Zulueta, Ryan Bong C.

20th Century European Literature

M.A. Ed. Literature Jennie V. Jocson, h. !.

THE VALIDITY OF FLAXS VIEW ON THE POSSIBILITY OF THEORIZING IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY Jane "la#$s Thinking Fragments %unda&entally 'uestions on ho( possi)le it is to theori*e in the conte&porary +est. ,er grand thesis state&ent su)-ects her readers to (itness, or rather hear, her created con.ersations )et(een and a&ong psychoanalysts, %e&inists, and post&odern philosophers. /he rele.ance o% these &o.e&ents 0psychoanalysis, feminist theories, and postmodern philosophies1 .is232.is each &o.e&ent$s i&portant contri)utions is e#a&ined )y "la# to assess the current state in (hich an indi.idual &ay %ind thinking plausi)le (ith the condition o% %orsa4ing the notion o% 5truth6 and all its 'uestiona)ility posited )y these three &o.e&ents$ ad.ocates and %ollo(ers. /his paper (ill present a )iased .ie(point on (hether "la#$s ideas in Thinking Fragments$ %irst chapter 7 Something Is Happening a)out the u)i'uity o% uncertainties in (riting in a transitional state are .alid enough %or an indi.idual to agree that the current +estern literacy and philosophy is )eing shaped (ith a necessary a&)i.alence or her ideas are in.alid in a sense that an indi.idual (ill %ind it di%%icult to accept that these incongruences are not really pointless at all. 8i.en this )o(l o% contention, the standpoint o% this paper is &ore inclined to present that "la#$s ideas in Something Is Happening a)out the uncertainties in (riting in a transitional state are .alid enough %or any post&odern scholar to agree that the current +estern hel& o% literary studies is )eing &oulded (ith a necessary a&)i.alence al)eit not cohesi.e enough to )eco&e a singularly strong plat%or& %or disco.ering the truest essence o% 4no(ledge and truth. 9n light (ith this, this standpoint o% agreeing to this .alidity (ill )e e#pounded in a three2prong e#planation: 0;1 /he Loss o% the Essence o% Reason in the Modern Age< 021 5Enlighten&ent6 Being !o(nsi*ed into a =et o% Belie%s< and 0>1 hilosophy to o(er /hin4ing, ?ot to =ee4 the /ruth. The Loss of the Essence of Reason in the Modern Age "irst o% all, it is agreea)le that +estern culture is in the &iddle o% a %unda&ental trans%or&ation. "la# characteri*es this )y saying that the +est$s 5shape o% li%e6 is gro(ing old. /here are &any %actors to this. /he &ost signi%icant ones are the ad.ent o% technological and scienti%ic ad.ances. 9n recent ages, these ad.ance&ents aided +est in do&inating the (orld in %ar greater e#tent than (hat colonial e#plorations had produced. /he +est$s sphere o% in%luence has accounted %or hu&ans thin4ing that they ha.e con'uered the (orld through rapid inno.ations and classier2)y2classier in.entions (hich led the& to )elie.e that their reasoning has %inally reached their %ruitions. /he ne#t stop 7 5co&pletion6 7 (hat 5reason6 ought to ha.e %inally )rought.
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+hen this 5co&pletion6 %ailed to satis%y e.ery hu&an$s desire o% e.entually %inding great reali*ations and certainties, reason has apparently lost its essence. "la# noted that these trans%or&ations, brought about by the Wests incessant demand to satisfy reason through technological and scientific advancements , ha.e deeply disrupted &any philosophers$ sel%2understanding and sense o% certainty. /he %ailure to assure an atoning e#perience has e.entually led these philosophers to re%lect i% they (ere really a)le to co&prehend (hat they ha.e thought and e#perienced. +ithout satis%action, there is no end goal %or an indi.idual to %eel acco&plished. /he dri.ing %orce %or such 4ind o% indi.idual is the pro&ise that i% one reason out (ell and achie.es his 5attaina)le6 goal through reasoning, he (ill )e satis%ied. /hus, (ithout satis%action, e.en in the %ace o% 5attaining a goal6, reason has %ailed. 9ts )iggest i&plication is that the reasoning$s essence is lost. /his loss o% essence is per.ading in the &odern age. 9n the physical sense, hu&ans &ay ha.e achie.ed a certain le.el o% en-oy&ent in the things they see&ingly en-oy. 9n a &ore e#cruciatingly pain%ul le.el, these things )rought a)out )y ad.ance&ents, (ill ne.er su%%ice the e#istence o% dissatis%action, (hich is a natural response to al(ays %inding a &ore ade'uate de%inition o% e#cellence. /his al(ays leads )ac4 to 5reason6, (hich in the %irst place, has lost its essence on the process o% o.erco&ing the th(arting e%%ects o% )eing dissatis%ied. Enlightenment Being Downsized into a Set of Beliefs /he second reasoning point o% this paper pro&inently %eatures the death o% a 5&etanarrati.e6 7 the Enlighten&ent. 9n connection to the %irst point a)out the loss o% the essence o% reason, it could )e said that the trans%or&ations in the &odern age is greatly in%luenced )y the e#istence o% this &etanarrati.e and the o).ious decay in its e#istence. /his &etanarrati.e (hich had %or&ed an essential part o% &odernity has shaped the +est$s outloo4 on philosophies. 9t could not )e denied that Enlighten&ent has played a .ery i&portant role in shaping the (orld. But i% a &odern indi.idual (ill )e %orced to thin4 in the conte&porary society in (hich he )elongs, he could si&ply deduce that Enlighten&ent is -ust an episode o% intellectual de.elop&ent, one that is not to )e ta4en into )ig considerations. "la# is 'uite correct (hen she said that Enlighten&ent %ailed. 