.

And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again? Archilochus

Sunday, February 19, 2017

The Absolute Recoil

At a more formal level of his logic of reflection, Hegel uses the unique term "absoluter Gegenstoss" (recoil, counter-push, couter-thrust, or, why not, simply counter punch): a withdrawal that creates what it withdraws from:
Reflection, therefore finds before it an intermediate which it transcends and from which it is the return. But this return is only the presupposing of what reflection finds before it. What is thus found only comes to be through being left behind... the reflective movement is to be taken as an absolute recoil [absolter Gegenstoss] upon itself, For the presupposition of the return-into-self -- that from which the essence comes, as is only as this return -- is only in the return itself.
Absoluter Gegenstoss thus stands for the radical coincidence of opposites in which the action appears as its own counter-action, or, more precisely, in which the negative move (loss, withdrawal) itself generates what it "negates". "What is found only comes to be through being left behind,"and its inversion (it is "only in the return itself" that what we return to emerges, like nations who constitute themselves by way of "returning to their lost roots") are tow sides of what Hegel calls "absolute reflection": a reflection which is no longer external to its object, presupposing it as given, but which, as it were, closes the loop and posits its own presupposition. To put it in Derridean terms, the condition of possibility is here radically and simultaneously the condition of impossibility: the very obstacle to the full assertion of our identity opens up the space for it. Another exemplary case: the Hungarian ruling class "had long 'possessed' (ie, patronized and cultivated) a distinctive music, the so-called magyar nota ('Hungarian tune') which in educated Hungarian circles was regarded as a stylistic emblem of the national identity, and predictably, in the nineteenth century, with the great nationalist revival, this style exploded in operas and symphonies. When, at the beginning of the twentieth century, modernist composers like Bartok and Kodalyi started to collect authentic popular music and discovered that it "was of an altogether different style and character from the magyar nota," and even worse, that it consisted of an inextricable mixture of "all the peoples who inhabited 'greater Hungary'- Romanians, Slovaks, Bulgars, Croats, and Serbs - and even ethnically remoter people like the Turks... or the Arabs of North Africa." For this, predictable, Bartok was reviled by the nationalists and felt compelled to leave Hungary.

This, then, is the dialectical process: an inconsistent mess (first phase, the starting point) which is negated and, through negation, the Origin is projected or posited backwards, so that a tension is created between the present and the lost Origin (second phase). In the third phase, the Origin is perceived as inaccessible, relativized- we are in external reflection, that is, our reflection is external to the posited Origin which is experiences as a transcendent presupposition. In the fourth phase of absolute reflection, our external reflexive movement is transposed back into the Origin itself, as its own self-withdrawal or decentering. We thus reach the triad of positing, external reflection, and absolute reflection.

In his critical reading of Hegel, Badiou proposes his own materialist rendering of the quadruple structure of the dialectical process: "indifferent multiplicities, or ontological unbinding: worlds of appearing, or the logical link; truth-procedure, or subjective eternity," plus the Event itself, the additional "vanishing cause, which is the exact opposite of the Whole." As we have just seen, we can find this materialist version of the dialectical process already in Hegel- apropos the British colonization of India, first there is the "indifferent multiplicity" of pre-colonial India; then the British colonizers brutally intervene, imposing the transcendental structure of the colonial order, justified in terms of Western universalism; then the Indian resistance to colonization develops, pointing out how, in colonizing India, the West is betraying its own legacy of egalitarian emancipation. The anti-colonial struggle thus refers to the Idea of India as a secular democratic state, an Idea which originated in the West. The Indian version of this Idea, however, is not a "synthesis" of the Western secular-egalitarian spirit and the Indian tradition, but a full assertion of the egalitarian spirit by way of cutting the roots that ground it in the Western tradition and affirming its actual universality. In short, only when the Western Idea is "ex-apted" by India does it achieve actual universality: when Indians embrace the European democratic-egalitarian Idea, they become more European than the Europeans themselves.
- Slavoj Zizek, "Absolute Recoil: Towards a New Foundation of Dialectical Materialism"

30 comments:

Gert said...

American Apocalypsism throughout the ages.

Thersites said...


Apocalypsism is the vanishing mediator?

Jersey McJones said...

LOL! I love that last line!

JMJ

Thersites said...

Working to bring about the apocalypse since 1945...

Gert said...

LOL.

FreeThinke said...

No point in trying to share views with people who refuse to write intelligibly in good English sentences.

Colonialism served many good purposes for a time, but it's time came and went. Colonialism petered out, because it had outlived its usefulness not because some hot tempered leftists went to war and were successful in annihilating it by main force.

