ (‘Shadow Painter’). Before he began to model his figures, Pliny says, there was no painting ‘which holds the eye’.

 

Miss. T: Monsieur Proust “In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower”, the second volume of “In Search of Lost Time”, you define memory.

Marcel Proust: The greater part of our memory lies outside us, in a dampish breeze, in the musty air of a bedroom or the smell of autumn’s first fires, things through which we can retrieve … last vestige of the past, the best of it, the part which, after all our tears have dried, can make us weep again. Outside us? Inside us, more like, but stored away…. It is only because we have forgotten that we can now and then return to the person we once were, envisage things as that person did, be hurt again, because we are not ourselves anymore, but someone else, who once loved something that we no longer care about.

Mr. F: The woman without a shadow.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal: “Er wird zu Stein.”

Ms. B: If the Empress still does not cast a shadow within three days, the Emperor will be turned to stone. The following clip is from a stunning production with David Hockney’s stage designs.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal: “My earliest sketches for the libretto are based on a piece by Goethe, “The Conversation of German Emigrants” (1795). I have handled Goethe’s material freely, adding the idea of two couples, the emperor and empress who come from another realm, and the dyer and his wife who belong to the ordinary world.” (as quoted in wikipedia)

Giorgio de Chirico L’enigma di una giornata (II) ~ 1914 Museo d’arte contemporanea dell’Università di San Paolo

Ernst Gombrich: “Cubism reinstated the role of shadows both to guide and confuse the viewer. Later still the Surrealists exploited the effect of shadows to enhance the mood of mystery they sought, as in Chirico’s dreamlike visions of deserted city squares, where the harsh shadows cast by the statue and solitary figures add to the sense of disquiet.’

Martin Gayford: “Shadows can convey information, but also create illusions.”

Ryoji Ikeda, test pattern [no.5], 2013, audiovisual installation at Carriageworks. Commissioned and presented by Carriageworks and ISEA2013 in collaboration with Vivid Sydney. Image Zan Wimberley | © Carriageworks/WikiCommons
Junichiro Tanizaki:  And so it has come to be that the beauty of a Japanese room depends on a variation of shadows,heavy shadows against light shadows—it has nothing else. Westerners are amazed at the simplicity of Japanese rooms, perceiving in them no more than ashen walls bereft of ornament. Their reaction is understandable, but it betrays a failure to comprehend the mystery of shadows. Out beyond the sitting room, which the rays of the sun can at best but barely reach, we extend the eaves or build on a veranda, putting the sunlight at still greater a remove. The light from the garden steals in but dimly through paper-paneled doors, and it is precisely this indirect light that makes for us the charm of a room. We do our walls in neutral colors so that the sad, fragile, dying rays can sink into absolute repose.

© Roy Zipstein

Junichiro Tanizaki: It has been said of Japanese food that it is a cuisine to be looked at rather than eaten. I would go further and say that it is to be meditated upon, a kind of silent music evoked by the combination of lacquerware and the light of a candle flickering in the dark. In the cuisine of any country efforts no doubt are made to have the food harmonize with the tableware and the walls; but with Japanese food, a brightly lighted room and shining tableware cut the appetite in half. The dark miso soup that we eat every morning is one dish from the dimly lit houses of the past. I was once invited to a tea ceremony where miso was served; and when I saw the muddy, claylike color, quiet in a black lacquer bowl beneath the faint light of a candle, this soup that I usually take without a second thought seemed somehow to acquire a real depth, and to become infinitely more appetizing as well. Much the same may be said of soy sauce. In the Kyoto-Osaka region a particularly thick variety of soy is served with raw fish, pickles, and greens; and how rich in shadows is the viscous sheen of the liquid, how beautifully it blends with the darkness.

 

 

What did Kierkegaard learn from his study of Socrates and how is it relevant in today’s world?

kierkegaard650
Soren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher

Kierkegaard, the eccentric Danish Philosopher of early 19th century, wrote his Master’s Thesis on Socrates’ “Concept of Irony.” This was not an accidental encounter. Kierkegaard remained throughout his life loyal to his “association” with Socrates and declared “Socrates has become a Christian”.

Back in 2011 I wrote about Kierkegaard as the precursor of existentialism. Today’s post is about his intellectual relationship with Socrates and its relevance, if any, to today’s world.

Kierkegaard chose to learn from Socrates the elements which would be compatible with his overall intellectual and philosophical disposition, and the way he wanted to live his life. In doing so, Kierkegaard answered some basic questions that relate to the individual in society. These answers are still valid, in the sense that one may choose to live accordingly in today’s world. It is in this sense that the connection between Kierkegaard and Socrates is still relevant. This formulates the secondary part of my thesis.

I have organized the material in this paper based on the key propositions which Kierkegaard put forward using Socrates as a model. For each proposition (or pair of related propositions), I develop the Socrates – Kierkegaard link and then discuss the relevance to today’s world. Each of the propositions could be the topic of a treatise, so I had to be a concise as possible, at the expense of full development. Nevertheless, I hope that the key issues will emerge and will contribute to the relevant discussions.

P1: The basic questions address the individual, cannot be inherited from the collective

P2: Knowledge and faith are subjective

It is commonplace to say that Socrates turned philosophy away from Nature and oriented it towards Man. For Socrates, the individual must answer for himself the basic questions of life, and not blindly inherit them from the community. Socrates established the individual above existing custom. This is where Socrates differentiates himself from the Athenian citizens who condemn him for creating his own Gods. Socrates did not create any Gods, but only talked about his personal “daimonion”, an inner voice which would tell him what not to do. By even talking about his personal “daimonion”, Socrates went against the collective belief in Gods.

This centricity of the individual in the Socratic model has led young Kierkegaard to “Seek a truth for which to live and die”. Truth cannot be trivialized and cannot be made insignificant. It is a person’s duty to find the truth for himself. This quest may give meaning to one’s life.

It is not enough to place the individual in the center of the knowledge acquisition process. Knowledge for Socrates does not exist until it becomes appropriated by a person, until it becomes internal.

For a person to be able to appropriate knowledge they must create an “enclosed reserve”, isolate themselves from other people.

Socrates’ principle is that man must find from himself both the end of his actions and the end of the world, and must attain the truth through himself – truth is now posited as a product mediated through thought. Per Socrates, the subject is a constituent element of the truth.

The individual in western societies today is facing the danger of losing his identity. Mass markets require mass consumers. We are all the same, even when we appear to be different. Technology gives us “personalized” tools which simply enables each one of us to do the same thing in different formats and ways. In such an environment, the individual must struggle to answer the key questions for himself, and avoid to become one more unit in a faceless society.

kierkegaard-290

P3: Irony is a tool in knowledge acquisition

P4: Pure Irony is a tool in questioning the whole actuality of a certain time and age

The personal journey to knowledge begins with irony. Irony is the best approach to negate, to question what you know, to reach the stage of accepting that you know nothing, or even very little.  Irony leads to subjective freedom.

Kierkegaard appropriated irony as a tool from Socrates while writing his Master’s Thesis on Socratic Irony. This was also the period during which Kierkegaard established Socrates as his model for answering the question “what do I want to do with my life”.

Kierkegaard’s irony in the eminent sense (pure irony) questions the whole actuality of a certain time and age. In this sense, irony is no longer a knowledge acquisition tool, but a tool that questions a “World View” in its totality.

Irony in both of its manifestations, is a negative tool. It does not put forward a positive thesis, a proposition. It only questions a view, a proposition, a “whole actuality”.

Irony is also opening the “negativity” domain to Kierkegaard and his work. Whilst most philosophers try to solve problems and give answers, Socrates appears to be content with arriving at a dead-end, as is the case in Euthyphro, when the dialog ends abruptly without Socrates answering the question of what is piety. Kierkegaard is also content with negativity, and in a sense, criticizes Hegel for calling Socrates a “negative” philosopher. Unlike Hegel, Kierkegaard does not consider the aim of the philosopher to construct a system and give answers.

P5: Aporia is also a knowledge acquisition tool

P6: Knowledge co-exists with paradoxes, contradictions, absurdities

Kierkegaard liberates himself from the burden of giving solutions, making positive propositions. Sometimes it is enough to know that you do not know, even though you do not know what you were supposed to know. Knowledge is not mandatory, is not inevitable. We must come to terms with the fact that many times we are stuck with “not-knowing”.

Aporia is the state where the person faces a paradox, a dead end trying to explain, a failure of the rational faculty. Reaching the state of aporia is a prerequisite for appropriating knowledge. In the Socratic dialogue approach, on many occasions Socrates brought the other party to a state of aporia. Therefore, we may assume that Socrates indirectly accepts that there are paradoxes.

However, Socrates believed that knowledge can be obtained, and for this reason he never stopped aiming at acquiring knowledge.

Kierkegaard, on the other hand, believed that everything cannot be explained.   Knowledge co-exists with paradoxes, contradictions, absurdities. Kierkegaard goes even beyond that.

“The supreme paradox of all thought is the attempt to discover something that thought cannot think. This passion is at bottom present in all thinking, even in the thinking of the individual, in so far as in thinking he participates in something transcending himself. But habit dulls our sensibilities, and prevents us from perceiving it”. (Kierkegaard, Johannes Climacus, Philosophical Fragments (46))

In this respect, Kierkegaard establishes the limits of the rational faculty, and therefore the limits of knowledge.

Kierkegaard “uses” Socrates to counter Hegel’s “mediation”.

Kierkegaard’s faith paradox.

P7: The path to knowledge is hard – The path to Christianity is hard

Socrates has shown how hard is the path to knowledge, especially when one begins with the illusion that he has knowledge. Appropriating knowledge is a path without certainty, a journey without assured success. It is for this reason that Socrates claimed that there is only one thing that he knows, that he know not.

Kierkegaard inspired by Socrates, wrote:

“The only analogy I have before me is Socrates; my task is a Socratic task, to audit the definition of what it is to be a Christian-I do not call myself a Christian (keeping the ideal free), but I can make it manifest that the others are that even less.” (Kierkegaard, The Moment and Late Writings, p. 341)

Kierkegaard takes what Socrates wrote about knowledge and transcribes it to Christian faith. He does not claim to be a Christian, but he can manifest that the others are even less.

Socrates’ “Aporia”

In a definitional dialogue, the Greek Philosopher Socrates was engaging another person in a discourse that would eventually bring the other other party from an initial state of confidence and certainty to a state of “aporia”, being at a loss.

Aporia is a noun derived from aporos “άπορος”, which in turn is composed of “α” which means without “άνευ” and “πόρος” which is a means of passage, a way, an opening, a means to an end.

Therefore aporia is a difficulty in passage, impasse, difficulty, lack of resources, need, poverty, doubt, uncertainty. In modern usage it has also come to mean something you do not understand. The teacher asks the students “do you have any aporia-es?” (apories is the plural form).

