Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Is everything goat or is every goat not a thing?
It has come to my attention that a group of philosophers are working on a project aiming to prove that Everything is Goat. I have great sympathy for the colleagues' intentions but I fear that the project is rather ill-conceived not least because they tend to oscillate from the analytic to the synthetic in a rather unwarranted manner thus undermining the consistency and coherence of their argument. My position is, briefly, this: I believe that logic and metaphysics can only fail us in our (common) aim. The starting point should be an ethics of recognition and I envisage this blog, and indeed the OVM, as an attempt to establish this moral knowledge of the other (goat) by drawing on a diverse range of intuition, insights, and experiences. I hope to be able to say more on this soon.
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11 comments:
Indeed. It is not for the unwary to become enmeshed in the complex fields of meanings that is goatery. Perhaps, though, we see in this attempt the very symbolic, fecund and generative power of the ruminant; it (they?) cannot help but attract philosophising - rumination!, indeed - and the natural outpourings of creative thought. But you are not alone in your hope for further thoughts on this matter.
I ought to make it clear that I have no wish of picking a philosophical fight with the colleagues. Au contraire, I imagine us ambling along together in the field of goat ethics.
Dear honourable members of the O.V.M., although discussion of the "goat" is quite interesting and exiting, and it is certainly not my place to correct you, the proud mouflon is actually a wild SHEEP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouflon
How would you explain this discrepancy?
Thank you,
Yours,
Ewe
(a bit hurt)
Dear Ewe, thank you for raising this very important matter and I do apologise profusely for upsetting you. Yes, it is true that current science classifies the noble moufflon as a sheep. But isn't it obvious that this is mistaken? The moufflon has all the characteristics of the goat: agility, intellectual prowess, constant hunger, not to mention the horns. I wish sometimes scientists trusted the phenomenon instead of splitting genetic hairs. Not that there's anything wrong with sheep of course. I, myself, grew up among the sheep in the beautiful country of my youth and coming of age. My eyes are welling up. I've upset myself now.
My dearest MT, Ruminant and Ewe, regarding Ewe's point on the sheepiness of the moufflon, perhaps we should clarify our position on the worthiness of the various members of the ovricaprid family for inclusion in the order? A simple hairy good, woolly bad, dictum would suffice. Wooly coat, woolly-brained, as the saying goes. Unless of course Ewe is in fact of the domesticated variety, in which case apologies.
My dear Ovica (may I call you Ovica? There's a Latin ring to it that I like very much indeed), welcome to the blog! The more the merrier (or, indeed, the hairier, to adhere to the trichological tone of your comment). What an excellent suggestion and how succinctly it conceptually clarifies our project. Thank you!
No, Ovica is an affront to my dignity.
Oh dear! Offending you was the least of my intentions. No, let me rephrase that. I didn't intend to offend you AT ALL. My apologies.
Dear Ovicapricious,
thank you so much! Your suggestion is brilliant and I'm happy that Moufflon Tony agrees. It feels so much better when all relatives work for a common cause. Yes, indeed, I'm wild, too ... although.. you know... deeply in my heart, I would like to be domesticated...( having somebody to care about me, feed me, give me a coiffure in the hot summer months...) Oh, well, I suppose though I should share this in a blog of a different nature...
:-)
Dear Ewe,
Well, that's a relief. Not that I'm predjudiced or anything, you understand.
Dear Ewe,
I am sure I speak for the whole of the OVM when I say that I hope you will be able to work through your domestication issues right here. Indeed, you have put your hoof on a central aspect of goat identity. Wild, proud and free, yes; but also civic-minded, domesticate, selfless in their service of civilisation. And I might add that, although a sheep, in many important ways the Moufflon stands for all of us. We are a broad field; a large family. All ovicaprids fall into our purview at the OVM; all are of interest to our unwavering gaze. Thank you and welcome.
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