FreeThinke said...

_ Recessional (1897) _

God of our fathers, known of old,   
___ Lord of our far-flung battle-line,   
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
___ Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,   
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;
___ The Captains and the Kings depart:   
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
___ An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,   
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called, our navies melt away;
___ On dune and headland sinks the fire:   
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
___ Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!   
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,   
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose   
___  Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,   
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
___ Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust   
___ In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
___ And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,   
For frantic boast and foolish word—
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!


~ Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

FreeThinke said...

Kipling knew what was what better than any of the blethering maundering modernists and dismal, beetle-shelled post-Modern cynics who followed. I've had hostile, pudding headed, mush-brained leftists claim they could not understand the following, and try to inveigle me into trying to explain it to them, but not because they wanted to UNDERSTAND, but only because they wanted to treat me as a prosecuting attorney treats a presumably hostile witness. If Kipling's meaning here is not clear to you, you are already a Hopeless Case and most be given up for lost.


_______ The Gods of the Copybook Headings _______

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!


~ Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Gert said...

Colonialism served many good purposes for a time [...]

Sure, the elites who ran that moneymaker benefited enormously from it! But hardly anyone else did.

Don't you know ANYTHING, imbecile?

FreeThinke said...

Christianity
Advanced medical practices
Superior technology
Improved agricultural practices
Advances in Science and Engineering
Greater literacy
Schooling for greater numbers
Access to Western Universities
Knowledge of a broader world
Westerners learned much from the beauty of exotic cultures a
Vastly improved Western Cuisine with different flavors and greater variety
Beautiful fabrics brought to the West
Beautiful designs in furniture and decor
Beautiful art, pottery, porcelain, paintings, design motifs

Few if any of this expanded knowledge and these cultural exchanges would have been possible without Colonialism.

Gert said...

No boubt Stinker will want to lecture us on the Superiority of the White X-tian race, and its Divine Mandate to Lord it over lesser souls of a different colour or creed. Colonialisation, Divinely ordained, as it were...

Go on, I'm all ear!

Gert said...

"doubt"

I'm fully better, BTW, so don't hold back, Stinky!

Gert said...

Listen you charlatan, if the Third Reich would have prevailed, created a slave-based economy with autobahns crossing the East, German Nazi elites would have benefited from that enormously and a small amount of wealth would have trickled down to ordinary Germans (and non-German collaborators). In what way would that have been a desirable outcome, arsehole?

I know bricks with more intellect than you.

FreeThinke said...

I have called you a JEW, because you ACT so much like a typical conceited, hyper-sensitive, super-captious, bilious, vindictive KIKE.

Whether you have "Jewish blood" coursing through your veins is of no moment. It is obvious you were weaned at the ANUS or ANUSES of Jewish "Intellectuals" which is as bad –– or worse –– than being the genuine article.

Now you my continue your feeble campaign of unfounded insults and inane accusations, but I am finished with YOU.

I've spent too much of my valuable time on you already.

I'll be glad when you're dead, you dirty Red
I'll be glad when you're dead, you dirty Red,
Well I let into my home, you gonna crumple at my poem

I'll be glad when you're dead, you dirty Red

Now I'll be glad when you die, you dirty Red,
I'll be glad, oh I'll be tickled to death ,
when you leave this earth it's true
When you're lyin' down six feet deep,
no more scorn on me you’ll heap
I'll be glad when you're dead, you dirty Red,

Ah, you just ain't no good!
I'll be standin' on the corner high,
when they drag your body by

I'll be glad when you're gone,
buried underneath the lawn


I'll be glad when you're dead,
you dirty Red.


~ Made famous by Louis Armstrong - Lyrics adapted by Unohoo.

Inspector AIPac said...

OY Vey!

FreeThinke said...

Ach du Lieber, Cornholer!

Anonymous said...

Good Lord, Gert - are you still wasting your life trolling blogs and hurling out hysterical insults?!?!

Enjoy Brexit & Trump - and know its just the very start of the European peoples waking up to reclaim their birthright and their destiny.

Now where is that catchy limerick about Belgian Waffles ... LOL

FreeThinke said...

A fierce waffle maker from Brussels
Engaged often in internet tussles,
And the state of his waffles
Everyone baffles,
'Cause his batter contains rancid mussels!


~ The Instapuke Culinary Institute of Flanders

Gert said...

Oh wait, look who's back. Neonazi 'the Sentinel'. Weeds really don't die do they?

Gert said...

