Dear Mazda,
You write,
" But, don't you think that statements such as the following do indeed imply
that meaning cannot be "fixed"?
"Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of
God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise, believe
with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted."(Baha'u'llah,
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.175)"
Because a statement has meanings that "can never be exhausted" (Gleanings,
175) does not necessarily mean that everything and anything we can say about
is true - as relativism upholds. There is a difference between *some"
meanings and *all* meanings.
We may have a gold mine with an inexhaustible supply of gold, but that does
not mean everything we dig out of the mine is gold.
Thus, meaning may not be fixed in the sense that humans can never exhaust
it, but that is not the same as saying that anything we say about a
statement is true. We have this confusion in literary studies too. Because
we can't exhaust, i.e. can't fix, the number of interpretations of a great
poem, doesn't logically lead to the conclusion that anything we say about a
poem - for example, 'Shelley's "Mount Blanc" is about base jumping or
staking a gold claim' - is true or valid.
You write,
" But, don't you think that statements such as the following do indeed imply
that meaning cannot be "fixed"?
"Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of
God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise, believe
with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.
175)"
The same as above applies. Because the meaning of a statement cannot be
exhausted does not mean that anything we can say about a statement is true
or valid.
Best wishes,
Ian
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mazda Karimi
Sent: November 7, 2007 1:27 PM
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: RE: Deconstructionism
Dear Ian
You Wrote:
>>none of this supports the foundational deconstructionist claims that all
statements endlessly subvert their own >>meanings and that therefore,
attempt to fix a 'meaning' is not only arbitrary but also an attempt to
privilege a >>certain interpretation or interpreter over all others.
But, don't you think that statements such as the following do indeed imply
that meaning cannot be "fixed"?
"Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of
God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise, believe
with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.
175)
And shouldn't we consider the following as a call, upon all "the exalted of
men", to deconstruct their own worldviews?
"To whatever heights the mind of the most exalted of men may soar,
however great the depths which the detached and understanding heart
can penetrate, such mind and heart can never transcend that which is the
creature of their own conceptions and the product of their own thoughts."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.
317)
Best Regards
Mazda
PS. Dear Ian, As per your instructions, I read Mannheim. And I think you are
right, there is merit in his relationalism. Thank you very much for the
clue.
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