27 Dec Sundays with Stendhal 10: On Epigrams
27.12.08
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The Baron could not produce epigrams; he required at least four sentences of six lines each to be brilliant.
(The Red and the Black, part II, chapter 34, “The Hotel de La Mole.” Sometimes, alas, I fear this is me.)
Assuming that epigrams have strong family resemblance to aphorisms, as well as sutras in Indic worldviews and, indeed, to the poetic medium in general, it is interesting to recall that such literary forms have frequently been thought absolutely essential to expressing wisdom, that epigrams, sutras, aphorisms and poetry (cf. especially Persian poetry in the Sufi tradition or the use of several of these literary forms in the Daodejing) have been thought to possess more than an elective affinity with the articulation of philosophical insight, in fact, they allow for the quintessential expression of such wisdom. Wisdom, in short, is best expressed through aphorisms and epigrams, sutras and poetry, and those that are wise are especially adept at using such literary forms to communicate this exalted form of knowledge. I suspect this is one reason why Nietzsche felt compelled to pen epigrams, if only to convince both himself and the rest of us that he was a true philosopher. And this appears to suggest that whatever brilliance the Baron possessed, it was not equivalent to wisdom!
Another way to state the point above is that these literary forms are structurally suited for the expression of non-propositional knowledge, which could be said to be a-rational, non-rational, irrational, or pararational. Propositional knowledge is involved in the attempt to unpack, tease-out or determine, analytically and conceptually, that which otherwise transcends propositional knowledge. To be sure, the relationship between these two kinds of knowledge (like Gilbert Ryle’s famous distinction between ‘knowing how’ and ‘knowing that’) is rather complex, although I would hazard to say that, vis-a-vis any discussion of what constitutes wisdom, and speaking therefore both ex ante and ex post with regard to its literary expression, propositional knowledge is a necessary but not sufficient condition for non-propositional knowledge. Therefore their relation is like that of information to knowledge such that any increase in the former is no guarantee of further possession of the latter and thus, and again, the cumulative possession of knowledge does not in any way assure us that we will one day be wise. Or perhaps the wisdom will consist in the realization that “when the circle of light expands, so too does the surrounding circle of darkness.” That is to say, any increase in our claims… Read more »
Put an RSS feed onto your ‘Sundays with Stendhal’, Professor! many thanks.