"Thus is man alienated from Being, but precisely because of this he is seared by longing for its integrity (which he understands as meaningfulness), by a desire to merge with it and thus to transcend himself totally. As such, however, he is also alienated from the world in which he finds himself, a world that captivates and imprisons him. He is an alien in the world because he is still somehow bound up in Being, and he is alienated from Being because he has been thrown into the world. His drama unfolds in the rupture between his orientation 'upward' and 'backward' and a constant falling 'downward' and into 'now.' He is surrounded by the horizon of the world. from which there is no escape, and at the same time, consumed by a longing to break through this horizon and step beyond it.
"The absurdity of being at the intersection of this dual state of 'throwness,' or rather this dual expulsion, can understandably give a person a reason (or rather an excuse) for giving up. He may also, however, accept it as a unique challenge enjoined upon his freedom, a challenge to set out - by virtue of all his thrownesses - on a multisignificational journey between Being and the world (and thus, at the same time, to establish the outlines of his identity); to undertake it, aware that his goal lies beyond his field of vision, but also that precisely and only that fact can reveal the journey, make it possible and ultimately give it meaning; to fulfill uniquely the enigmatic mission of humanity in the history of Being by submitting to his destiny in an authentic, thoughtful way, a way that is faithful to everything originally good and therefore effective, and to make this entirely lucid acceptance of his entirely obscure task a source of sage delight to him."
Vaclav Havel
Letters From Olga
No comments:
Post a Comment