I despise the effect Heidegger achieved by his use of profound-seeming, occult, opaque, and unexplained terminology. The line 'What exists must be needed' is, call it, bogus. I was making a much grosser distinction than William explores in his more subtle response.
E.g. how many things do you eat in a day that you desire but, in no interesting sense of the word, "need"? We all of us have given things -- toys, photos, jewelry, tickets to the ball game -- that are desired but not needed. I'd recommend that we also maintain a distinction between "necessary" and "needed". Certain inexorable biochemical facts may mean that various events necessarily left us with cancer or a heart condition, but it seems silly and vacuous to say portentously, "If your cancer exists, it was needed." In a message dated 3/24/09 11:01:27 AM, [email protected] writes: > My hunch is that Boris was writing casually to make a point of distinction > between human and cockroach attributes, whatever they may be. I am not so > sure that clear distinctions like that can be made when we can't get inside > the organism of another species with respect to nerve responses, etc. He > concludes that cockroaches don't make art. That's a purely rhetorical > comment > for effect since we don't know what nerve vibrations, etc., might qualify as > cockroach art for cockroaches. That is not as ridiculous as it sounds since > we > know that many species do display themselves in artful ways for mating > advantages. In fact, see the science section of today's NYTimes for an > article about evolved features of insects and animals that have no purpose > other than display for mating advantage. > > But more to the point: The two concepts desire and need are complex enough > to > require close analysis. Does need precede desire or follow it or are the > two > states merely different on the basis of amplification? Aristotle said that > desire is a condition of sensing and fantasy. My own idea is that need and > desire (I prefer desire as willful or concscious desire and need as > unconscious desire) are constructed subjectively and thus filter or shape > our > sensing of experience. > > WC > > --- On Mon, 3/23/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> > > Subject: Boris claims if X exists... > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Monday, March 23, 2009, 11:31 PM > > Boris claims if X exists, it must be > > NEEDED. Can't anyone on our forum think > > of a rebuttal to this? (Maybe try distinguishing 'needed' > > from 'desired'?) > ************** Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make meals for Under $10. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000002)
