Saturday, March 01, 2008

Sri Aurobindo’s Unity-Mutuality-Harmony model rescues any coercive "collapse" of "self and other"

[Derrida (Limited Inc., 1988) has demonstrated that there is no way around the pervasive problem of multiple readings (and corresponding forms of uncertainty). This impasse explains statements of his such as "communication is (im)possible” (possibly possible and possibly impossible but certainly insolubly problematic) and that while there remain metaphysical alternatives “there is no escape from metaphysics.” -- Misunderstanding Derrida and Postmodernism: Ken Wilber and “Post-Metaphysics” Integral Spirituality, Gregory Desilet]

[With the possible exception of Gilles Deleuze, Derrida stands alone among postmodern theorists in his insistence upon the paradoxical “one that is also two” structure at the core of Being. Consequently, Derrida presents philosophical postmodernism at its best. Although offering no ultimate escape from metaphysics, Derrida's approach offers an escape from traditional metaphysics and its construction of notions of absolute transcendence that easily slide, however unintentionally, toward authorization of modes of certainty that do little more than contribute to predispositions of non-negotiation and systems of exclusionary discrimination. -- Gregory Desilet]

[While it is true that deconstruction may be seen as an activity manifestly realizing the deconstruction of self and consciousness, it must also be kept in mind that this activity consists of an affirmation and active engagement of the deconstruction of the self by and through the other implicit in the divided structure that is différance and the trace. Even in the silence that may be imagined as before and beyond language, there remains a trace of division and the other. Coward captures the complex if not paradoxical quality of Derrida's understanding of other and différance when he states, "The ultimate silence, after all negation and purification has occurred, remains within the unity of language. And that unity contains within itself the seeds of difference which create the possibility for the multiplicity of language to burst forth" (221). -- Derrida and Nonduality: On the Possible Shortcomings of Nondual Spirituality, Gregory Desilet]

[Metaphysical positions that postulate a cosmic oneness or a fundamental unity at the heart of being accomplish a kind of violence toward the other. These positions, whether viewed as varieties of "transcendentalism" or "monism," include the possibility for attaining forms of pure transcendence. Here every manner of otherness ceases to be other through varieties of denial ranging from appropriation, as when discovered to be error or illusion (all is really one), or cleansing (sacrifice or redemption) as when found to be a contamination, an accident in essence that must be "repaired." In a unitary model the dynamic tension between self and other collapses and this collapse is viewed as a goal and a cause for celebration. -- Gregory Desilet]

Sri Aurobindo’s Unity-Mutuality-Harmony model, on the contrary, rescues any coercive "appropriation," "cleansing," or "collapse" of "self and other." [TNM]

No comments:

Post a Comment