Interpreting an Enigma
Loose Ends August 7th, 2009I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
Umberto Eco
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August 9th, 2009 at 1:49 am
harmless seems a little bit judgemental?!
August 9th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Would “mostly harmless” be a better description?
But seriously, my main disagreement with this quote is also in that area. To quote one of his most important points, Nietzsche said:
So the valuation of harmless reflects more on Umberto Eco than on the apparent world. But from an artistic view, it contrasts nicely with the “terrible interpretation” that we put on it.
I suppose another way of looking at it is he claims there is no objective truth, only relative truth (masquerading as objective truth). And all relative truths are not harmful “in themselves” since they have no meaning “in themselves” and are therefore “harmless”. Very hand wavy and uses false dichotomy but I get what he is talking about, I think. But I know some people who think the view of the lack of objective truth is anything but “harmless”.
AC1