AtD, 538 (last three lines)//:: German philosophy

[Mark Kohut]

Kai,
   
  On this page Pynchon has Barry Nebulay attribute the remark about Hegel to Bertie [Bertrand] ('Mad Dog') Russell. Bertrand Russell was real, of course, a friend of the Prof McTaggart (who does not believe in Time) who appears in Against the Day under whose early influence Russell was an "Hegelian", he has written. [Autobiography]
   McTaggart broke with him after awhile claiming "he could not abide Russell's opinions"...[paraphrase].
   
  Later, when Russell came to write The History of Western Philosophy---which has been claimed to be speedwritten as it were, virtually "phoned in" as the phrase goes, Russell did
  write what could be read as in the AtD text:
   
  "as a result of analysis of the concept "existence", modern logic has proved this [Cartesianism, refuted by Kant, reinstated by Hegel] argument invalid....."
  p. 787. Touchstone edition of History of Western Philosophy
   
  Russell must have developed the "modern logic' argument somewhere I do not know easily. 
   
  We know from other bits that TRP is "against" Cartesianism in most ways of understanding--see AtD wiki--and I think we can infer from his view of History that he is very anti-Hegelian---Hegel who believed the Spirit was progressing..........
   
  In fact, I might bet that someone will write a paper on AtD's anti-Hegelianism someday soon enough.
   
  I think from textual hints that TRP does find some/much truth in some of Heidegger's concerns, explorations of modernity and his conclusions. Perhaps regretfully, given what we
  have come to learn about Heidegger's life.
   
   A Nobel-winning writer, J. Coetzee, has linked some of Heidegger's words on the mechanization of the killing of animals (for food) to the mechanical killing of the concentration camps and, therefore, the mechanical killing that GR is so much about, just
  as TRP seems to do in AtD.
   
  Best,
  MK
   
    

Kai Frederik Lorentzen <lorentzen at hotmail.de> wrote:
  
Pynchon's personnel --- "'most of Hegel's arguments come down to puns on the 
word 'is''" --- seems (anachronistically) to mix up Hegel with Heidegger. 
That being said, I may add that one can perhaps say that Hegel's 
"Wesenslogik" is, at least to a certain degree, a joke on expense of the 
reader. A teaching and brilliant joke, that is. And of course Heidegger's 
evokation of being has its very own truth.

Kai

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Das Wesen aber, wie es hier geworden ist, ist das, was es ist, nicht durch 
eine ihm fremde Negativität, sondern durch seine eigene, die unendliche 
Bewegung des Seins. Es ist ANUNDFÜRSICHSEIN, --- absolutes ANSICHSEIN, indem 
es gleichgültig gegen alle Bestimmtheit des Seins ist, das Anderssein und 
die Beziehung auf Anderes schlechthin aufgehoben worden ist. Es ist aber 
nicht nur dies Ansichsein; als bloßes Ansichsein wäre es nur die Abstraktion 
des reinen Wesens; sondern es ist ebenso wesentlich FÜRSICHSEIN; es selbst 
ist diese Negativität, das Sich-Aufheben des Andersseins und der 
Bestimmtheit." (G.W.F. Hegel: Wissenschaft der Logik II)

"Das Sein IST NICHT und gleichwohl können wir es nicht dem Nichts 
gleichsetzen. Aber wir müssen uns andererseits dazu entschließen, das Seyn 
als das Nichts zu setzen, wenn 'Nichts' besagt das Nicht-Seiende. Das Seyn 
aber 'ist' über solches 'Nichts' hinaus nun nicht wieder 'Etwas', solches, 
wobei als einem Vorfindlichen wir, es vorstellend, ausruhen könnten. Wir 
sagen: das Seyn west, und nehmen dabei doch wieder eine Nennung in Anspruch 
und Gebrauch, die sprachlich dem Seienden zugehört (vgl. GEWESEN --- 
AN-WESEN)." (Martin Heidegger: Beiträge zur Philosophie: Vom Ereignis)




       
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