Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Tao as Way

By looking back at the simplest, most ancient meaning of the word "Tao" Heidegger opens up a new possibility for understanding our relationship to language. He goes back to what the word "leaves unspoken", back before scientific method manipulated the word for it's own use, realizing the word Tao to mean "way". This opens up a new way to think of the spoken word as a "possibility", something that enables clearer understanding. I especially like the connection he makes saying the way that leads to this possibility's source leads to where we are. This is not necessarily a bad thing however, because it reveals how simple the way really is. Following the way language provides reconnects us with what most essentially concerns us, since in the "everyday"of our lives we are there but not in a way that is concerned with our being. The way brings us near through language, like neighbors growing in intimacy with one another, even in physical proximity by sharing space or spending time together, and we can see more clearly the possibility of "dwelling in nearness".

No comments:

Post a Comment