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Re: [xmca] Consciousness "only a part of the material quality of the man-sign"



Haydi, I firmly believe that there is no value in flying on to 101 questions if the very first one remains unsolved.

Going to your third: the problem under discussion was this:

Martin referred to a series of "representational systems" being all "material"; I pointed out that Martin had already said that *everything*, even consciousness, was material so the statement that these representational systems were material was a "motherhood statement", i.e., a tautology.

So I responded "show me a representational system which is *not* material" which is a problem for Martin because he says that everything is material. You then said that you could name a representational system which was not material, namely, language.

I responded to you that language was always material, and you now say "no, language is an non-material entity which is "put into a body." I suspect that you are relying on the concept of the 'ideal' which is a social category, not an opposite to "material."

Let's just deal with this. I don't accept that there is a language which is non-material which can then be "put into" a body. Can you explain to me what kind of existence language has before it is put into material.

I won't try to anticipate your answer, but I wonder if this will lead us back to our original problem: consciousness.

Andy

Haydi Zulfei wrote:
Andy
First there were other argumentations . Second : to your question : Consciousness itself . Third : This was just a telegraphic note but the problem persists . Embodiment is to put something in a body . Then we have two things . The cover and the covered . In principle , the necessity of putting that something -- ideal -- in a body is that itself is not of the same genus . That's for you to expect ideals be buried there in the mysterious hidden box yet not quite well known , indefinable ! at times , stopped , deceased , so life is also defunct . I can also give *subjectivity , subjectness* ; can you show me a palpable thing called *subjectivity* and it's representational , secondary , derived . Haydi

--- On *Sat, 9/26/09, Andy Blunden /<ablunden@mira.net>/* wrote:


    From: Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>
    Subject: Re: [xmca] Consciousness "only a part of the material
    quality of the man-sign"
    To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
    Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009, 9:57 AM

    Haydi, you can't talk of "Language *aside from* the modality in
    which it is embodied" and then say "language is not material." Of
    course, anything "aside from" its materiality is immaterial. Show me
    a representational system which is *not* "embiodied."

    Andy

    Haydi Zulfei wrote:
     > Dear Andy
     >  Language itself aside from the modality in which it is
    formed/embodied and as it is consisted of signs is ideal for the
    folowing reasons :  1. We have read on many occasions that it's a
    formant of the Cs . When you are dealing with the Cs as something
    catogirically distinct from the material which is quite quite true ,
    why is it you could accept a formant of this something categorically
    distinct from *material* could be all the way *material* . This is
    just where Martin finds the opportunity to argue for a doubling of
    *materiality* . A statue as such is ideal the same way real talers
    as well as Gods are ideal for Marx (previous post) . Real talers or
    money paper are things palpable , corporeal , stuffy , substantial ;
    yet they are for Marx ideal ; the yardstick is that they are
    representations for something *esle* . The talerness of the talers
    and the statueness of a statue need a social thinking body to be
    recognized as such . Aside from the social thought/Cs , the whole
    things become just use values , valueless , lacking any exchange
    value as for Marx . And we shouldn't forget the second
     >  condition Lenin mentions either . As of language , the ink , the
    carbon or the acoustics with which it is embodied does not make it
    *material* the same way *stone* , *bronze* , *cement* , *plastics*
    of a staue do not make the *form* -- not contrasting content here --
    of the statueness *material* ; the form now indicates Lincoln , now
    Lenin , now so and so . But the stone , etc. remain the same all the
    time . This latter part you name categorically *material* to this
    day distinct from the *ideal* as Cs is . A clock consists of many
    many parts , that is  , many corporals , materials , use values ;
    but all these should be organized in such a way to represent
    something else , time measurement . The palpability or the visuality
    of the clock should not take us where we could say it's something
    material . See what of the three divisions of Peirce fits this .
    When you take the ideality of the language away from it , the whole
    sentence/text/book becomes ink
     >  spilt/scattered over the paper out of neglect . Your example of
    *carved in stone* incidentally helps us to get the gist quite easily
    ; you , in fact , take some materiality away from the stone so that
    a language becomes eligible for the readers . What remains as some
    markings or signs no longer have any materiality ; the remaining
    stone frame does not have anything to do with the language carved in
    it . This is also true with the braille texture . It's the
    organization/ordinance of the texture which is a language not the
    stuff therefrom . When you and Mike are on the screen lipreading
    each other in non-acoustics silence , you , in fact , have a
    telepathy version of language ; you're this way exchanging your
    mentalities with no materiality at hand . The computer is modality
    for your vision not for the language you are using .  And lastly ,
    because a word is a sign , something for something else , in itself
    ! just a yelling or a marking denoting nothing as referring to the
    objects of the world which you so philosophically / inexaustively
    are defending !
     >  Best
     >  Haydi
     > --- On Sat, 9/26/09, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net
    <http://us.mc464.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ablunden@mira.net>> wrote:
     >
     >
     > From: Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net
    <http://us.mc464.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ablunden@mira.net>>
     > Subject: Re: [xmca] Consciousness "only a part of the material
    quality of the man-sign"
     > To: "Haydi Zulfei" <haydizulfei@yahoo.com
    <http://us.mc464.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=haydizulfei@yahoo.com>>
     > Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009, 12:26 AM
     >
     >
     > Language is a material representational system, Haydi.
     >
     > Language may be in speech (vibrations in the air), text (markings
    on a surface or optical projections on a screen or carved in stone)
    or texture (as in Braille), but there is no mental telepathy version
    of language that I know of.
     >
     > Why do you think the written and spoken word is not material?
     >
     > Andy
     > Haydi Zulfei wrote:
     >> Now you ask Martin to tell you a representational system which
    is not *material* . I tell you *language* is a system which is not
    material.
     >
     >
     >
     >
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    --
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Andy Blunden http://www.erythrospress.com/
    Classics in Activity Theory: Hegel, Leontyev, Meshcheryakov,
    Ilyenkov $20 ea

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--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Blunden http://www.erythrospress.com/
Classics in Activity Theory: Hegel, Leontyev, Meshcheryakov, Ilyenkov $20 ea

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