tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post6202424083882936429..comments2023-04-26T05:55:06.006-07:00Comments on Frivolous Fragments: what I was thinking about ...Ffflaneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04697821220291240079noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-25302876807302876202008-12-08T03:57:00.000-08:002008-12-08T03:57:00.000-08:00"The question (poetically), is how these two myste...<I>"The question (poetically), is how these two mysteries ultimately square."</I> : that pretty much (poetically) sums it upFfflaneurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04697821220291240079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-38011249669850664652008-12-07T11:49:00.000-08:002008-12-07T11:49:00.000-08:00Oh, sure, mathematics can be of great practical as...Oh, sure, mathematics can be of great practical assistance. But the general fact remains that poetry is more related to nature, or you might say more interested in nature. But we agree that neither is synonymous with it, or gets to the absolute truth of it. My attitude (the poetic) is that nature is inexplicable, caught up in a mystery of origins we can't fathom. As are people, who don't know where they came from either. The question (poetically), is how these two mysteries ultimately square.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-58276852696420158132008-12-07T09:44:00.000-08:002008-12-07T09:44:00.000-08:00@ lloydmintern : "mathematics operates on its own...@ lloydmintern : "mathematics operates on its own" - yes, but thanks to this most abstract of thought processes one can <I>exploit</I> (laws of )nature. Through maths one can, say, calculate the amount of fuel a plane needs to cross the ocean or the maximum weight a bridge can carry etc. Even on fanciful days I wouldn't rely on poetry for that.<BR/><BR/>But I definitely would be as fanciful to say poetry can reveal what nature <I>means</I> to a sense&soul endowed being.Ffflaneurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04697821220291240079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-67499559182104606152008-12-07T08:52:00.000-08:002008-12-07T08:52:00.000-08:00Mathematics does not reveal the laws of nature; it...Mathematics does not reveal the laws of nature; it operates on its own as a system of pure thought, and is only sometimes, and randomly, compared to the workings of nature. It can be completely wrong, obviously. Nature remains inexplicable. And mathematics reveals more and more about itself. It would be as easy to assert that poetry reveals the workings of nature; and that would be fanciful also.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-57225272003939858902008-12-04T11:34:00.000-08:002008-12-04T11:34:00.000-08:00not a bad strategy :-) "let's just sit patiently r...not a bad strategy :-) <I>"let's just sit patiently round the fire, sip our bitter teas and wait and see what happens "</I> <BR/><BR/>Dutch makes the same distinction: weten ("wissen") & kennen (um,"kennen") .... surely we're on to something very deep , R!!! :-) I just <I> know</I>... <BR/>- ah ..... after that bitter tea and after having seen what happens might we not go on that Heideggerian quest after all ... :-)Ffflaneurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04697821220291240079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-19281867556894435952008-12-04T02:27:00.000-08:002008-12-04T02:27:00.000-08:00yes, it would be something like savoir et connaîtr...yes, it would be something like savoir et connaître, we also have this in romanian, 'sti' and 'cunoaste'. I was discussing this with somebody else and he meant that the difference was not at all significant and that's why it was understandable that english merged the two into one 'know'. but I don't agree, if french, and german, and romanian (and other languages too) have found it to be so important as to build two different verbs for it, then perhaps there is somehting here, and I would very much like to embark on a heideggerian quest about it, but hélas, mes moyens sont si limités :-)<BR/><BR/>[fresh snow storm? that would be something, who knows, maybe maybe :-) but still no trace of it, let's just sit patiently round the fire, sip our bitter teas and wait and see what happens :-)]Roxanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05650840495095863057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-30689682527116148452008-12-02T11:38:00.000-08:002008-12-02T11:38:00.000-08:00PPS no no I'm quite wrong there - to understa...PPS no no I'm quite wrong there - to understand is rather the translation of "verstehen" - can't indeed think of any equivalent for "kennen" --- what would it be in french? is it like the difference between savoir et connaître? & in Romanian?Ffflaneurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04697821220291240079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-54774383055652968482008-12-02T11:31:00.000-08:002008-12-02T11:31:00.000-08:00hey R! 'wissen' and 'kennen'... in...hey R! 'wissen' and 'kennen'... interesting. Actually, Arendt herself makes the Kantian distinction between Vernunft & Verstand. Translating "Vernunft" as "Reason" (occupied at 'thinking') and "Verstand" as "intellect", involved in cognition. <BR/>You make we wonder about the 'kennen' - I'd translate it as "understand"? There's the connotation of the grasping of "meaning" in understanding, no? <BR/><BR/><BR/>But anyway, whether or not any of our utterances are ever understood, this much is clear: <I>anything you say can and will be used against you!</I> ;-) <BR/><BR/>PS wonder whether a fresh snow-storm wouldn't tempt you back to your blog?Ffflaneurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04697821220291240079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-58972813188748490592008-12-01T15:08:00.001-08:002008-12-01T15:08:00.001-08:00ah, and thank you for being my lawyer on my blog :...ah, and thank you for being my lawyer on my blog :-)Roxanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05650840495095863057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5281402533658280011.post-53642641054341919712008-12-01T15:08:00.000-08:002008-12-01T15:08:00.000-08:00I was waiting for the snow to fall here as well - ...I was waiting for the snow to fall here as well - as predicted :-), after we had terrible snow storms in the rest of the country - to comment on your previous post, but somehow snow refuses to come :-) <BR/><BR/>I 've just had a conversation with somebody these days trying to explain the difference between 'wissen' and 'kennen' in german, and to my big surprise I've discovered there is no such distinction in english. but then: 'wissen' would be about scientific knowledge and 'kennen' about a (deeper) meaning? just speculating. <BR/><BR/>and the big question, yes - why do we keep on writing poems, painting a.s.o.Roxanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05650840495095863057noreply@blogger.com