There is also the verb aporo “απορώ”, which today basically means I do not understand.

By bringing the other party to a state of “aporia”, Socrates dealt an intentional blow to the other party, one might even say a destructive blow. In one of the platonic dialogues, Euthyphro, a person who thought knew what “piety” is, ends up seriously doubting himself and hastily leaves the conversation claiming he has an urgent meeting to attend.

Here is an extremely simplified interpretation of the relevant problem, objective and approach.

Statement of the Problem: a person thinks he knows what something means. In Euthyphro, the over-confident person thought that he knew what “piety” is, because on this basis he was prosecuting his own father in court.

Objective: Destroy the person’s confidence by bringing him to a state of “aporia”, where he is not sure any more about what he knows. A state where he doubts himself.

Approach:

  1. Zoom in on the crucial definition. In Euthyphro, this is “piety”.
  2. Start drilling holes to this definition. This is the “core” of the approach. You have to be on top of your game to be able to do it, unless the case is trivial. This is why not everyone is able to do it. If you are interested in more, read Euthyphro.
  3. Arrive at a state where the original definition given by the party is withdrawn.

Conclusion: Following this approach one may temporarily bring a person to a state of doubt and lack of confidence. It may show what you do not know, but not what you know. In this sense it is a “negative” approach, but it works.

“We must obey the forces we want to command” Francis Bacon

Aristotle
Aristotle

In this post I present two arguments relevant to Bacon’s thesis. With each argument I offer a quotation and an example.

This was originally written as an essay to a course I have taken on the relationship between management and philosophy.

I do not claim to exhaust the subject, I merely touch upon it.

But it is a fascinating subject, especially in view of the fact that Bacon was one of the great fathers of the technological approach that today is a key pillar of our economy, culture and life.

Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon

Argument 1: I claim that Bacon is putting forward an argument to support his inductive approach to human knowledge and power. What he is saying in effect is that before we master nature (and take advantage of it by commanding it) we must understand it. Therefore knowledge begins from the observation of nature, not the other way around.

In substantiating my point of view, I will refer to “Novum Organum”, from which the quotation-theme of this essay originates (Book One, III).

Quotation 1: “Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature. Beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.” (1)

Bacon is saying that man should approach nature with humility, because there are so many things that our senses cannot sense and our minds do not understand. Instead of wasting time on pointless meditations, speculations and glosses, we should be studying nature.

All of this makes sense in the context of the time Bacon wrote “Novum Organum”. It was time when Aristotelian thought was still strong. Bacon wanted to break away from Aristotle, and march on towards command of nature. In this sense he can be considered as one of the fathers of engineering.

Francis Bacon, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Francis Bacon, Royal Academy of Arts, London

While deduction is the anticipation of nature, and deductive theories may refer to nonobservable entities, induction is driven by empirical observation and study.

I do not suggest that Bacon was alotgether against deduction. But at the time of his writing, he wanted to push forward the notion that man can command nature, provided he understands it well. Bacon saw knowledge and power as interconnected.

Example 1: “There are and can be only two ways of searching into and discovering truth. The one flies from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, and from these principles, the truth of which it takes for settled and immovable, proceeds to judgment and to the discovery of middle axioms. And this way is now in fashion. The other derives axioms from the senses and particulars, rising by a gradual and unbroken ascent, so that it arrives at the most general axioms last of all. This is the true way, but as yet untried.” (2)

Bacon’s true way is induction.

Karl Popper
Karl Popper

Argument 2: Karl Popper introduced his theory of a hypothetico-deductive system in the philosophy of sciences. Popper argued that most of the scientific theories are deductive and they can be falsified, or refuted, but not confirmed.In this he appears to be on the opposite side of Bacon’s argument. However, I claim that in a sense Popper provides the mirror image of Bacon’s thesis. Bacon seeks to derive most of theories from experience, while Popper seeks to falsify theories from experience. Thus experience (as senses, observations from nature) is essential in both philosophers’ theories.

Quotation 2: “In other words: I shall not require of a scientific system that it shall be capable of being singled out, once and for all, in a positive sense; but I shall require that its logical form shall be such that it can be singled out, by means of empirical tests, in a negative sense: it must be possible for an empirical scientific system to be refuted by experience.” (3)

The example I want to offer comes from Einstein’s theory of reletivity.

Albert Einstein and Sir Arthur Eddington at Cambridge University
Albert Einstein and Sir Arthur Eddington at Cambridge University

Example 2: “Einstein’s theory made one or two predictions which distinguished it from Newton’s theory, and, if true, these predictions would show that Einstein’s model was closer to reality. For example, Einstein predicted that a gravitational field should bend rays of light much more than was expected by Newton’s theory of gravity. Although the effect was too small to be observed in the laboratory, Einstein calculated that the immense gravity of the massive sun would deflect a ray of light by 1.75 seconds of arc – less that one thousandth of a degree, but twice as large as the deflection according to Newton, and significant enough to be measured. During a lunar eclipse in 1919, Eddington compared his eclipse photos with images taken when the sun was not present, and announced that the sun had caused a deflection of roughly 1.61 seconds of arc, a result that was in agreement with Einstein’s prediction, thereby validating the theory of general relativity.” (4)

Here experience comes to NOT falsify a hypothesis. Until a hypothesis is falsified, it remains valid. But when a theory is falsified once, it is falsified for good.

References

(1). Francis Bacon. Novum Organum.Book One. I.

(2) Francis Bacon. Novum Organum.Book One. XIX.

(3) Karl Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, 1959.

(4) 1919. Eclipse and General Relativity. Times Literary Supplement.

Γλωσσολογικον πονημα επι του “Σεβαστου” και των παραγωγων του

H Mάτση Χατζηλαζάρου ποζάρει προκλητικά στο φακό του Ανδρέα Εμπειρίκου
H Mάτση Χατζηλαζάρου ποζάρει προκλητικά στο φακό του Ανδρέα Εμπειρίκου

“Η Γκρέτα, καταφανώς εν μεγάλη διεγέρσει διατελούσα, χωρίς την παραμικράν προφύλαξιν, ανέσυρε εν ριπή οφθαλμού το φόρεμά της, και, αποκαλύπτουσα, προς στιγμήν, ένα θαυμάσιον και προεξέχον πολύ, εν μέσω ολίγων αραιών τριχών μουνί (δεν έφερε σκελέαν), ήνοιξε τούς μηρούς της, έθεσε την κούκλαν μεταξύ αυτών, και καλύπτουσα πάλιν το ερωτικόν της όργανον, έσφιξε τούς μηρούς της, και ήρχισε να κινήται ζωηρώς, ζωηρότατα, επί του καθίσματός της, κατά τρόπον που εφανέρωνε ότι ηυνανίζετο με πάθος, τρίβουσα μανιωδώς το αιδοίον της, επί της κεφαλής και των μαλλιών του κομψού ανθρωπομόρφου ομοιώματος, επιδιώκουσα με αφάνταστον ζέσιν να επιφέρη τοιουτοτρόπως την έκχυσιν του ερωτικού χυμού της, αδιαφορούσα τελείως, και, ίσως, τερπομένη επιπροσθέτως, από το γεγονός ότι εξετέλει την τόσον άσεμνον, άλλα και τόσον χαριτωμένην αυτήν πράξιν δημοσία.”

Ανδρεας Εμπειρικος, Μεγαλος Ανατολικος

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Georgia O’Keeffe, Series I White and Blue Flower Shapes, 1919, Oil on Board, 19 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches, Gift of the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, ©Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Προ της εισαγωγης

Αποτιω τιμη στην μεγαλη Αμερικανιδα ζωγραφο Τζωρτζια Ο’ Κηφ, που ζωγραφισε ανθη, και με καποιον τροπο πολλα απο τα ανθη της παραπεμπουν στο ανθος του αιδοιου.

Αυτο εξαλλου παρετηρησε και εις εκ των δυο πρωταγωνιστων τη σειρας Breaking Bad, ο νεαρος Τζεσσυ, οταν η νεαρα καλλιτεχνιζουσα φιλενας του τον επηγε να δουνε μαζι το μουσειο της Τζωρτζια Ο’ Κηφ στην πολιτεια του Νεου Μεξικου των ΗΠΑ.

Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe
Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe

Εισαγωγικες παρατηρησεις

Η διερευνηση αυτης της πραγματειας ειναι εκ των πραγματων προσδιορισμενη αλλα και περιορισμενη απο το γλωσσικο ιδιωμα.

Αυτη η παρατηρηση ομως με κανενα τροπο δεν οδηγει σε πολιτισμικη μονοσημαντοτητα.

Το αντιθετο θα ελεγα. Ακριβως η αναγνωριση του περιοριστικου παραγοντα ειναι η απαρχη της αναιρεσης του.

Ο μεγας πρωταγωνιστης της πραγματειας αυτης ειναι το “αιδοιον”.

Χαιρε, ώ χαιρε τετιμημενον!

Η διερευνηση θα στηριχθει στην γλωσσα.

Πρεπει ομως να προειδοποιησω τον αναγνωστη (και την αναγνωστρια) οτι τα πολιτιστικα δικτυα δεν αναγονται αποκλειστικα εις την γλωσσαν, αρα θα υπεισελθουν και αλλα στοιχεια πολιτισμου σχετικα με το τετιμημενον.

Andreas Empeirikos
Andreas Empeirikos

“Εις εν ακρότατον σημείον της ομηγύρεως, μία ομάς εκ δεκαπέντε περίπου ανδρών, παρετήρει, ουχί το αερόστατον, αλλά μίνα νεαράν ακροβάτιδα, ήτις, υπό τους ήχους ενός ντεφιού, που έσειε ένας νεώτερος αδελφός της, εξετέλει διάφορα γυμνάσματα με μεγάλην ευκαμψίαν και δεξιοτεχνίαν. Η νεάνις αυτή ήτο ευειδής και χαρίεσσα. Εις μίαν στιγμήν που περιεστρέφετο επί των χειρών, με τους πόδας της εις τον αέραν, εσχίσθη, εν αγνοία της, η περισκελίς της εις καίριο σημείον, εις τρόπον ώστε, εις ωρισμένην φάσιν της ακροβασίας, να φαίνεται το αιδοίον της ευκρινώς. Εντεύθεν η εξαίρεσις, εντεύθεν η γοητεία. Διότι, εις το γεγονός ότι διεκρίνετο το ερωτικόν της όργανον, ωφείλετο η απόσπασις της προσοχής των δεκαπέντε θεατών από το αερόστατον.”

Ανδρεας Εμπειρικος, Αργώ ή Πλους Αεροστάτου

Sarah Lucas, Chicken Knickers 2000, Saatchi Gallery.
Sarah Lucas, Chicken Knickers 2000, Saatchi Gallery.

