“I’m not entirely sure what you’re trying to say, but actually it is not relevant to this discussion, because…”
“I don’t know exactly what you mean, but it does not answer the question I posed to you, which is…”
Both of these statements signal an attempt to shift the mode of a conversation from pluralist dialogue to rationalist interrogation.
From ALL THINGS SHINING…
“The multiple meanings of the universe simply don’t add up to a single, universal truth. Our only hope is to engage each of them fully,live contentedly in the truths they reveal, but feel no urge to reconcile them to one another. “
I agree up to the “feel no urge to reconcile them to one another.” This is the key point where a person decides to live ascetically apart or politically together with one’s fellow human beings. I respect the choice to be ascetic, but I do not think that choice leads to the kind of spiritual flourishing enjoyed by people who engage the world politically.
Yes. If avoiding attempts to reconcile is ascetic in nature it could allow a closing off from engagement.
Could “avoiding attempts to reconcile ” also be read as avoiding attempts at trying to make each view make complete sense rather than observing them and respecting them. One of the points the authors make is that the background practices of a perspective, invisible to those within the perspective , are what give birth to a perspective.
Good book though. Made me want to finally finish MobyDick.
Sounds like a good book. Does the author distinguish between the kind of understanding derived from observation and that which comes from participation in another person’s background practices? In my industry, that’s the key difference between a marketer’s approach (stand back, observe, measure, strategize) and a designer’s approach (get in there, interact, make stuff, see what happens, make different stuff).
Yes he does. His discussion of Moby Dick is loaded with that necessity. Ishmael, and Melville, both enter into the practices of others rather than simply observe.
It’s funny, participation is a word I am drawn towards. Humans are called to participate with the world and other beings.
Time to pack pictures!