Lacan, non-self, and other personal musings

I recently pulled my first all-nighter of the semester. As I see it, I'm doing pretty well. Almost halfway through the semester and only one night of no sleep. I have an upcoming phil paper (Descartes) and a presentation on Foucault's "History of Sexuality", but I think I can get through those without any painful sleepless nights.

Lit theory was interesting yesterday. We discussed Lacan's mirror stage article. I don't know what the title of the English translation is, but in French it's "Le stade du miroir comme formateur de la fonction du Je" (roughly: The Mirror Stage as Formative of the I Function"). Though Lacan touches on other things, the heart of this article is his analysis of subjectivity. In Lacan's view, at some early point along the line, one comes to recognize oneself as a coherent whole through the experience of seing oneself reflected in, for example, a mirror. The problem with what I have just written are the words 'one' and 'oneself'. In the sentence above, 'one' implies a pre-existing subject that can recognize 'oneself' in the mirror, and 'oneself' implies an existing subject. Please do not be confused by these implications. 'One' does not exist as SUBJECT (this is an important word choice) until one has subjectivity, that is, until one has recognized 'onself'. However 'oneself' does not exist. It is a conceptual ideal, a notion that we construct, but not something we can ever obtain. Be careful, words like 'we' in the last sentence suffer similar problems as those already mentioned for 'one'. So what is subjectivity? For Lacan, subjectivity is simply the desire for coherence, which can also be called wholeness.

This all got me to thinking that it would be interesting to look at different theories of non-self. It's something I might one day write a book on, if I ever do such a thing. Thus far in my life, I have become acquainted with the following:

Ferdinand de Saussure: As far as I'm aware the first person (in the west) to propose that meaning is differentially established. There are probably some who proposed this before him, but his concept of the sign really does a nice job of describing a world in which there is no inherent, pre-existing meaning, or if you will, 'thingness', or you might say 'suchness'

Jacques Derrida: I've read some of his writing, including his exlanation of différance. I'm not going to hasard an attempt to say anything about it at this point. I'll just say that I plan to go back and reread some of his writing as, at least some of it is clear and lucid, despite that much of it is, well, difficult.

Jaques Lacan: as described above

Buddhist Philosophy: In particular, notions of shunyata, or emptiness, that might more accurately by tranlated as 'empty of suchness'.

Contempoary theories of Conciousness as an emergent property: I know little about this. Jedd and I went to hear a philosopher speak at UBC who spoke very briefly about his work on conciousness and his views of it as an emergent property. I remember being struck by the similarities to some of buddhist theory/philosophy. Near the end of his presentation, he read some of the negative reactions that other philosophers have had to his work. They were strikingly similar to the common (and sane/reasonable) response of an indignant 'wtf' when people are told in an intro buddhist studies class that the self does not exist.

Any one have any ideas of any others?

The difficulties of sunshine

Mostly, I'm having a hard time staying focused on my reading. It's a beautiful autumn day here. Looking through the old lead pane windows of the library, I see leaves in every shade from green to red, many of them backlit by the golden afternoon sunshine.

The last week has been good. Busy as usual, but mostly interesting and engaging. I had a great time at the radio show. The music was a bit more ecletic than usual. I don't know than anyone but me appreciated the transition from the depressed soundscape of Radiohead's 'Kid A' to the upbeat good o'l rock and roll of Roy Orbison's 'Candy Man'. I followed that with 'Hey Ya!" and after that my memory is a little blurry.

I discovered a new beer. Some of you may know of the 'Anchor Steam' beer made by the Anchor Brewing company of San Francisco. It manages to be at once complex and refreshing. Last night I decided to give both their 'Liberty Ale' and 'Anchor Porter' a try. The Anchor Porter wasn't bad, not something I'll buy again, but not a bad beer by any means. The Liberty Ale was however very good. It's dry hopped and so has a very nice fresh fruity/floral hop character that I really like. If you Bridgeport's 'Blue Heron', I'm sure you'll like the Liberty Ale, which is, in my opinion, a better beer. Unfortunately, I don't know that the Liberty is available up in Canada. As of a couple years ago, I'd only ever seen their Anchor Steam in Vancouver.

I'm off to read Plutarch. I hope all of you are having a good weekend.

A quick respite (from my homework)

I'm knee deep in homework, or a least I should be. I've just poured myself some coffee and am about to analyze some stellar spectra data for chem conference tomorrow. My coffee is a bit toasty. I left the french press to sit for a good ten minutes, probably more, while I let myself get sucked away into the pages of the Economist.

It has been a long time since the phrase 'gun-totting xenophobic troglodyte' has been written on this pages. I believe the phrase was originally coined by the author of the late 'Echoland', whose fine analysis and witty insight are sorely missed. The phrase came to mind as I was reading "The world this week", a section, compiled of short news summaries, that appears at the beginning of each week's issue. If anyone has every typified that subsection of Americana we all know and love to hate, it is these men whom I'm sure, you will well agree, are this year's gun-totting xenophobic troglodytes of the year.

From the Economist:

Three Americans, including a special-forces veteran, were jailed by a court in Afghanistan for up to ten years for waging a freelance war on terror, which involved running a private prison, kidnapping and torture. The men were arrested in Kabul after a shootout with police. Eight prisoners were later set free from a private house in the city.