Η προσεγγιση

Εν αρχη ην η γλωσσα.

Ο Λακάν στρέφεται στη γλωσσολογία μέσα από δύο βασικά σημεία (1):

1. Υιοθετώντας τη βασική ιδέα ότι η γλώσσα ως συμβολικό σύστημα μαζί με τα άλλα κοινωνικο-πολιτιστικά συστήματα και τις δομές τους προϋπάρχουν της γέννησης ενός ανθρώπου και υπέρ-κεινται αυτού. Κατά συνέπεια, το παιδί με την κατάκτηση της γλώσσας εγγράφεται σε αυτή τη συμβολική τάξη, η οποία επειδή ακριβώς υπέρ-κειται θα το πλάσει ανάλογα με τις δομές της. Με άλλα λόγια, το άτομο αναδύεται ως υποκείμενο μέσα από την εγγραφή του στη συμβολική τάξη της γλώσσας ή, όπως λέει ο Αλτουσέρ (1983), η κατάκτηση της γλώσσας είναι αυτή που με την εισαγωγή στη συμβολική τάξη θα σημαδέψει το πέρασμα από τον άνθρωπο-θηλαστικό στον άνθρωπο-παιδί -άνδρα ή γυναίκα.

2. Θεωρώντας ότι το “το ασυνείδητο είναι δομημένο σαν γλώσσα”, δηλαδή μια δομή που όπως και η γλώσσα αποτελείται από στοιχεία που βρίσκονται σε σχέση, και εξομοιώνοντας τους μηχανισμούς του ασυνειδήτου με τους γλωσσικούς μηχανισμούς της μεταφοράς και της μετωνυμίας.

Θα συναντησομε τον Λακαν και παρακατω, οχι ως μεγιστο ψυχαναλυτη, αλλα ως συλλεκτη εργων τεχνης.

Louise Bourgeois, "Untitled", 2002
Louise Bourgeois, “Untitled”, 2002

Η Κυρία Λέξις, Παραλλαγες και Παραγωγα της

Οι λεξεις που θα αναλυθουν ειναι κυριως ελληνικες. Για λογους ομως που σχετιζονται με την αυθαιρεσια του συγγραφονοτς να κανει του κεφαλιου του και να μην δινει αναφορα σε κανενα, θα εμπλουτισθουν αι λεξεις αυτες, και με καποιες ξενικες.

Μουνί
Θεωρειται απο καποιους χυδαια λεξις. Το ολον θεμα του πως οριζεται η χυδαιοτης ειναι τεραστιον και δεν θα το αναπτυξω εδω.

Θα εκφρασω ομως τη διαφωνια μου με τον χαρακτηρισμο λεξεων και γλωσσικων ιδιωματων ως χυδαια.

Για την ετυμολογία της λέξης, το Λεξικο Κοινης Νεοελληνικης  (3) μας διδει δυο εκδοχες.

Η πρώτη είναι από το ευνή:

(αρχαια) εὐνή `κρεβάτι, κρεβάτι του γάμου΄ – ελληνιστικο υποκοριστικο  *εὐνίον

> μεσαιωνικο *βνίον (αποβολη του αρχικού άτονου  φωνήεντος)

> *μνίον (για την τροπή [vn > mn] σύγκρινε ευνούχος > μουνούχος, ελαύνω > λάμνω)

> *μουνίον (ανάπτ. [u] ανάμεσα σε αρχικό [m] και ακόλουθο σύμφωνο, σύγκρινε *μνούχος > μουνούχος) > (μεσαιωνικο) μουνίν

POLIDORI Gian Carlo(1943-), Italy: Οδαλίσκη και Ευνούχος στο χαρέμι
POLIDORI Gian Carlo(1943-), Italy: Οδαλίσκη και Ευνούχος στο χαρέμι (5)

Και η δεύτερη από τη λέξη μνούς:

(αρχαια) μνοῦς `μαλακό πούπουλο, χνουδάκι΄ ελληνιστικο υποκοριστικο *μνίον

> (μεσαιωνικο) *μουνίον (όπως στην προηγ. υπόθεση) > (μεσαιωνικο) μουνίν

Sarah Lucas
Sarah Lucas

Η παραλλαγμενη εννοια

Η λεξη μουνι χρησιμοποιειται και με απαξιωτικη διασταση, οτι καποιος δηλαδη αρσενικος ή θηλυκος, ειναι σκαρτος.

Παρομοιως, απαξιωτικη ειναι και η εκφραση “τα καναμε μουνι”, ή η παρεμφερης “τα καναμε μουνακι”.

Η χρηση του υποκοριστικου υποδηλωνει μια μικρου ή μεσαιου μεγεθους αστοχια, ενω η χρηση της πληρους λεξεως κατι σημαντικο.

Εδω παραβαλλω και την παραλληλη απαξιωτικη εκφραση “πουτσες μπλε”.

Αποδεικνυεται περιτρανως λοιπον οτι η γλωσσα δεν γνωριζει συνορα φυλλου.

Απαξιωση ενθεν και ενθεν.

L'Origine du Monde de Gustave Courbet
L’Origine du Monde de Gustave Courbet

Παρενθεση: Η Αρχη του Κοσμου  του Γκουσταβ Κουρμπε (The Origin of the World by Gustave Courbet)

Δεν μπορω παρα να παραθεσω παραυτα το μεγαλειωδες εργο του Γκουσταβ Κουρμπε, την Απαρχη του Κοσμου.

Το εργο παρηγγειλε ο Τουρκος διπλωματης και συλλεκτης Χαλιλ Μπεη το 1866.

Αμεσως μετα την ολοκληρωση του, το εργο εξαφανιστηκε απο την δημοσια θεα.

Ο συλλεκτης το τοποθετησε στο λουτρο του, και εβαλε και μια κουρτινα μπροστα, ωστε να το κρυβει σε ορισμενες περιπτωσεις.

Μετα την χρεωκοπια του Χαλιλ Μπεη ο πινακας κατεληξε στη Βουδαπεστη, οπου και αλλαξε πολλα χερια.

Κατεληξε στη συλλογη του Ζακ Λακαν στη δεκαετια του 1950, που ηταν και ο τελευταιος ιδιωτης που το ειχε στη συλλογη του.

Σημερα το απολαμβανουν οι επισκεπτες του Μουσειου Ορσαι στο Παρισι.

Jacques Lacan
Jacques Lacan

Αιδοιον

Προερχεται απο το ρημα αιδεομαι, που σημαινει σεβομαι, ευλαβουμαι.

Αποτελει το ουδετερον του “Αιδοιος”, που σημαινει Σεβαστος.

Αιδοιον λοιπον σημαινει “Σεβαστον”.

Renato Guttuso, untitled figure study, 1982. Lithograph, Gardiner Permanent Art Collection.
Renato Guttuso, untitled figure study, 1982. Lithograph, Gardiner Permanent Art Collection.

Con

Γαλλικη λεξις, που μπορει να μεταφρασθει και σαν “μουνακι” και σαν “μαλακας”.

Σε απταιστα Γαλλικα, στο παρον πονημα « con » désignant trivialement la vulve.

412PX-~1
Achille Deveria, French Painter

Μουνακι

“Η Ειρηνη ειναι σνα μια αψιδα πανω απο την θαλασσα. .. Αχ, αχ. Η Ειρηνη καλει τον εραστη της. Τον εραστη της που καυλωνει απο μακρυα. Αχ, αχ, Η Ειρηνη αγωνια και σπαρταρα. Εκεινος ορθωνεται καυλωμενος σαν θεος πανω απο την αβυσσο. Αυτη κουνιεται, εκεινος την αποφευγει, αυτη κουνιεται και του δινεται. Αχ. Η οαση υποκλινεται με τις πανυψηλες τις χουρμαδιες της. Ταξιδιωτες, οι πανωφορες σας στροβιλιζονται μεσ’ τη λεπτη την αμμο. Απ’ το λαχανιασμα η Ειρηνη κοντευει να διαλυθει. Εκεινος την κοιταζει. Το μουνι εχει μουσκεψει καρτερωντας τ’ ολοζωντανο παλουκι. Στ’ απατηλα βουνα της αμμου, μια σκια ζαρκαδιου. Κολαση ας αρχισουν οι καταραμενοι σου να μαλακιζονται, η Ειρηνη εχυσε.”

Λουις Αραγκον, “Το μουνακι της Ειρηνης”.  Μεταφραση Ανδρεας Νεοφυτιδης. Εκδοσεις Γαβριηλιδη, Αθηνα 1989.

Απο τον Αθεοβοβο2
Απο τον Αθεοφοβο2

Μουνάρα

Λεξη επιτιμητικη. Χιλαδες, εκατονταδες χιλιαδες, εκατομμυρια Ελληνων και Ελληνοφωνων εχουν κραυγασει καποια στιγμη του βιου τους “Μουναρα μου!”.

Τι εννοουσαν αραγε;

Εντελως υποθετικα, θα ελεγα οτι η λεξη αρχικα αναφερεται στο υπερτατο θηλυκο.

Η φαινομενικη απλοηκοτης της λεξεως δεν αφαιρει την διασταση του υπερτατου, αντιθετως την κανει πιο εντονη.

Μιλαμε λοιπον για το υπερτατο θηλυκο, και τουτο με την διασταση την σεξουαλικη.

Δεν θα ακουσετε καποιον να λεει “αγαπω μια μουναρα”. Καποιο αλλο ρημα θα χρησιμοποιησει.

Εδω λοιπον, η λεξη μας διδει το εδαφος δια να  θυμηθουμε αυτο που εγραψε ο μεγας Λακαν: ” Η αγαπη ερχεται να αναπληρωσει την ανυπαρξια ερωτικης σχεσης.”

Η “μουναρα” ειναι βαθεια βυθισμενη και σφραγισμενη απο το ερωτικο και μονο το ερωτικο στοιχειο.

Οι αγαπες και οι μαργαριτες ειναι αλλου.

