forcing universalist discourses

kenneth.mackendrick at utoronto.ca kenneth.mackendrick at utoronto.ca
Thu Oct 26 12:29:08 PDT 2000


On Thu, 26 Oct 2000 09:18:21 -0800 martin schiller <mschiller at mac.com> wrote:


> Given a young person serving time for dealing or gang-banging and a young
> post-modern scholar, is there a way that the phrase "having the courage
> of your convictions" can serve them both?

Yes. Because univerals are empty, ultimately (through the forgetfulness of their origins) they are always tautological - abstract rules that have no particular context but are intuitively supposed to hold true in every particular context. The point being, that each universal must be *translated* (given content) by the individual / group/ . Of course, this implies that every universal is shattered in the translation which is where the "lack" enters. Once transgressed, the universal loses its universal quality and a hole in the particular appears - a missing link between the universal or the ground and the determination / particular. The "courage of convication" reinstalls the universal after its transgression which is what motivates the entire process of debates about universals, by condemning each "in the name of the universal" as particular substance.

ken



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list