Robert van Saane 'Rosarius'

The Self












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And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge."

And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always know in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For the self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."

Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.  

 

The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran






being




En een man zei: "Spreek tot ons over zelfkennis."

En hij antwoordde, zeggende:

Je harten kennen in stilte de geheimen van de dagen en de nachten.

Maar je oren dorsten naar de klank van 's harten kennis.

Je zou in woorden willen kennen wat je altijd in gedachten heb gekend.

Je zou met je vingers het naakte lichaam van je dromen willen betasten.

En zo is het goed.

De verborgen bron van je ziel moet opwellen en zacht ruisend naar de zee stromen;

En de schat uit je oneindige diepten zal aan je ogen openbaard worden.

Maar laat er geen weegschaal zijn om je onbekende schat te wegen;

En peil niet de diepten van je kennis met de staf of dieplood.

Want het zelf is een grenzeloze en onmetelijke zee.

Zeg niet: "Ik heb de waarheid gevonden," maar: "Ik heb een waarheid gevonden."

Zeg niet: "Ik heb het pad der ziel gevonden," zeg: "Ik ben de ziel op mijn pad tegengekomen."

Want de ziel gaat langs alle paden.

De ziel wandelt niet langs een lijn, noch groeit zij als een riet.

De ziel ontplooit zich als een lotus met talloze bloembladen.

 

De Profeet, door Kahlil Gibran








































 
 
 
 
 
Do we understand?
 

Derrida, Jacques (1930-2004), French philosopher, whose work originated the school of deconstruction, a strategy of analysis that has been applied to literature, linguistics, philosophy, law and architecture. In 1967 Derrida published three books—Speech and Phenomena; Of Grammatology; and Writing and Difference, which introduced the deconstructive approach to reading texts. Derrida has resisted being classified, and his later works continue to redefine his thought.

Derrida was born in El-Biar, Algeria. In 1952 he began studying philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he later taught from 1965 to 1984. From 1960 to 1964, Derrida taught at the Sorbonne in Paris. Since the early 1970s, he has divided much of his time between Paris and the United States, where he has taught at such universities as Johns Hopkins, Yale, and the University of California at Irvine. His other works include Glas (1974) and The Post Card (1980).

Derrida's work focuses on language. He contends that the traditional, or metaphysical way of reading makes a number of false assumptions about the nature of texts. A traditional reader believes that language is capable of expressing ideas without changing them, that in the hierarchy of language writing is secondary to speech, and that the author of a text is the source of its meaning. Derrida's deconstructive style of reading subverts these assumptions and challenges the idea that a text has an unchanging, unified meaning. Western culture has tended to assume that speech is a clear and direct way to communicate. Drawing on psychoanalysis and linguistics, Derrida questions this assumption. As a result, the author's intentions in speaking cannot be unconditionally accepted. This multiplies the number of legitimate interpretations of a text.

Deconstruction shows the multiple layers of meaning at work in language. By deconstructing the works of previous scholars, Derrida attempts to show that language is constantly shifting. Although Derrida's thought is sometimes portrayed by critics as destructive of philosophy, deconstruction can be better understood as showing the unavoidable tensions between the ideals of clarity and coherence that govern philosophy and the inevitable shortcomings that accompany its production.