1507711_642672642454408_1706543165_n

Γλυκομούνα

“Διαβάζοντας το βιβλίο Τα αδιάντροπα -Λεσβιακά Λαογραφικά του Βαγγέλη Καραγιάννη με πρόλογο του Μ.Γ.Μερακλή  (Φιλιππότης) Αθήνα 1983, είδα να αναφέρει στην φράση : Είνι γλυκουμούνα μια τοπική συνήθεια που δεν την είχα ξαναδιαβάσει. Γράφει ακριβώς :

Φράση που λέγεται για γυναίκες που έχουν επιτυχίες στους άνδρες, έστω και αν δεν είναι πολύ όμορφες.
Τον παλιό καιρό, στα χωριά της Λέσβου, ρίχνουν στο αιδοίο  του πολύ μικρού κοριτσιού λίγη ζάχαρη, “για να γλυκάν΄” κι όταν θα γίνει κοπέλα πια να την λαχταρούν και να την ζητούν σε γάμο οι γαμπροί.
Απ΄εκεί και η φράση “γλυκουμούνα” (4)”
Tracey Emin Ruined (2007) acrylic, oil pastel and pencil on canvas, 72 5/8 x 72 5/8 x 2 1/2, Photograph by Stephen White. Courtesy of White Cube. © the artist
Tracey Emin Ruined (2007) acrylic, oil pastel and pencil on canvas, 72 5/8 x 72 5/8 x 2 1/2, Photograph by Stephen White. Courtesy of White Cube.
© the artist

Παληόμουνο

Βλεπε σχετικα λεξεις οπως “παληοχαρακτηρας”, “παληοκοριτσο”.

Δια της λεξεως προβαλλει αυτος που την χρησιμοποιει την ιδιοτητα του κακου χαρακτηρα εις την γυναικα.

Μπορει να ειναι μια αστατη γυναικα, μπορει να ειναι μια γυναικα που δεν τιθασευεται, δεν ελεγχεται, δεν υποτασσεται.

Εδω δεν υπαρχει αντικειμενικη διασταση.

Ο χαρακτηριζων αυθαιρετει και χρησιμοποιει την λεξη ασυστολως.

Μπορει λοιπον η ουτως χαρακτηριζομένη γυνη απλα “να μην καθεται” στον χαρακτηριζοντα, να μην ανταποκρινεται θετικα εις τα ερωτικα του κελευσματα.

Καριολομουνο

Black Widow
Black Widow

Φαρμακομούνα

Εδω το “φαρμακο” εχει την ιδιοτητα του δηλητηριου, και οχι της θεραπευτικης δρασης.

(Βλεπε σχετικα την λεξη “ποντικοφαρμακο”. Δεν θεραπευει τους ποντικους, αλλα τους θανατωνει, ειναι δηλητηριον, και δη ισχυρωτατον.)

Και ειναι ενδιαφερον να παρατηρησομε ποσον κοντα αλλα και μακρυα ειναι οι λεξεις φαρμακο και φαρμακι στην ελληνικη γλωσσα.

Κατι που δεν συμβαινει σε αλλες γλωσσες, παραδειγμα στην αγγλικη, οπου εχομε medicine vs. poison. Παντελως διαφορετικη ριζα.

imagesCAYK2DZW

Η διαθετουσα το σχετικον οπλον (η πηγη του φαρμακου ειναι το αιδιοιον) “φαρμακωνει” τον ερωτικον της συντροφον, ή τον συζυγον της.

Κατι κακο θα του συμβει, ισως και ο θανατος.

Παραπεμπει λοιπον στην “μαυρη αραχνη”, που μετα την ερωτικη πραξη, και εκ της συνεπειας της, θανατωνει τον ερωτικον της συντροφον.

Εν προκειμενω η λεξις δεν αναφερεται υποχρεωτικα σε υπαρκτη ιδιοτητα.

Μπορει να εκφραζει και τον φοβο του ερωτικου συντροφου, οτι η ερωτικη συνανστροφη με την φερουσα το φαρμακοφορον αιδοιον θα τον θανατωσει, ή θα τον βλαψει.

Αρα η γλωσσα εκφραζει το ονειρο, τον εφιαλτη, τον φοβο, οποτε οπως θα ελεγε και ο Δοκτωρ Φροϋντ την υποβοσκουσα επιθυμια.

Ο φαρμακοφορος και απειλητικος ερως αντικειμενοποιειται εις τον φαρμακοφορον αιδιοιον.

Ιδου λοιπον και μια εισετι λειτουργια – και δη θεραπευτικη – της γλωσσας.

Δια της εκφρασεως την φοβων και των επιθυμιων εν τροπω αντικειμενοποιησεως, εκβαλλομεν το κακον, το βλαβερον, και του αποδιδομεν υλικη συγκεκριμενη υποσταση.

Παυει λοιπον ο φοβος του θανατου να ειναι μια αφαιρεση, και συγκεκριμενοποιειται ως το Αιδοιον της γυναικος Χ.

Απο το αλμπουμ "Φωτοφρακτης"του Ανδρεα Εμπειρικου
Απο το αλμπουμ “Φωτοφρακτης”του Ανδρεα Εμπειρικου

Οδοντωτον Αιδοιον (Μουνι με δοντια)

Αποδοσις του εις την λατινικην ορου Vagina Dentata – ενω εις την αγγλικην αναφερεται ως Toothed Vagina.

Αναφερεται εις την μυθικης προελευσεως γυναικα ητις φερει οδοντας εις το αιδοιον της, και ως εκ τουτου δυναται να ακρωτηριασει το πεος του ερωτικου της συντροφου εν τη εκτελεσει της γενετησιας πραξεως.

Βεβαιως υπαρχει και η επιστημονικη αποψη οτι το πεος ειναι αναλωσιμο, ως μια πρωτη υλη. Καθε φορα λοιπον που το πεος διεισδυει εις το αιδοιον, αναλωνεται.

Το οδοντωτον αιδοιον αποτελει και εφιαλτη δια τον ανδρα που ονειρευεται τον ακρωτηριασμο του εν τη τελεση της ερωτικης πραξεως.

Εν τη εννοια τουτη, το οδοντωτον αιδοιον αποτελει μεγαλυτεραν απειλην συγκρινομενη με την φαρμοκομουναν.

Καλυτερα ο ακαριαιος θανατος απο τον ατιμωτικον ακρωτηριασμον.

Castration-pic

Κλαψομουνα

Λεξις ητις υπαρχει και εις το αρσενικον, ως “κλαψομούνης”.

Υποδηλωνει καποιαν η οποια το ριχνει στο κλαμα, ή την κλαψουρα με το παραμικρο, υπερβαλλει, τρεχουν τα δακρυα ποταμι, και ολα αυτα χωρις λογο. Οποτε και δεν την παιρνει κανεις στα σοβαρα, ενω αποτελει και ενοχλησιν μεγαλην, με αποτελεσμα να την αποφευγουσιν οι παντες.

Υπαρχει βεβαιως και η γνωστη ταση του ανδρικου φυλου να υποτιμα τον συναισθηματισμο της γυναικας και να επιχειρει να τον απορριπτει ως κλαμμα ανευ λογου. Προσοχη λοιπον, η γλωσσα εν προκειμενω επιβεβαιωνει δια μιαν εισετι φοραν την αμφισημιαν ητις ενεδρευει.

achille_devc3a9ria_les_petits_jeux_innocens
Achille Deveria: Small and innocent games

Γλειφομούνι

Η πλεον αξιοπρεπης λεξις ειναι η “Αιδοιολειχια”.

Αποτελει πραξιν ητις αποδιδει εις τον πραγματοποιουντα εμπειριαν μοναδικην, καθοσον ενεργοποιουντια οι γευστικοι αδενες και σχεδον ολοκληρη η στοματικη κοιλοτης. Ταυτοχζρονως πραγματοποιουνται και ποικιλοτροπες προσμιξεις υγρων πολλαπλων προελευσεων και πηγων, συνοδευομενες απο οσμες και μυρωδιες μονον δια τους πραγματικους ρεκτες.

Ψευτομούνι. Είδος γλειφομουνίου, με τη διαφορά ότι ο τύπος προσποιείται ότι χρησιμοποιεί γλώσσα, ενώ στην ουσία χρησιμοποιεί δάχτυλο (πιθανόν λόγω σιχαμάρας). Απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση για ένα επιτυχημένο ψευτομούνι είναι η μίμηση του ήχου του γλειψίματος, (6)

Μουνόσκυλο αποκαλειται ο εχων σχεδον εθισμον εις την αιδοιολειχιαν, προσομοιαζομενος ουτω με τους συμπαθεις κυνες οιτινες οπου βρεθουν και οπου σταθουν γλειφονται και γλειφουν.

Παρομοιες στην εννοια ειναι και οι λεξεις Μουνοδουλος και Μουνακιας, παρολον οτι αμφοτερες εχουσιν και μεταφορικην εννοιαν ήτις αφορα την εξιν των ανθρωπων αυτων προς το σεβαστον.

Sarah LucasGot a Salmon On #3 1997
Sarah LucasGot a Salmon On #3 1997

Πλακομουνι

Πραξις ομοφυλοφιλικου ερωτος.

Το σχετικο ρημα αποδιδεται ως “πλακομουνιαζομαι”.

Το δε ουσιαστικον ειναι “πλακομουνού”.

“Οι στασεις ειχαν αλλαξει. Οι τριβαδες μου ειχαν εισχωρησει η μια στην αλλη, αγκαλιαζονταν ασφυκτικα ωστε να εφαπτεται το δριμυ και πυκνο τριχωμα τους, να τριβονται τα μελη τους. Εφορμουσαν, ενωνονταν και απωθουνταν, με το ρυθμο, την επιμονη και τη δυναμη που προμηνυει στις γυναικες το επερχομενο απογειο της ηδονης.”

Alfred de Musset  “Γκαμιανί, ή Δυο νυχτες παραφορας”. Μεταφραση Ανδρεα Στάϊκου. Εκδοσεις Άγρα, 2002.

Louise Bourgeois, "Janus Fleuri", 1968
Louise Bourgeois, “Janus Fleuri”, 1968

Παραπομπες

(1) Μαρια Θεοδωροπούλου, Μ. Saussure και Lacan: Απο τη γλωσσολογία στην ψυχανάλυση.

(2) slang.gr

(3) Λεξικο Κοινης Νεοελληνικης

(4) Αθεοφοβος2

(5) L’ Enfant de la Haute Mer

(6) Slang

Action against “Evil Acts”

Dachau Concentration Camp - The perimeter fence from the outside
Dachau Concentration Camp – The perimeter fence from the outside (Photo: panathinaeos)

“In the world in which we find ourselves, the possibilities of good are almost limitless, and the possibilities of evil no less so. Our present predicament is due more than anything else to the fact that we have learnt to understand and control to a terrifying extent the forces of nature outside us, but not those that are embodied in ourselves.”

Bertrand Russell (1)

“Among the moral results of this disaster (he refers to the plague of the 14th century in Europe) the most shameful was a series of attacks upon the Jewish population, who at Mainz and other German-speaking towns were burned in their hundreds or thousands by an infuriated mob in the belief that the plague was a malignant device of the Semitic race for the confusion of the Catholic creed. ” 

H.A.L. Fisher (3)

Beginning on the day in 1975 when his guerrilla army marched silently into the capital, Phnom Penh, Pol Pot emptied the cities, pulled families apart,abolished religion and closed schools. Everyone was ordered to work, even children. The Khmer Rouge outlawed money and closed all markets. The Khmer Rouge especially persecuted members of minority ethnic groups — the Chinese, Muslim Chams, Vietnamese and Thais who had lived for generations in the country, and any other foreigners — in an attempt to make one ”pure” Cambodia. Non-Cambodians were forbidden to speak their native languages or to exhibit any ”foreign” traits. The pogrom against the Cham minority was the most devastating, killing more than half of that community.

