the love for boys.» -- M. Foucault, "Care of the Self"
After 24 hours of thinking about the question "what do I find the most
depressing", I think 'doctrinal disqualifications' take the cake.
Other family favourites include "A & ¬B: you can't make everybody
happy", and "anything that evidences a dehumanized/unperson status".
«The Greek analogy is the etymology of catechism.» -- Wikipedia
This is interesting in part because catechesis is "an education in the
faith of children, young people and adults, which includes especially
the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an
organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into
the fullness of Christian life."
To translate more pithily: depression seems to be a sort of learned
helplessness, in particular the helplessness that comes with
non-existence. But it's the learning that's key, the "organic and
systematic" annihilation of self. (As opposed to "care of the self":
a self that's been "taken care of".) Of course this doesn't happen
all at once; it's an ongoing process, or shall we say, a practice; a
bit like a prayer.
Note that I'm not talking about an existence in the form of a
"lived contradiction". The thinking is more along the lines of
Protagoras:
«The dictum is that there is no such thing as a falsehood; a man must
either say what is true or say nothing.» -- Plato, Dialog of
Euthydemus
Indeed, we come to dialectical materialism, and "an opposition
inherently existing within one realm, one unified force or object."
Out of this tension, it seems *something* must get "aufhebened" --
kept and contradicted. This 'cancelled' (doctrinally disqualified)
existence is like that of the slave in Hegel -- though there's some
sort of happy ending implied in that --
«As the slave creates more and more products with greater and greater
sophistication through his own creativity, he begins to see himself
reflected in the products he created, he realizes that the world
around him was created by his own hands, thus the slave is no longer
alienated from his own labour and achieves self-consciousness, while
the master on the other hand has become wholly dependent on the
products created by his slave; thus the master is enslaved by the
labour of his slave. The realization of this contradiction allow the
slave to once again struggle against his master. The contradiction is
resolved when the difference between slave and the master is dissolved
and both persons recognize that they are equal.» --Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master-slave_dialectic
(I can't help but think of Darth Vader's chestplate...
http://www.theforce.net/swtc/chestplate.html)
«His deeds will not be forgiven, until he merits» ...
or, writ large,
«Repentance of the mouth and not of the life is not repentance.
Sins are not forgiven through repentance of the mouth,
but through repentance of the life.
Sins are continually being forgiven man by the Lord,
for He is mercy itself; but sins adhere to the man,
however much he may suppose that they have been forgiven,
nor are they removed from him except through a life
according to the commands of faith.
So far as he lives according to these commands,
so far his sins are removed; and so far as they are removed,
so far they have been forgiven.
For by the Lord man is withheld from evil, and is held in good;
and he is so far able to be withheld from evil
in the other life, as in the life of the body
he has resisted evil; and he is so far able to be
held in good then, as in the life of the body he
has done what is good from affection.
This shows what the forgiveness of sins is,
and whence it is.
He who believes that sins are forgiven in any other way,
is much mistaken.» -- Arcana Cœlestia (Heavenly Secrets), see
http://www.sacred-texts.com/swd/ac/ac168.htm
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