Last night Yan and I got talking about perceptions of reality. By the end of the discussion I’d decided that Dialecticism the process of having a Thesis (within this conversation label this personal preception), anti-thesis (label this opponents perception), and considering the first with the second coming to a third perception, or Synthesis, is a very Christian action. That is, to remove our faces from our bellybuttons (Luther) we need to consider the bellybuttons of others. That is, to realize the weaknesses of our own arguments we need to view ourselves from the enemies point of view (MLK Jr.). That is, to truly love our neighbor as ourselves (JC) we must allow him the same benefit of the doubt, the same tottering inconsistencies, the same assumptions of good intention, which we give ourselves. So, when we consider our own subjective view, and that of another, with equal weight. That is when we "project the I into the Thou" (MLK Jr.) only then can we enter into dialogue and form a synthesis that reaches closer to that thing we often call Truth.
This morning while showering I got to thinking that, while Dialecticism may fit into the very specific context of last night’s discussion, what does it mean to the wider world. Is it possible to project the We into the Thous? With a global world how does dialectacism work? Does it become a bunch of collective ideologies synthesizing with one another?
Or, do we move to a Polylectic, that is each individual enters their personal perceptions into an ongoing web of perceptions and is pulled in multiple ways, in probably a continuous and ever-living discussion with a whole host of anti-thesises. And if this is the case, and there are presumably going to be new anti-thesises popping up, where does that leave the synthesis within such a system? It seems a lot like the "Web of Power" that Foucau (sp) talks about (though that seemed to be a more coercive form of thought... maybe).
Just some thoughts this morning. Does anyone know of a more proper term than Polylectic, I'm guessing there is some sort of post-modern term out there?
Peace,
Chris
2 comments:
I vaguely understand what your writing (and also vaguely remember when I actually studied some of this) . . . but my question is this: can we ever look at anything from any other perspective other than our own?
I am always going to be a white, fairly well educated, middle class man, receiving the multiple benefits implied. As open-minded and liberal as I am, I will never fully appreciate the experience of a teenage latina girl in inner city Philadelpia, a middle class woman subjected to various sexual innuendo, or a malnurished boy in central africa.
Can I really project my "I" into their "Thou"? I may think that I can - I may think that I understand the "thou," but in the end I'm still looking at the world with my same, priviledged eyes.
I'm skeptical about the extent to which we can step out of our prejudices. Thank God for grace.
"Thank God for Grace" If the Lutherans ever let me wear the collar I'll shout that every day... actually even without the collar I shout that every day.
Anway you are right, understanding some elses thou-ness isn't an easy... perhaps not even a possible, task, but I think it is a worthy goal, and even recognizing that there is a thou-ness is a big step.
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