The New York Times

Dachau Concentration Camp - Fences
Dachau Concentration Camp – Fences (Photo: panathinaeos)

Introduction

Today I want to address the issue of taking action to deter, contain, and even prevent “Evil Acts”.

I consider that it is not enough to condemn evil acts. Words of condemnation are not enough.

In my view one must also act against “evil acts”.

It all began during a visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp, in the outskirts of Munich in Bavaria, Germany.

Dachau is a sleepy suburb. But once you get to the perimeter walls and the barbed wires, you start getting the bad vibrations.

At the end of my visit I was shocked.

More than after my visit to Auschwitz.

May be because Auschwitz is relatively isolated, whereas Dachau is right in the middle of the community.

Hundreds of thousands of people were tortured and lost their life in this and other camps in Nazi Germany.

More than six million Jews lost their lives during the Holocaust.

Some Germans of the time say that they did not know about it.

This is a frightening thought.

How could you live in Dachau and know nothing about the camp?

An even more frightening thought is that there is no guarantee that evil acts will not be committed again.

As H.A.L. Fisher wrote: “The fact of progress is written plain and large on the page of history; but progress is not a law of nature. The ground gained by one generation may be lost by the next. The thoughts of men may flow into the channels which lead to disaster and barbarism.” (3)

Dachau - The Entrance Gate
Dachau Concentration Camp – The Entrance Gate (Photo: panathinaeos)

Definitions

I begin by giving some definitions of “evil acts”.

My views address only acts and their implications. I do not refer to ideas, impressions, thoughts and other abstract entities.

Two more qualifications:

  • I do not refer to natural acts, like the 1755 earthquake that destroyed Lisbon. This is almost self-evident, but the clarification is needed.
  • In addition, I will exclude one person acts like Anders Behring Breivik’s  2011 sequential bombing and mass shooting in Norway.

To start with a definition, I will paraphrase Peter Dews’ definition:

“Evil acts are profound, far reaching desecrations of the human.”

Martha Nussbaum reminds us that Kant considered the human being as capable “under certain circumstances” to commit evil acts:

“Evil is radical, according to Kant, that is to say it goes to the root of our humanity, because human beings, prior to any experience, have a propensity to both good and evil, in the form of tendencies that are deeply rooted in our natures. We are such that we can follow the moral law, but there is also something about us that makes it virtually inevitable that under certain circumstances we will disregard it and behave badly.”

Philosopher Adi Ophir in his book “The Order of Evils” offers the main contention is that evil is neither a diabolical element residing in the hearts of men nor a meaningless absence of the good. Rather, it is the socially structured order of “superfluous evils.” Evils, like pain, suffering, loss, and humiliation, are superfluous when they could have been—but were not—prevented.

Dachau - Smoking is not permitted
Dachau – Smoking is not permitted (Photo: panathinaeos)

Who is the bearer of (good or) evil?

Bertrand Russell’s view (The Reith Lectures, Lecture 6, 1948) provides the answer to this key question:

“That is why the individual man is the bearer of good and evil, and not, on the one hand, any separate part of a man, or on the other hand, any collection of men. To believe that there can be good or evil in a collection of human beings, over and above the good or evil in the various individuals, is an error; moreover it is an error which leads straight to totalitarianism, and is therefore dangerous.” (1) 

Therefore it is one or more individuals who commit “evil acts” and are responsible for them.

One more word about those who claim that the agent behind evil acts may be an impersonal entity like the State. I quote Bertrand Russell again:

“When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of ‘the state’, certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of ‘the state’ turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority.” (1)

The argument applies to all other “impersonal” agents, like a “system” (e.g. capitalism, socialism) and so on.

Dachau - Where the barracks were (Photo: panathinaeos)
Dachau Concentration Camp – Where the barracks were (Photo: panathinaeos)

Why act against “evil acts”?

One may have many diverse motives for acting against “evil acts”. The same of course applies to any other action.

One of the motives may be originating from a moral framework.

A moral framework can be prescriptive, and it is in this sense that I want to deploy it in this article.

Koertge (2) has identified the following building blocks of Popper’s Moral Philosophy:

  • self-emancipation through knowledge,
  • a dedication to communal problem solving,
  • honesty,
  • openness to criticism,
  • tolerance for other views,
  • a society that supports freedom of expression and
  • the imperatives to relieve suffering and avoid cruelty.

The moral framework explains the taking of the action and justifies its necessity.

Dachau
Dachau Concentration Camp: The Administration Building – (Photo: panathinaeos)

Acting against “Evil Acts”

In the context of the moral framework above, all acts against “evil acts” need to conform with the values of the framework and not violate it.

Otherwise, in the name of the action against “evil acts”, you end up committing evil acts. Which defeats the purpose of taking action against evil.

Acting against “evil acts” is a moral duty, if one wants to accept that there is one,

Of course as I have mentioned in a previous section, action may be taken for other reasons.

Acting against “evil acts” is not necessarily effective. This however applies to all actions. The fact that an action may not turn out to be an effective action does not imply anything against the action itself.

Taking action against evil acts is very risky.

It may kill you, or endanger you greatly to say the least.

It may be safely asserted that if evil acts are consistently deterred and contained, this will be the result of some people taking action.

Consistent outcomes cannot be the result of chance only.

Dachau Concentration Camp - A view from inside of the barracks to the outside
Dachau Concentration Camp – A view from inside of the barracks to the outside (Photo: panathinaeos)

Bad end, good end

Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg decided to act and attempt the assassination of Adolf Hitler and the removal of the Nazi Party from power.

He was not alone. He was one of the leaders not only of the plot against Hitler and the Nazis, but also of the German Resistance movement in the German Armed Forces (Wermacht).

Unfortunately the attempt failed and von Stauffenberg was executed in July 1944.

My maternal grandfather gave shelter in his house to a Jewish family for a period of over two years, during the German occupation of Athens.

Had he been caught, his whole family would have been killed, and the Jewish family would be sent to an extermination camp.

Luckily he was never caught, and the Jewish family found a safe way out to the Middle East.

Intention versus consequence

The French press magnate Jean Prouvost, who had collaborated with the German forces during the occupation of France, tried to redeem himself by writing a large check to the resistance when it became clear that the Germans were losing the war. After Liberation, the High Court (in France) granted him a non-lieu (a judgement that suspends, annuls, or withdraws a case without bringing it to trial). The reason he went free was probably that the resistance needed the money and later found itself obliged to keep the tacit promise of immunity that acceptance of the check implied. (4)    

This incident is worth noting because it opens up a discussion regarding the difference between intention and consequence.

The intention of the person in this case may be considered as having nothing to do with acting against evil. The act as far as intentions go appears to serve the person’s self-interest.

On the other hand, the consequences of the action may have been quite significant, judging by the immunity granted to the press magnate.

Dachai Concentration Camp - Guard Tower
Dachau Concentration Camp – Guard Tower (Photo: panathinaeos)

Deter, constrain, prevent?

Prevention is of course much better.

But is it possible?

I believe that no one can say that it is not possible, although there is no certainty regarding the outcome of preventive actions.

As an example, it is known that totalitarian regimes are more likely to commit evil acts than other regimes.

This implies that action against totalitarianism is in a way action that potentially prevents evil acts.

This can be generalized.

Once the circumstances under which evil acts are committed are established, all actions that go counter to these circumstances have the potential of preventing evil acts.

Once evil acts are committed, the issue becomes to what extent they will continue.

Action then needs to be taken to deter and contain evil acts.

However, taking action must not lead to committing of evil acts, while trying to deter and/or contain evil acts.

The Syrian Chemical Weapons issue is a good example.

Using chemical weapons is an evil act. There is no doubt about it.

Actions must be taken against the use of chemical weapons.

However, if this action prevents one of the two parties involved in the conflict to use the weapons, while it enables the other party to use them, the action will not be effective.

There is also another issue that needs to be addressed.

If we need to stop the use of chemical weapons, is it not also necessary to stop the production and trading of chemical weapons?

As I was writing this, I saw a brief from the Financial Times newspaper, announcing that “The US and Russia have agreed on a framework for Syria to destroy all of its chemical weapons by the middle of 2014. If President Bashar al-Assad fails to comply with the US-Russia agreement the issue is then to be referred to the United Nations Security Council.”

Dachau Concentration Camp - Extermination furnace
Dachau Concentration Camp – Extermination furnace (Photo: panathinaeos)

In place of a conclusion

Now that I read again what I wrote it appears to me that a generalization is in order.

I started out by asserting the necessity of action against “evil acts”.

This is good, but not good enough.

There are far too many religious overtones in the word “evil”.

It is fuzzy, blurred, unclear, and easily manipulated.

Almost everything that I wrote above stands if I replace “evil acts” with “human suffering”.

“I believe that there is, from the ethical point of view, no symmetry between suffering and happiness, or between pain and pleasure. (…) human suffering makes a direct moral appeal for help, while there is no similar call to increase the happiness of a man who is doing well anyway.” (5)

Sources

(1) Bertrand Russell, The Reith Lectures, Lecture 6

(2) Noretta Koertge, The Moral Underpinnings of Popper’s Philosophy

(3) H.A.L. Fisher, A History of Europe

(4) Jon Elster, Explaining Social Behavior

(5) Karl Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies

Action against “Evil Acts”

Dachau Concentration Camp - The perimeter fence from the outside
Dachau Concentration Camp – The perimeter fence from the outside (Photo: panathinaeos)

“In the world in which we find ourselves, the possibilities of good are almost limitless, and the possibilities of evil no less so. Our present predicament is due more than anything else to the fact that we have learnt to understand and control to a terrifying extent the forces of nature outside us, but not those that are embodied in ourselves.”

Bertrand Russell (1)

“Among the moral results of this disaster (he refers to the plague of the 14th century in Europe) the most shameful was a series of attacks upon the Jewish population, who at Mainz and other German-speaking towns were burned in their hundreds or thousands by an infuriated mob in the belief that the plague was a malignant device of the Semitic race for the confusion of the Catholic creed. ” 

H.A.L. Fisher (3)

Beginning on the day in 1975 when his guerrilla army marched silently into the capital, Phnom Penh, Pol Pot emptied the cities, pulled families apart,abolished religion and closed schools. Everyone was ordered to work, even children. The Khmer Rouge outlawed money and closed all markets. The Khmer Rouge especially persecuted members of minority ethnic groups — the Chinese, Muslim Chams, Vietnamese and Thais who had lived for generations in the country, and any other foreigners — in an attempt to make one ”pure” Cambodia. Non-Cambodians were forbidden to speak their native languages or to exhibit any ”foreign” traits. The pogrom against the Cham minority was the most devastating, killing more than half of that community.

