Sunday, August 26, 2007

Pass Throught the Mirror ...

The Columbia History of Twentieth-Century French Thought by Lawrence David Kritzman, Brian J. Reilly, M. B. DeBevoise has someone writing about passing through the mirror ... in particular Jean Baudrillard says
"if the universe is that which has no double, since nothing exists outside of it, then the simple attempt to bring into existence a point outside of it signifies the attempt, or desire to put an end to the world - in any case to make it somehow pass through the mirror stage, just like any human being, and therefore to definitely scramble its identity".


I have several problems with this

1) the assertion of the that "nothing exists outside of it". Wait a sec ... that's some mighty leap ...
2) how does wanting to create a point outside the universe imply a desire to put an end to the world. Maybe Jean is speaking for Jean ... I wouldn't go generalizing here.
3) attributing a desire to pass through the mirror as a human universal desire ... I never wanted to pass through the mirror. I thought it might be interesting ... but I don't see a mirror and think ... "Hey, I really want to pass through this mirror", In fact, I can't recall anytime thinking this. I can conceive that I might have thought about this ... but ...it doesn't ring a bell.
4) and what's this thing about wanting to scramble the universe ... I might want to scramble some eggs in order to cook them .... but wanting to scramble the universe ... maybe Jean consulted for a Jigsaw puzzle company ...

Maybe the parker is all wet about this.

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