OY Vey!

An Inspector Calls!

Gert said...

and know its just the very start of the European peoples waking up to reclaim their birthright and their destiny.

Oh really, Sentinel. How much goose-stepping is it going to it take this time? How many countries will have to burn to satisfy your darkest fantasies, you Nutzie?

Gert said...

itsthesentinel, formerly known as The Sentinel was/is:

1. An open believer in Nazi ideology. Nearly married a German Nazi girl (he wasn't blond enough for the parents, though! *)
2. A devout antisemite.
3. Believes Einstein was a plagiarist.
4. Believes I'm Jewish.
5. Believes the Nazis exploded A-bombs, at the end of WW II.
6. Believes humankind may have sprung into existence in multiple places at once. "Nordics" being of course the only bees knees in that game.

Nice!!!

* that bit I made up.

FreeThinke said...

One does not have to be Jewish to be a KIKE.

You can make that to the bank.

FreeThinke said...

That's what you are, you stinking piece of shit, –– a KIKE –– and NOTHING you could say or do will ever be able to remove that hideous blot from your escutcheon, that putrid stench from your presence, or that stain from the vile reputation you have so injudiciously made for yourself.

The worst punishment I could imagine for myself would be to have to trade identities with you.

Anonymous said...

Oh Gert-rude, is that really the way to greet an old friend - you filthy mouthed old tart? LOL

Your fevered imagination has grown worse as your years left shorten and decline, I see - you cranky old racist!

I'm guessing hate, rage and trolling is all that's keeping that decrepit old shell of a Belgian frame from folding in on itself ;-)

We can only wonder what major, deep, cutting, underlying deficiencies and insecurities made you such a zealot of the unnatural & unreal & unwanted utter pish you & your small, loud band of fellow travellers spout forth like self appointed PC Commissars - all to make yourself feel adjusted, assimilated and just as important as normal people ... to finally give yourselves a sense of power over the norms ...

The blinkers are coming off now, old pal - and some: The reality that 'antifa' are nowt but freedom hating, totalitarian, intolerant, hate-filled violent cultural Marxists is out of the bag. The reality that 'anti-racist' is actually a deeply, deeply racist codeword for 'anti-white' is out there amongst the masses. The fact that the 'diversity' drum is beat only in European heartlands is now very much widely known too ...

Well, you'll have your twilight years to watch all your poisonous, hateful racist propraganda unravel at breakneck pace ... I didn't think I could have laughed harder when Brexit was announced, but to mmy delight and suprise, Trump winning surpassed even that mirth ... LOL

Oh, I bet you were positively catatonic with incoherent, primal rage on learning both :)

Well, hold that feeling, my little chum - the rest and the best is yet to come ;-)

Anyhow, wonder how we'll fall on letting E(you) remain in our green and pleasant and once again sovereign land?

Adios Gertrude, the new era is dawning, no point in resisting ;-)

Gert said...

Pendulums swing, Senti, and this one hasn't stopped swinging yet.

Once your 'white Europe' dream's come true, you can start squabbling about just which sub-race will be top dog. To you that will be the 'English Race', soon then falling out with the 'French Race', just like in them good ole'days, eh? And them 'German sub-races'? They'll still have an axe to grind with those English Hitler slayers, you know?

Don't you worry about me, old sport. I have some magic to further stay and prosper in your green and pleasant land. Those who'll try and prevent that will end up doing time, son. Fascism han no real future, not even in the Era of Trump.

Corporate fascism though, that's another matter and you'll suffer that as much as I will. Try and keep up, son.

Hint: I'm far from your typical multiculti-leftist. Most 'Liberals' make me laugh. "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle (but not with you)"
. Why do you think I come to this atypical blog so often, Senti?

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Fools to the Left of me, knaves to the Right!

Joe Conservative said...

Pew-die-Pie

Gert said...

Damn Joe, you beat me to it. That guy is hilarious!

FreeThinke said...

Dear, Sentinel,

I have encountered many a Putrid Purveyor of Leftist Cant and Communist Party propaganda, many Merchants of Hatred, Disrespect, and Mendacity in my 76 years –– particularly since I became involved with interactive websites –– but I doubt if I have ever encountered anyone MORE disgustingly rude, warped, bigoted and Sado-Masochistc than this corrosive CREEP –– this soulless, black-hearted, cantankerous KIKE –– whom you characterize so brilliantly.

I imagine he must look like one of those DRAGONS of Mediaeval mythological fame. I am sure too that he must STINK OUT LOUD like an ill-tended PRIVY.