The New York Times

Dachau Concentration Camp - Fences
Dachau Concentration Camp – Fences (Photo: panathinaeos)

Introduction

Today I want to address the issue of taking action to deter, contain, and even prevent “Evil Acts”.

I consider that it is not enough to condemn evil acts. Words of condemnation are not enough.

In my view one must also act against “evil acts”.

It all began during a visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp, in the outskirts of Munich in Bavaria, Germany.

Dachau is a sleepy suburb. But once you get to the perimeter walls and the barbed wires, you start getting the bad vibrations.

At the end of my visit I was shocked.

More than after my visit to Auschwitz.

May be because Auschwitz is relatively isolated, whereas Dachau is right in the middle of the community.

Hundreds of thousands of people were tortured and lost their life in this and other camps in Nazi Germany.

More than six million Jews lost their lives during the Holocaust.

Some Germans of the time say that they did not know about it.

This is a frightening thought.

How could you live in Dachau and know nothing about the camp?

An even more frightening thought is that there is no guarantee that evil acts will not be committed again.

As H.A.L. Fisher wrote: “The fact of progress is written plain and large on the page of history; but progress is not a law of nature. The ground gained by one generation may be lost by the next. The thoughts of men may flow into the channels which lead to disaster and barbarism.” (3)

Dachau - The Entrance Gate
Dachau Concentration Camp – The Entrance Gate (Photo: panathinaeos)

Definitions

I begin by giving some definitions of “evil acts”.

My views address only acts and their implications. I do not refer to ideas, impressions, thoughts and other abstract entities.

Two more qualifications:

  • I do not refer to natural acts, like the 1755 earthquake that destroyed Lisbon. This is almost self-evident, but the clarification is needed.
  • In addition, I will exclude one person acts like Anders Behring Breivik’s  2011 sequential bombing and mass shooting in Norway.

To start with a definition, I will paraphrase Peter Dews’ definition:

“Evil acts are profound, far reaching desecrations of the human.”

Martha Nussbaum reminds us that Kant considered the human being as capable “under certain circumstances” to commit evil acts:

“Evil is radical, according to Kant, that is to say it goes to the root of our humanity, because human beings, prior to any experience, have a propensity to both good and evil, in the form of tendencies that are deeply rooted in our natures. We are such that we can follow the moral law, but there is also something about us that makes it virtually inevitable that under certain circumstances we will disregard it and behave badly.”

Philosopher Adi Ophir in his book “The Order of Evils” offers the main contention is that evil is neither a diabolical element residing in the hearts of men nor a meaningless absence of the good. Rather, it is the socially structured order of “superfluous evils.” Evils, like pain, suffering, loss, and humiliation, are superfluous when they could have been—but were not—prevented.

Dachau - Smoking is not permitted
Dachau – Smoking is not permitted (Photo: panathinaeos)

Who is the bearer of (good or) evil?

Bertrand Russell’s view (The Reith Lectures, Lecture 6, 1948) provides the answer to this key question:

“That is why the individual man is the bearer of good and evil, and not, on the one hand, any separate part of a man, or on the other hand, any collection of men. To believe that there can be good or evil in a collection of human beings, over and above the good or evil in the various individuals, is an error; moreover it is an error which leads straight to totalitarianism, and is therefore dangerous.” (1) 

Therefore it is one or more individuals who commit “evil acts” and are responsible for them.

One more word about those who claim that the agent behind evil acts may be an impersonal entity like the State. I quote Bertrand Russell again:

“When we think concretely, not abstractly, we find, in place of ‘the state’, certain people who have more power than falls to the share of most men. And so glorification of ‘the state’ turns out to be, in fact, glorification of a governing minority.” (1)

The argument applies to all other “impersonal” agents, like a “system” (e.g. capitalism, socialism) and so on.

Dachau - Where the barracks were (Photo: panathinaeos)
Dachau Concentration Camp – Where the barracks were (Photo: panathinaeos)

Why act against “evil acts”?

One may have many diverse motives for acting against “evil acts”. The same of course applies to any other action.

One of the motives may be originating from a moral framework.

A moral framework can be prescriptive, and it is in this sense that I want to deploy it in this article.

Koertge (2) has identified the following building blocks of Popper’s Moral Philosophy:

  • self-emancipation through knowledge,
  • a dedication to communal problem solving,
  • honesty,
  • openness to criticism,
  • tolerance for other views,
  • a society that supports freedom of expression and
  • the imperatives to relieve suffering and avoid cruelty.

The moral framework explains the taking of the action and justifies its necessity.

Dachau
Dachau Concentration Camp: The Administration Building – (Photo: panathinaeos)

Acting against “Evil Acts”

In the context of the moral framework above, all acts against “evil acts” need to conform with the values of the framework and not violate it.

Otherwise, in the name of the action against “evil acts”, you end up committing evil acts. Which defeats the purpose of taking action against evil.

Acting against “evil acts” is a moral duty, if one wants to accept that there is one,

Of course as I have mentioned in a previous section, action may be taken for other reasons.

Acting against “evil acts” is not necessarily effective. This however applies to all actions. The fact that an action may not turn out to be an effective action does not imply anything against the action itself.

Taking action against evil acts is very risky.

It may kill you, or endanger you greatly to say the least.

It may be safely asserted that if evil acts are consistently deterred and contained, this will be the result of some people taking action.

Consistent outcomes cannot be the result of chance only.

Dachau Concentration Camp - A view from inside of the barracks to the outside
Dachau Concentration Camp – A view from inside of the barracks to the outside (Photo: panathinaeos)

Bad end, good end

Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg decided to act and attempt the assassination of Adolf Hitler and the removal of the Nazi Party from power.

He was not alone. He was one of the leaders not only of the plot against Hitler and the Nazis, but also of the German Resistance movement in the German Armed Forces (Wermacht).

Unfortunately the attempt failed and von Stauffenberg was executed in July 1944.

My maternal grandfather gave shelter in his house to a Jewish family for a period of over two years, during the German occupation of Athens.

Had he been caught, his whole family would have been killed, and the Jewish family would be sent to an extermination camp.

Luckily he was never caught, and the Jewish family found a safe way out to the Middle East.

Intention versus consequence

The French press magnate Jean Prouvost, who had collaborated with the German forces during the occupation of France, tried to redeem himself by writing a large check to the resistance when it became clear that the Germans were losing the war. After Liberation, the High Court (in France) granted him a non-lieu (a judgement that suspends, annuls, or withdraws a case without bringing it to trial). The reason he went free was probably that the resistance needed the money and later found itself obliged to keep the tacit promise of immunity that acceptance of the check implied. (4)    

This incident is worth noting because it opens up a discussion regarding the difference between intention and consequence.

The intention of the person in this case may be considered as having nothing to do with acting against evil. The act as far as intentions go appears to serve the person’s self-interest.

On the other hand, the consequences of the action may have been quite significant, judging by the immunity granted to the press magnate.

Dachai Concentration Camp - Guard Tower
Dachai Concentration Camp – Guard Tower (Photo: panathinaeos)

Deter, constrain, prevent?

Prevention is of course much better.

But is it possible?

I believe that no one can say that it is not possible, although there is no certainty regarding the outcome of preventive actions.

As an example, it is known that totalitarian regimes are more likely to commit evil acts than other regimes.

This implies that action against totalitarianism is in a way action that potentially prevents evil acts.

This can be generalized.

Once the circumstances under which evil acts are committed are established, all actions that go counter to these circumstances have the potential of preventing evil acts.

Once evil acts are committed, the issue becomes to what extent they will continue.

Action then needs to be taken to deter and contain evil acts.

However, taking action must not lead to committing of evil acts, while trying to deter and/or contain evil acts.

The Syrian Chemical Weapons issue is a good example.

Using chemical weapons is an evil act. There is no doubt about it.

Actions must be taken against the use of chemical weapons.

However, if this action prevents one of the two parties involved in the conflict to use the weapons, while it enables the other party to use them, the action will not be effective.

There is also another issue that needs to be addressed.

If we need to stop the use of chemical weapons, is it not also necessary to stop the production and trading of chemical weapons?

As I was writing this, I saw a brief from the Financial Times newspaper, announcing that “The US and Russia have agreed on a framework for Syria to destroy all of its chemical weapons by the middle of 2014. If President Bashar al-Assad fails to comply with the US-Russia agreement the issue is then to be referred to the United Nations Security Council.”

Dachau Concentration Camp - Extermination furnace
Dachau Concentration Camp – Extermination furnace (Photo: panathinaeos)

In place of a conclusion

Now that I read again what I wrote it appears to me that a generalization is in order.

I started out by asserting the necessity of action against “evil acts”.

This is good, but not good enough.

There are far too many religious overtones in the word “evil”.

It is fuzzy, blurred, unclear, and easily manipulated.

Almost everything that I wrote above stands if I replace “evil acts” with “human suffering”.

“I believe that there is, from the ethical point of view, no symmetry between suffering and happiness, or between pain and pleasure. (…) human suffering makes a direct moral appeal for help, while there is no similar call to increase the happiness of a man who is doing well anyway.” (5)

Sources

(1) Bertrand Russell, The Reith Lectures, Lecture 6

(2) Noretta Koertge, The Moral Underpinnings of Popper’s Philosophy

(3) H.A.L. Fisher, A History of Europe

(4) Jon Elster, Explaining Social Behavior

(5) Karl Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies

Greece: voices from the past

Mermaid – Γοργονα

As Greece continues to suffer from the worst financial, social and political crisis since the civil war of 1945-1949, I retreated back in time, and heard some voices from the past.

Καθως η Ελλας συνεχιζει να ευρισκεται εις την δινη της μεγαλυτερης οικονομικης, κοινωνικης και πολιτικης κρισης μετα τον εμφυλιο (1945-1949), αποσυρθηκα εις τον παρελθοντα χρονο για να ακουσω καποιες φωνες.

Kokinia between the wars (1918-1939) – Η Κοκινια στον μεσοπολεμο

“Οι μικροαστοι επιθυμουν τη δικτατορια μοναχα σα φτασουνε στο τελευταιο σταδιο του φοβου ή της απογνωσης ή της αβουλιας. Μα οσο υπαρχουν ελπιδες μιας εθνικης και ατομικης ανορθωσης, θελουνε να βλεπουνε τους λογαριασμους του Κρατους, να τους συζητουνε ελευθερα και να νοιωθουνε πως μπορουνε να αλλαξουνε το προσωπικο κατα το κεφι τους, σα νοικοκυραιοι.

