Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Wait, Was Derrida a Buddhist?

I really enjoyed today's class, probably because for once it made sense while I was in class, instead of the usual situation of it making sense 51 hours later when I am on the E-line coming home from work.

I thought our discussion at the beginning of class about self/other was particularly interesting, because, once again, I connected it to the Buddhist religion. As we were saying, and what I believe Derrida was saying when talking about the self, is that there is no one true self there is only self in relation to others. This is part of the Buddha's teachings as well, that there is not individual soul that defines us, but rather just us as part of a whole. Of course it is a little different when Derrida is talking about it then when the Buddha is talking about it. Derrida talks about the self being found in our perception of others, such as when he tells Amy that her biography of him is actually an autobiography of herself. The artist always comes out in the portrait of another.
That reminds me of the theory of perception that we talked about in my organizational behavior class (and I mentioned in this class). It is this idea that we define others by how we know ourselves and experiences we have had with others. We project ourselves on others. Dr. McGuire pointed out that a more radical way to think about it is what i have just said in the former paragraph, that it is actually the self that is defined by others, which completely makes sense to me, (hey, there's a new one).
I hope this rings a bell for other people, as it does with me. It sounds exactly like what Saussure was saying about words, and what Levi-Strauss was saying about the Oedipus myth. Or at least I think it does even though I know that is more Structuralism than Deconstructionism. I am just starting to understand Post-structuralism and Deconstruction so you will have to bare with me, but I feel good about making connections between the theories we have covered.

PS. I am just starting to really understand Marxism now, I can't wait until its halfway through Christmas break and all of a sudden Lacan becomes crystal clear.

1 comment:

barrowme said...

Well I am not sure Lacan will become crystal clear anytime before I graduate. I honestly think this class is giving me heart palpitations. I honestly don’t understand a thing and well, that is very hard for me. This whole self/other stuff is interesting. I was reading the Mirror Stage and really understood it from my own experience. I was with my niece when she first discovered her reflection and she was fascinated. I am not sure I recall this moment or how it has shaped me as an individual but it is funky to think about.
Imaging being a baby and thinking…do I have a twin? Although I struggle with Lacan, I think I kind of get this theory. If I were a baby looking in a mirror, I would be freaked out. It is where you first identify yourself and your ego is created. There is this rivalry between what would be in my mind and what I would see. I would see myself as this small and diminutive think and realize my powerlessness, especially in relation to my mother or the person holding me. I think I would go from feeling whole, curious, and powerful to fragmented.