But the idea that "(we) cannot speak outside of the flow of history and the web of culture" is an old one. As John Donne put it in 1624: "No man is an island, Entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main." Nothing we say or do is said or done within a perfect vacuum. It can't be. Rather it is filled, or so we hope, with the meanings we intend...that we ourselves have spent our lives learning, as a function of our full-immersion in that flow of history, that web of culture.
Equally we hope that those meanings survive their interpretation by the Other, who also is caught in that same web of understanding.
And yet, we still can communicate; we still can understand. And always we can ask for clarification.
The point is, of course, our speech still is free. We can say whatever it is we wish to say. But our speech, like everything else, is not without consequence. And by speaking, we are essentially agreeing to deal with that consequence, no matter how reasonable or unreasonable that consequence may be.
Indeed.
But the idea that "(we) cannot speak outside of the flow of history and the web of culture" is an old one. As John Donne put it in 1624: "No man is an island, Entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main." Nothing we say or do is said or done within a perfect vacuum. It can't be. Rather it is filled, or so we hope, with the meanings we intend...that we ourselves have spent our lives learning, as a function of our full-immersion in that flow of history, that web of culture.
Equally we hope that those meanings survive their interpretation by the Other, who also is caught in that same web of understanding.
And yet, we still can communicate; we still can understand. And always we can ask for clarification.
The point is, of course, our speech still is free. We can say whatever it is we wish to say. But our speech, like everything else, is not without consequence. And by speaking, we are essentially agreeing to deal with that consequence, no matter how reasonable or unreasonable that consequence may be.
Reminds me of that old poem, "Gods Gifts"?
When God gave out chins
I thought he said gins
So I ordered a double.
When God gave out noses
I thought he said roses
So I ordered a large red one.