Petite bourgeoisie are in favour of a dictatorship only when they arrive at the last stage of fear, desperation, or lack of direction. But as long as there are hopes of a national and personal recovery, they want to see the finances of the State, discuss them freely and feel that they can change the political personnel as they desire, like good housekeepers. (1)

Greece between the wars – Η Ελλας στον μεσοπολεμο

Η κοινοβουλευτικη συντεχνια βρηκε μια λυση της πολιτικης κρισης, που εσωζε τους θεσμους διχως να προσβαλλει τις σταδιοδρομιες και τα φιλοτιμα των κομματων και των προσωπων: Κυβερνηση συνασπισμου. Τα κομματα της συμπολιτευσης και της αντιπολιτευσης μοιραστηκαν τα υπουργεια με ενα κοινο “προγραμμα περισυλλογης”, αφηνοντας εξω μερικες μικρες ομαδες των ακρων. Βρεθηκε ευκολα και ενας επιβλητικος γερος κοινοβουλευτικος, που ειχε καλες προσωπικες σχεσεις με ολους τους πολιτικους αρχηγους, και του δοθηκε η πρωθυπουργια. ..

The parliamentarians found a way out of the political crisis, that retained the institutions without assaulting the carriers and the pride of the parties and the political personnel: a coalition government. The parties of the majority and the opposition shared the ministerial posts on the basis of a common “recovery programme”, leaving out the small groups of the extremes. It was easy to find a respectable aged parliamentarian, who had good personal relationships with all the party leaders, and make him the prime minister… (1)

Open air market in Thission, Athens – Λαϊκη Αγορα στο Θησειο

Ενιωθε και κατι αλλο, που σε λιγο αρχισε να το νιωθει κι ενα μερος του κοινου: οτι η Κυβερνηση του συνασπισμου απο τη φυση της, ειναι ανικανη να παρει γενναιες πρωτοβουλιες και να επιβαλει ριζικες λυσεις στα οικονομικα και κρατικα ζητηματα, που παραλυανε τη ζωη του τοπου. Ουτε την ξεκουρδισμενη μηχανη της διοικησης μπορουσε να φρεσκαρει και να ξανακουρδισει, ουτε το στρατο να καθαρισει απο τα ταραχοποια στοιχεια του, ουτε αληθινες οικονομιες να πραγματοποιησει και να ισοσκλεισει τον προϋπολογισμο, ουτε την εθνικη οικονομια να διευθυνει και να τη συγκρατησει σ’ ενα ανεκτο επιπεδο μες στη συγχυση των διεθνων οικονομικων συνθηκων.

He also felt something else, which was also felt by the public: that the coalition Government was by nature unable to take bold initiatives and implement all-encompassing solutions to the financial and adminsitrative issues that were paralyzing the life of the country. The government could not refresh the broken down machinery of the state, nor clean up the army of its radical elements, cut public spending, balance the budget, and adequately manage the national economy in the midst of the international confusion.” (1)

Festival in Delphi – Δελφικες εορτες

“Γιατι λοιπον να μη μ’ ανησυχει και να μη με εξοργιζει οταν διακρινω ξεδιαντροπα να καλλιεργειται μια κουλτουρα δηθεν εθνικη απο ατομα ή οργανισμους ή κομματα και με εναν σκοπο, την υποδουλωση σας, τον πνευματικο και αισθησιακο ευνουχισμο σας, την υποπτη αντικατασταση της ανησυχιας απο την ακινδυνη παραδοσιακη γραφικοτητα; Κι υστερα δεν ειναι επισης καπως υποπτη η αυθαιρεσια ορισμενων κομματικων οργανισμων να οικειοποιουνται την προοδευτικοτητα σα να’ ναι γεννημα τους; Και ποία η διαφορα σ’ αυθαιρεσια μ’ εκεινους τους αλλους, τα τρωκτικα του τοπου μας, που ετσιθελικα οικειοποιουνται την εννοια του εθνους, ώστε όταν εναντιωνεσαι στις παρανομες επιδιωξεις τους να γινεσαι αυτοματα αντεθνικος; (2)

Maroussi

So why should I not be worried and outraged when I see people, organizations and parties promoting without shame a supposedly national culture with only one objective, your enslavement, your mental and sensual castration, and the suspicious substitution of concern by the harmless traditional stereotypes? Following that, isn’t it somehow suspicious to see some political organizations pretending that they are the owners of progressive ideas and beliefs? And in what do they differ from the others, the rats of our country, who declare themselves the owners of the concept of the nation, so that when you rise against their illegal designs you automatically become an enemy of the nation?” (2)

Technical Lyceum – Σιβιτανιδειος Σχολη

“Ο φασισμός στις μέρες μας φανερώνεται με δυο μορφές. Ή προκλητικός, με το πρόσχημα αντιδράσεως σε πολιτικά ή κοινωνικά γεγονότα που δεν ευνοούν την περίπτωσή τους ή παθητικός μες στον οποίο κυριαρχεί ο φόβος για ό,τι συμβαίνει γύρω μας. Ανοχή και παθητικότητα λοιπόν. Κι έτσι εδραιώνεται η πρόκληση. Με την ανοχή των πολλών. Προτιμότερο αργός και σιωπηλός θάνατος από την αντίδραση του ζωντανού και ευαίσθητου οργανισμού που περιέχουμε.

Fascism in our days appears with two faces. Either provocative, on the pretext of reacting to political or social events that do not favour them, or passive, where fear about everything going on around us is prominent. Tolerance and passivity give room to the challenge of fascism. We seem to prefer the slow and silent death to the reaction of the live and sensitive self inside us. (3)

George Theotokas (left). Athens 1941

Και μη βρίσκοντας αντίσταση από μια στέρεη παιδεία όλα αυτά δημιουργούν ένα κατάλληλο έδαφος για να ανθίσει ο εγωκεντρισμός η εγωπάθεια, η κενότητα και φυσικά κάθε κτηνώδες ένστιχτο στο εσωτερικό τους. Προσέξτε το χορό τους με τις ομοιόμορφες στρατιωτικές κινήσεις, μακρά από κάθε διάθεση επαφής και επικοινωνίας. Το τραγούδι τους με τις συνθηματικές επαναλαμβανόμενες λέξεις, η απουσία του βιβλίου και της σκέψης από τη συμπεριφορά τους και ο στόχος για μια άνετη σταδιοδρομία κέρδους και εύκολης επιτυχίας.

Not finding any resistance from a solid education, all these create a suitable ground for egocentricity to bloom, emptiness, and of course every animal instnct. Notice how they dance (the fascists) making these militarymovements, away from any desire to contaqct and communicate. Their song, with the coded repeating words, the anbsence of the book (reading) and thinking from their behaviour, and the goal of a comfortable career and easy success. (3)

M. Karagatsis in his youth

Βιώνουμε μέρα με τη μέρα περισσότερο το τμήμα του εαυτού μας – που ή φοβάται ή δεν σκέφτεται, επιδιώκοντας όσο γίνεται περισσότερα οφέλη. Ώσπου να βρεθεί ο κατάλληλος «αρχηγός» που θα ηγηθεί αυτό το κατάπτυστο περιεχόμενό μας. Και τότε θα ‘ναι αργά για ν’ αντιδράσουμε. Ο νεοναζισμός είμαστε εσείς κι εμείς – όπως στη γνωστή παράσταση του Πιραντέλο. Είμαστε εσείς, εμείς και τα παιδιά μας. Δεχόμαστε να ‘μαστε απάνθρωποι μπρος στους φορείς του AIDS, από άγνοια αλλά και τόσο «ανθρώπινοι» και συγκαταβατικοί μπροστά στα ανθρωποειδή ερπετά του φασισμού, πάλι από άγνοια, αλλά κι από φόβο κι από συνήθεια.

We experience day after day the part of ourself that is either scared or does not think, seeking to maximize personal benefits. Until we find the right “leader” to command this despicable side of our existence. But then it will be too late to react. Neonazism is you and us – as in the known play of Pirandello. It is us, us and our children. We accept to be inhuman when we face AIDS carriers, due to lack of knowledge, but so “human” and understanding in front of the humanoids of fascism, not only because of lack of knowledge, but also because of fear and habit.    (3)

Greek Civil War 1945-1949

Και το Κακό ελλοχεύει χωρίς προφύλαξη, χωρίς ντροπή. Ο νεοναζισμός δεν είναι θεωρία, σκέψη και αναρχία. Είναι μια παράσταση. Εσείς κι εμείς. Και πρωταγωνιστεί ο Θάνατος.

And Evil is lurking without precaution, without shame. Neonazism is not theory, thought, or anarchy. It is a show. You and us. And Death is the protagonist. ” (3)

Young women on a boat outside the port of Alexandroupolis – Κοπελλες σε βαρκα εξω απο την Αλεξανδρουπολη

“Στο αναμεταξυ (1921) οι νεοπλουτοι, μπουχτισμενοι απο ευκολοκερδισμενο παρά και λιμασμενοι απο μακροχρονια νηστεια, το’ χαν ριξει εξω. Γινοταν ενα γλεντι αλλιωτικο, ουτε πρωτογονο ουτε συμβατικο, μα κατι το ατοπο, το χυδαιο. Προβαλαν μεσα στην ξαφνιασμενη κοινωνια της Αθηνας ανθρωποι αγνωστοι, μυστηριοι, που κανεις δεν ηξερε πούθε βαστουσε η σκουφια τους, με τις τσεπες φίσκα στο χρημα και διχως συναισθηση τι παει να πει χρημα. Σπαταλουσαν ποσα αφανταστα σ’ ενα γλεντι κακογουστο κι άνοστο, μη λογαριαζοντας τιποτα, μην ξεροντας πως να διαθεσουν τα εκατομμυρια τους. Βασικη προϋποθεση του γλεντιου ηταν ν’ αποχτησουν αμερικάνικο αυτοκινητο και να τριγυρναν στους ανυπαρκτους τοτε δρομους της Αττικης, αραζοντας σε ξωτικα λιμανια – Ραφηνα και Σκαραμαγκα – που ο μη εκατομμυριούχος μοναχα στ’ ονειρο του μπορουσε να τα ιδει. Ησαν εκει κατι βρωμοταβερνες, που παρισταναν τα κεντρα πολυτελειας, που πουλουσαν τα τηγανητα μπαρμπουνια και τον μποτιλιαρισμενο σταφιδιτη σε τιμες αστρονομικες. (4)