If anyone would like to challenge my nomination, I urge to do so.

Damn Fool

Descartes is a circuitous twerp. That's about all I have to say after my reading of the last few hours (Meditations, II, III, and V). Perhaps I need to go back and reread some sections, but it seems that things (external to my incorporeal mind) exist because I perceive them clearly and distinctly, and that god exists because it is part of his essence to exist. Oh, and I exist because I think. The last assertion is (in a way) consonant with some of my own views, however I don't think that Rene and I share many views on ideas of existence and 'to exist'.

I think this might all be helped a bit by a good night's sleep and a fresh cup of coffee, with morning sunshine illuminating the pages of my book, but I have neither the time nor, at the moment, the will. Perhaps I am the 'damn fool.

I'm looking forward to reading the fourth Meditation.

So True

Thanks to Jedd for pointing me to pitchforkmedia. I've just spent the last half hour perusing the site during which I had an experience similar to what Jedd described. It is because of that that I entitled this post, "so true".

I was reading the top 100 albums of the 1970's and came across this description of Led Zeppelin IV (placed as #7):

We must be lying to ourselves: There is no way this album should not be #1. If my fellow PFM writers could go to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's memory-erasure clinic and wipe out everything related to this record and band-- the radio overplay, the Spinal Tap jokes, Robert Plant asking, "Does anybody remember laughter?"-- and hear IV again for the first time, it would be at the very top of this list. Because when the riff from "Black Dog" hits you for the first time, you come face to face with God. Nothing is bigger than Led Zeppelin IV. It tears your skin and grinds away your doubt and self-hatred, freeing the rage and lust and anger of cockblocked adolescence. Listening to this album is like fucking the Grand Canyon.

After reading the top 100 list, and feeling myself a bit of a musical philistine, I proceeded to download all the free music. I've not listened to any of it, not yet, but I will. I'm fighting the good fight, trying to branch out and blaze new trails in my musical lanscape. If any of it warrants your attention, I'll let you know.

Poor Man's Corona

1 can of Pabst Blue Ribbon (or other cheap beer, but remember, freedom wears a Blue Ribbon)
1 frosted glass
1 wedge of lime

An alternate name for this drink might be something like "Wise Man's Corona", or perhaps "Corona for the not so foolish". For all of you Canadians back home, Pabst falls somewhere between Canadian and TNT. Cheap beer that tastes vaguely different from water. For an even more refreshing alternative, Pabst Light.

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom

Though there is a small cookbook by this name, this post has nothing to do with that book. It's a good book, I've owned it for a few years now, and it is one of the few cookbooks that I actually use, but the inspiration for the post came about as I was perusing the pages of "Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home", with the eventual goal of looking up a recipe for roast chicken. It seems almost a contradiction in terms to talk of a "recipe for roast chicken" as almost all that is important about roasting a chicken cannot really be encapsulated in a recipe. The basics, some butter and maybe some olive oil, a lot of garlic and a goodly amount of salt and pepper, seem to go without saying. Would anyone really think of roasting a chicken without bgsp (butter, garlic, salt, pepper)? Many other additions are possible (lemons, sage, other herbs, onions, stuffing,...), but the only other thing that really matters, and it certainly matters the most, is how the chicken is cooked. Brown crispy skin and tender juicy meat seem like such simple things. But any who have tasted a perfectly roasted chicken and tried to replicate it themselves, know how elusive that simple delight can be. Which brings me back to the idea of recipe. The two things which matter most (earlier, I neglected the second), proper cooking, and the selection of a good quality chicken, cannot really be conveyed in a recipe. But, it's a good place to start. If all this has got you wondering, I'll outline the basics
1. Find a good butcher. Buy a fresh chicken, we'll say a three and a half pound bird.
2. Preheat oven to 425, rinse and dry the chicken.
3. Massage the chicken with butter.
As the late Mrs. Child said:
Not everything that I do with my roast chicken is necesssarily scientific. Many aspects of my method are based on my feeling and experience. For instance, I always give my bird a generous butter massage before I put it in the oven. Why? Because I think the chicken likes it—and, more important, I like to give it.
4. Salt, pepper, garlic, and whatever else your heart desires.
5. Cook the chicken.
This is where things get complicated. Should the chicken be trussed or not? To use a v-shaped rack or not (or, Julia vs Jacque, he prefers to roast the chicken on its side on the pan). So select a method, follow it a few times, and then experiment with your own variations. For example, after 15 min, Julia reduces the heat to 350, whereas Jaques reduces it to 400 after 25 mins.
6. Testing for doneness: The chicken is done when the juices run clear, no matter where you poke (breasts and under the thigh). If you're very skilled, you might just prod the thighs and drumsticks with your finger, they should be tender. I once ate turkey that was cooked to perfection using the simple finger prodding method to check for doneness.
7. Let the chicken rest for 15 mins before carving.
8. Don't forget to have a glass or two of wine while your cooking. It keeps things jovial and Julia would be happy (because you're enjoying the wonderful process of culinary creation, not because you're a lush).

I don't yet have my 'own' roast chicken method, but I'm working on it. Until then, I don't think that I'll feel complete as a cook.

I'll let y'all know how tonight's went. Kitty is preparing her own version of Mrs. Child's method.