"Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another. His nature – if that word can be used in reference to man, who has 'invented' himself by saying 'no' to nature – consists of his longing to realize himself in another. Man is nostalgic and in search for communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another, that is, of his solitude."
Wrote Octavio Paz in
"The Labyrinth of Solitude."
I wasn't reading that book. I encountered the first line of the quote in a puzzle just now and went looking for more context. I became aware that the sentence was alone and experienced a longing that it realize itself in a paragraph.
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Octavio Paz had one good line:
The writer's morality does not lie in the subjects he deals with or the arguments he sets forth, but in his behavior toward language. (Alternating Currents p.67)
Mostly it's deep thought only in form, lacking sudden insight.
Coleridge mocked the notion (footnote to Biographia Literaria, some satirical sonnets mocking contemporary poetry gone wrong)
Pensive at eve, on the hard world I mused,
And my poor heart was sad; so at the Moon
I gazed and sighed, and sighed; for ah how soon
Eve saddens into night! mine eyes perused
With tearful vacancy the dampy grass
That wept and glitter'd in the paly ray
And I did pause me on my lonely way
And mused me on the wretched ones that pass
O'er the bleak heath of sorrow. But alas!
Most of myself I thought! when it befel,
That the soothe spirit of the breezy wood
Breath'd in mine ear: "All this is very well,
But much of one thing, is for no thing good."
Oh my poor heart's inexplicable swell!
the only one who seeks out another
Ignorant, rationalistic nonsense. Humans are typical social predators. Chimps are social. Dogs are social. Dolphins are social. All sorts of prey species ranging from fish to rabbits to birds to deer are social. "Birds of a feather flock together." Even snakes form piles for common defense, heat, and mating.
We aren't special or unique here, but rationalists and armchair philosophers speculate because that's what they do. It's an easy--but misguided--path to a sense of truth and certainty.
"...and the only one who seeks out another"
Is there some context in which this is right? I know I've seen video of a goat and a donkey who became great friends.
Enigma said...Ignorant, rationalistic nonsense.
That was my reaction too. There are lots of social creatures. Humans will suffer from being alone, but some animals will die if left alone.
"Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another."
Shouldn't the topic sentence of an essay actually be true? We can't know what other animals "know" because we can't communicate with them, but shouldn't we recognize that there's a lot of seeking out behavior that goes on in the animal world? We call a form of human seeking-out "tom-catting," because tom-cats seem to do the same thing, late at night, and loudly.
Tom-cats are just the most obvious example that comes to mind. I'm sure there are plenty of other species that engage in seeking out mates. So how can you credibly say humans are the only beings who do so?
Solitary prisoners for life.
"Is there some context in which this is right? I know I've seen video of a goat and a donkey who became great friends."
I keep seeing sandhill cranes who seem to have gotten married.
Solitude can be bad.
Solitude can be good.
Depends on attitude.
Creatures are social. This morning the fox that hangs out in our yard is back. He could sleep anywhere but chooses over by the garage door where I come and go…
"Disillusioned words like bullets bark..."
"Birds of a feather flock together."
Alien birds do have peculiar feathers.
What's good about that is that, in a wrap-around alphabet, the first letters are in positions 1 2 4 8 16 32.
Some STEM guys are happy with human contact once a year, if that.
Ann: “…I became aware that the sentence was alone and experienced a longing that it realize itself in a paragraph.”
This is why I come here. Thanks.
Hermits and monks living in seclusion are common in many cultures.
Our dog certainly knows when he's alone. Just ask our neigbors we have to listen to his soulful voice.
man is a social being, no man is an island,
A universe unto ourselves.
a LOT of animals are social creatures who seek out others.
Dogs for example. They are pack animals. They can survive only in society - and one with a strong leader. That's why they take to humans so well.
I join with all those above in rejecting the premise of the first sentence. Which might kinda validate it in a way, for humans, but from starlings to sardines and many critters in between togetherness also is sought.
Typical extrovert.
Octavio Paz never met my dog.
Ann Althouse said...
["Is there some context in which this is right? I know I've seen video of a goat and a donkey who became great friends."]
"I keep seeing sandhill cranes who seem to have gotten married."
Not only that, but when one mate dies, the other keeps searching and calling out for it.
I know I’m alone when I start listening to the chatter in my head.
From conception to birth and thereafter, were are rarely alone.
Hi Mom! Happy early Mother's Day. Thanks.
Dad, too, without whom I would not be here, and mom would be alone.
My dog sure knows when she's alone. I've never had a dog who hates solitude as much as mine does. I don't know that she philosophizes about it in a Pazian way, but she mopes when I leave for work in the mornings. She experiences a longing that can only find fulfillment when I come home and she can be with me.
And as I write this my cat is pawing me as if to say, "Human, you must pay attention to me too."
I would suggest William Penn's 'Fruits of Solitude' from 1682 as a counter. I think we had a 1712 edition when I was in the Museum biz. In a not surprising turn of events, all of his children disregarded his advice. He wrote 'A country estate I like best for my children'. Indeed, they all got tens of thousands of acres of land in PA and Delaware (Penn reserved 10% of all surveyed land for his personal use/distribution). All of those children who survived (around 7 of his 15 by two wives) detested the country life, sold their land as quickly as possible, and lived in London, Bristol, or Philadelphia, and became Anglicans to boot.
My dog seems aware of being alone.
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