9t (as not a)le to deli.er (hat it should ha.e deli.ered. 9t (as una)le to account %or the su)se'uent course o% +estern history. /he (hole %oundation o% Enlighten&ent has )een 'uestioned )ecause o% its ina)ility to (ea.e the pieces o% unans(ered ideals. 9t )eco&es clear no( that (hen Enlighten&ent suggested that through illu&ination and e#planation, an indi.idual &ay %ind %reedo& %ro& ignorance. Coupled (ith that is the notion that the path that this %reedo& &ay lead an indi.idual is the sa&e path that sho(cases that horrors o% the product o% 4no(ledge. "la# sho(ed this dou)le2edginess o% Enlighten&ent in three co&pelling illustrations. "irst, she &entioned that the inherent connections Enlighten&ent thin4ers posited )et(een science, progress, and happiness appear distur)ingly ironic (hen
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hu&ans conte&plate the horrors o% ++99 in ,iroshi&a and Ausch(it*. "la# &ust ha.e &eant that these horrors (ere caused )ecause )oth sides o% the (ar (ere enlightened in their o(n respects. /he tortures and the nuclear )o&)ings (ere e#ecuted )ased on reasons. =econd, she also &ade &ention o% the Cold +ar de)acle )et(een @= and @==R. /his po(er%ully portrayed t(o superpo(ers planning potentially disastrous ploys in the na&e o% reason. /heir reasons (ere said to )e -usti%ied in the na&e o% %reedo& and hu&an e&ancipation. Lastly, "la# illustrated the Mar#ist %ra&e(or4 )et(een the "irst +orld and the /hird +orld in (hich the citi*ens o% the /hird +orld do their i&po.erished part to satis%y the needs o% the "irst +orld. Clearly all o% these illustrations sho(ed ho( the Enlighten&ent &etanarrati.e %ailed to picture a (orld that is less chaotic. 9ts .alue as a &etanarrati.e has decayed and has no( -ust )eco&e a set o% re%erence points on ho( to i&pro.e the &odern (ay o% thin4ing (ithout su)-ecting an indi.idual to too &any reasons that in ti&e (ill )eco&e lethal and counterproducti.e. Philoso h! to Power Thin"ing# not to See" the Tr$th "la# &entioned that philosophers$ relations to the Enlighten&ent are necessary a&)i.alent. /his coe#istence o% opposing attitudes is so&ething that &any can neither %ully accept nor re-ect, neither destroy nor preser.e. "la# hit this note correctly in e&po(ering indi.iduals to thin4 their (ays out o% these con%usions. At the sa&e ti&e, she also correctly suggested that indi.iduals &ust )e a)le to identi%y and critic the %oundational %la(s in this thin4ing process. +hen these %la(s are e#posed, only then can philosophi*ing )e %ruit%ul. "la# e.en addressed the (ea4ness in assu&ing that thin4ing is the only source o% 4no(ledge. 9n her inclusion o% the three &odes o% thoughts she said that )oth %e&inists and psychoanalysts adhere to this. =he (il%ully added that creating dialogues )et(een and a&ong %e&inists, psychoanalysts, and post&odernists (ill unco.er the narro(ness o% the li&its and the constricti.eness o% the )oundaries o% post&odern narrati.es are as alternati.es to traditional philosophical practices. /his (hole idea is .enera)le )ecause it gi.es le.erage to ho( an indi.idual can so&eho( theori*e in the conte&porary society. /his point )y "la# is also a )etter su)stitute %or stri4ing a )alance in the necessary a&)i.alence o% philosophies. By -u#taposing it (ith the thin4ing process o% an intelligent scholar (ho spends his ti&e on %antasi*ing that (hat he thin4s can easily happen in so&e &ainstrea& drea&land, "la# e&phasi*ed that one can de.elop and i&pro.e his consciousness and perspecti.es (ith a departure %ro& philosophical delusions. /he ulti&ate re.elation %ro& "la# (hich ser.es as &a-or %actor %or the )iased standpoint o% this paper co&es %ro& her last point discussing ho( philosophy can ser.e as an analyst and a patient. /hough it &ay see& %li&sy that she see4s a 5successor pro-ect6 to ans(er (hat Enlighten&ent %ailed to address, it is still co&&enda)le that she suggested that philosophy )e used as a tool %or sel%2understanding rather than a tool to
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see4 the truth )ehind all de&ises in reasoning. @sing philosophy as an instru&ent to understand ho( indi.iduals process 4no(ledge &ust )e .itally a %or& o% %inding closures e.en i% they (ill )e -ust te&porary and con.entional. /his is so &uch )etter than )eing stuc4 in a dialogue in (hich the ulti&ate goal is to identi%y any clai& to truth. A.erall, as the author o% this paper, 9 )elie.e that (hat shapes an indi.idual$s process to theori*e in the conte&porary society is )eyond (hat &o.e&ents li4e Enlighten&ent or e.en ost&odernis& has to o%%er. 9 agree to &ost o% (hat "la# included in the %irst chapter o% Thinking Fragments %or the reason that this era o% sporadic philosophies and %rag&ented schools o% thoughts &ay still )e a &o.e&ent in need o% &ore %urnishing. 9t &ay )e on the process o% )eing de.eloped, nurtured, and criti'ued. 9t &ay )e %ully %or&ed in the ne#t decades or so and the outco&e (ould still )e as uncertain as it &ay see& right no(. /he &ost i&portant thing is 0(hich 9 got %ro& reading this chapter in Thinking Fragments1, 4no(ledge should )e digested not to singularly %ind the ulti&ate satis%action in understanding reasons, )ut it should )e digested to aid &ore %or&s o% 4no(ledge that is yet to )e de.eloped.