Wow, what a cool way of thinking about reading difficult stuff--far better than the kind of snobby elitism that implies that if one doesn’t understand the difficult text, perhaps one isn’t “good enough” to be in the club. It reminds me of the “encounters” with deconstruction (Derrida, Saussure ... or was it de Saussure) I had in grad school decades ago. One prof looked down his nose at those who found it challenging and said, “Well, you must go back and read it again,” while another took it as pure play and delight to grapple with the difficulty (as you have done here). You can bet whose seminars were packed.
We made it through the tough read yesterday, and I think we landed in a good place. The first four session have been a sort of "boot camp" to prepare for the remainder of the semester, which focuses more finely on specific themes (like "art & creativity" or "surveillance"). What happens in boot camp is a broadening of perspective -- Heidegger's essay is good for that -- and we get some tools and vocabulary to hold on to as we wander through the rest of the seminar. Despite the trouble of Heidegger's language, students became engaged. A half dozen hung around after class to talk, and we didn't leave until I got signals that the room was needed for the next class.
I sweat bullets to make it through this session. It's a different kind of stress than the students feel. The stress of a team driver, with horses on the reins who are mostly trained but willing to wander and buck and fart. Together we carried the cart to our destination.
Wow, what a cool way of thinking about reading difficult stuff--far better than the kind of snobby elitism that implies that if one doesn’t understand the difficult text, perhaps one isn’t “good enough” to be in the club. It reminds me of the “encounters” with deconstruction (Derrida, Saussure ... or was it de Saussure) I had in grad school decades ago. One prof looked down his nose at those who found it challenging and said, “Well, you must go back and read it again,” while another took it as pure play and delight to grapple with the difficulty (as you have done here). You can bet whose seminars were packed.
We made it through the tough read yesterday, and I think we landed in a good place. The first four session have been a sort of "boot camp" to prepare for the remainder of the semester, which focuses more finely on specific themes (like "art & creativity" or "surveillance"). What happens in boot camp is a broadening of perspective -- Heidegger's essay is good for that -- and we get some tools and vocabulary to hold on to as we wander through the rest of the seminar. Despite the trouble of Heidegger's language, students became engaged. A half dozen hung around after class to talk, and we didn't leave until I got signals that the room was needed for the next class.
I sweat bullets to make it through this session. It's a different kind of stress than the students feel. The stress of a team driver, with horses on the reins who are mostly trained but willing to wander and buck and fart. Together we carried the cart to our destination.
BTW, there's another essay from Aeon that's good on Derrida and company: "Since Derrida" (https://aeon.co/essays/after-jacques-derrida-whats-next-for-french-philosophy). Makes some of the murk lucid....