Rafina 1930

In the meantime (1921), the newly rich, fed up by easily won money and starved by long abstinence, were going overboard. They were partying in a different way, neither primitive nor conventional, but somehow out of place and vulgar. Unknown, mysterious people, who nobody knew where they were coming from, were emerging in the midst of the puzzled Athenian society, with their pockets stuffed with money and no conception whatsoever of what money means. They were wasting unimaginable amounts of money in pasties of bad taste, disregarding everything, not knowing what to do with their money. A basiv requirement for them to have a good time was to buy an american car and roam the non-existent roads of Attica, arriving at exotix ports – Rafina and Skaramanga – which an ordinary person could see only in their dreams. There were some horrible tavernas there, pretending to be luxurious restaurants, selling fried barbounia and bottled wine at astronomical prices  ” (4)

Miss Europe, 1926

“Η Ελλαδα πεθανε και τη σκοτωσαμε εμεις – δεν ειναι ρητορικο σχημα. Δεν υπαρχει προηγουμενο λαου που με αποφαση της Βουλης (ομοφωνη) να καταργει τον τροπο της γραφης που συντηρησε τη γλωσσα του ζωντανη δυο χιλιαδες χρονια. .. Ο ευρωπαιος, οταν υιοθετησει το μηδενισμο, ελεγε ο Ντοστογιεφκσυ, εχει τα ιδια ερεισματα ζωης που συντηρουσε και θρησκευομενος: την προτεραιοτητα της λογικης, τον ωφελιμισμο, τη θεσμοποιηση των ατομικων εξασφαλισεων, γι’ αυτο και δυσκολα φτανει στην κοινωνικη αποσυνθεση και στο χαος. Ενω λαοι που επεζησαν μεσα στους αιωνες χαρη σε διαφορετικα ερεισματα ζωης – οπως οι Ρωσοι ή οι Ελληνες – οταν γινουν μηδενιστες, “βουτανε κατακεφαλα στον παραλογισμο” – δεν ξερουν μετρο. ” (5)

Musicians – Στης μαστουρας το σκοπο

Greece is dead and we killed her – this is not a rhetorical statement. There is no precedent of a people who with a unanimous parliamentary vote abandons the way of writing that has preserved his language alive for two thousand years…. The european, when becomes a nihillist, wrote Dostoevski, has the same pillars in life that he had when he was a believer: the priority of rational thinking, utilitarianism, the institutionalization of the personal, and so it is difficult for him to arrive at social disintegration and chaos. While peoples who have survived through the centuries thanks to other pillars in life, like the Russians or the Greeks, when they become nihillists, “they go all the way to insanity”, they know no restraint.  (5)

Korina in the Allatini Factory (6)

Θα σου παρουν τον ισκιο των δεντρων, θα τον παρουν

Θα σου παρουν τον ισκιο της θαλασσας, θα τον παρουν

Θα σου παρουν τον ισκιο της καρδιας, θα τον παρουν

Θα παρουν τον ισκιο σου… (7)

They will take away from you the shadow of the trees, they will take it

They will take away from you the shadow of the sea, they will take it

They will take away from you the shadow of the heart, they will take it

They will take away your shadow… (7)

Plakes, Volos

Sources – Πηγες

(1) Γιωργος  Θεοτοκας, ΑΡΓΩ 1936, Εστια. George Theotokas, ARGO 1936, Hestia Publishing.

(2) Μανος Χατζιδακις, Η πολιτκη στην τεχνη και η κακη τεχνη της πολτικης,   Ο Καθρεφτης και το Μαχαιρι, 1988, Ικαρος. Manos Hadjidakis, Politics in art and the bad art of politics, The mirror and the knife 1988, Ikaros Publishing.

(3) Μανος Χατζηδακις, Φεβρουαριος 1993, ΑΒΕΡΩΦ. Manos Hadjidakis, February 1993.

(4) Μ. Καραγατσης, Γιουγκερμαν, 1938, ΕΣΤΙΑ. M. Karagatsis, Yungermann, 1938, Hestia Publishing.

(5) Χρηστος Γιανναρας, Finis Greciae, 1986, Το Κενο στην τρεχουσα Πολιτικη, Εκδοσεις Καστανιωτη. Christos Giannaras, Finis Greciae, 1986, The vacuum in present day politics, Kastaniotis Publishing.

(6) Korina – Ceramics Allatini

(7) Γιωργος Σεφερης, Μερες Ε’, 15 Μαρτη 1947, Ικαρος Εκδοτικη. George Seferis, Days E’, 15 March 1947, Ikaros Publishing.

Nikos Karouzos: The agony in front of nothingness – Νικος Καρουζος: Η αγωνια κατάντικρυ στο μηδεν

Ο ποιητης Νικος Καρουζος ταξιδεψε στον αλλο κοσμο την 28η Σεπτεμβριου 1990.

The Greek poet Nikos Karouzos died twenty two years ago this day.

Σχεδον δυο χρονια πριν, στα τελειωματα του 2010 ειχα γραψει ενα αρθρο για τον μεγαλο Ελληνα ποιητη.

Almost two years ago, at the end of 2010, I wrote an article about the great Greek poet.

The Greek poet Nikos Karouzos

Σημερα, τιμωντας την μνημη του για μια ακομη φορα, παραθετω ενα εκτενες αποσπασμα απο ενα κειμενο του που ξεκινησε να καμει κριτικη στον Καζαντζακη, αλλα επικεντρωθηκε στην “αγωνια κατάντικρυ στο μηδεν” (Νικος Καρουζος, Πεζα Κειμενα, Ικαρος Εκδοτικη Εταιρεια, 1998).

Today in his memory I publish an extract from an article he wrote criticizing Nikos Kazantzakis. The article is focused on the “agony in front of nothingness”. It goes like this:

“…. Ας παρουμε λοιπον, αν οχι τιποτ’ αλλο, το Ταο τε κινγκ,   το περιφημο βιβλιο του Λαο-τσε, την πιο αμυθοποιητη μεταφυσικη διδασκαλια της Αρχαιας Ασιας. Την αγωνια που μας βαζει συστηθους απεναντι στο μηδεν – απ’ τη χαμηλοτερη βαθμιδα της ως την υψηλοτερη, εκεινη που φανερωνει μ’ αλλα λογια την αγωνια ως υψωτικη μεριμνα – την κανει να υπαρχει, κατα τη διδασκαλια τουτη, το κτητικο-προσκολλητικο στοιχειο της υπαρξεως: η ατομικοτητα.

“… Let us then take, if nothing else, Tao te Ching, Lao Tse’s masterpiece, the most metaphysical teaching of Anceint Asia that is not prone to Myth. According to Lao Tse, the agony we experience in front of nothingness – from its lowest degree to the highest, where it is experienced as redemption anxiety – emerges out of the posessive – attachment attribute of our existence: individuality.

Martin Heidegger’s Feldweg in Messkirch, Germany

Εκεινος που δινεται στην μελετη 

γινεται πιοτερος μερα με τη μερα. 

Εκεινος που αφιερωνεται στο Ταο

ελαττωνεται μερα με τη μερα. 

He who devotes himself to learning

(seeks) from day to day to increase (his knowledge);

he who devotes himself to the Tao

(seeks) from day to day to diminish (his doing).

Lao Tse

Ελατωσου κι ακομη ελαττωσου

για να φτασεις καποτε στην απραξια. 

Με την απραξια

τιποτα δεν υπαρχει που να μη γινεται.

(Ταο τε κινγκ, 48)

He diminishes it and again diminishes it,

till he arrives at doing nothing (on purpose).

Having arrived at this point of non-action,

there is nothing which he does not do. ((chap. 48)

C D Friedrich: Der Wanderer

Θυμιζουμε την οντολογικη θεμελιωση της ταοϊκης διδασκαλιας:

Let us be reminded of the ontological foundation of taoism:

Ο γυρισμος ειν’ η κινηση του Ταο.

Τουτο φανερωνεται στο να’ ναι κανεις εξω απ’ τη δυναμη. 

Ολα τα οντα πηγαζουν απ’το Ειναι

το Ειναι πηγαζει απ’ το Μη-Ειναι

(Ταο τε κινγκ, 40)

In Tao the only motion is returning;

The only useful quality, weakness.

For though all creatures under heaven are the products of Being,

Being itself is the product of Not-being. ” (chap. 40, tr. Waley)

The Greek poet Nikos Karouzos

Το Ταο ειν’ ο δρομος προς το αδειασμα της ατομικοτητας, πηγης της κτητικοτητας και του εξουσιαζειν.

Tao is the way to get rid of individuality, which is the source of posessiveness and power.

Το Ταο ειν’ ο δρομος προς την απραξια, που σημαινει βασικα την μη προσκολληση στ’ αποτελεσματα του πραττειν, ειτε αυτα ειν’ αγαθα ειτε αυτα ειν’ ασχημα.

Tao is the road to doing nothing, which means non attachment to the results of acting, good or bad.  

Το Ταο ειν’ η κινηση προς την καθαρα πνευματικη χρηση του Ειναι, προς το μη-εγω που ειναι τα αταραχτο εγω της μη-ατομικοτητας, του μη-κτητικου-προσκολλητικου στοιχειου της υπαρξεως, προς την εξουδετερωση της αγωνιας, προς την μεταμορφωση σε πνευμα της υλης: την αταραξια.

Tao is the movement to the actualization of Being, to the non-Being, which is the undisturbed nucleus of non-individuality, of the non-posessive, non-aatached element of existence, to the neutralization of anxiety, to stillness.

Φτασε στην κενοτητα την υψιστη

και σ’ αταραξια διατηρησου…(16)

The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. (16)

Γιατι το ειναι και το μηδεν γεννιουνται το εν’ απ’ τ’ αλλο.(2)

So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the idea of) the other (2)

Σ’ αυτο το σημειο το ειναι και το μηδεν ειν’ ακριβως ο,τι ο Ηρακλειτος ονομαζει “ζων” και “τεθνηκος” που ειναι “ταυτο”.

Ειν’ η παντοδεχτρα ζωη κι ο παντοδεχτης θανατος, οπου αγωνια κι ο Καζαντζακης…

It is at this point that being and nothingness is exactly what Heracletus calls “living” and “decesaed” that are “the same”.

It is the all encompassing life and the all encomapssing death, where Kazantzakis’ anxiety originates.

Heracletus

ταὐτὸ ζῶν καὶ τεθνηκὸς καὶ ἐγρηγορὸς καὶ καθεῦδον καὶ νέον καὶ γηραιόν· τάδε γὰρ μεταπεσόντα ἐκεῖνά ἐστι κἀκεῖνα πάλιν μεταπεσόντα ταῦτα.

Ηρακλειτος (αποσπασμα 88)

And it is the same thing in us that is quick and dead, awake and asleep, young and old; the former are shifted and become the latter, and the latter in turn are shifted and become the former.

Heracletus (fragmentum 88)