Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Annals, Entry VI - Maxims of Maximus

A maxim is a general statement usually deemed to be universally applicable. Aristotle’s Rhetoric 1394 and 1395 provide some details. To our amusement (and occasionally, chagrine), Quintus has recently begun sharing rudiments of his “universal” wisdom with us:
  1. That’s just the way the night goes sometimes
  2. I can’t; it’s complicated
  3. Obedience means listening to mommy and daddy; responsibility is doing what I`m supposed to; self control means not doing bad thing
  4. Dirt looks like poop
  5. Death hurts
  6. Hummers are gas guzzlers
  7. If I don’t chew, I throw-up
  8. A big pee in the morning means I will be dry at night
  9. My food is black; it’s burnt
  10. Falling down is funny
  11. Moldy cheese tastes a little bit eww (complimented equally by “Gouda tastes good-uh”)

While somewhat limited in scope, these are drastic improvements over the beginnings of his speech. Quintus' first word was “hi there.” Not only “hi,” which would have been a formal greeting, but “hi there,” which is spatially separated from "hi here." There is explicit recognition of distance from the other. It is not the yes of Derrida (xxii-xxiii), but it is not no either, not an Amen but not ignorance; it is the acknowledgement of distance, the presence apart, yet the introduction to the other in the possible interest of yes. In acknowledging the other as apart from the self, this initial statement was an early revelation of Quinn’s personality; he is one who observes all, calculates from a safe distance, and engages when the time is right.

Second to “Hi there” was “Bee bee bee bee bee - Oh wow!” an expression that signified his intense interest in his surrounding reality. Every encounter was a new creation to be taken in with freshness, diligence, and care. All things were not an end in themselves as Kant’s second formulation of the categorical imperative would have it.

Quinn’s quest was for knowledge of the object. To acknowledge something requires recognition, a process that demands objectification; once something has been objectified, it has become a means to an end. The examination of any object requires an encounter between a subject and an object. For the younger Quintus, there was never an end in itself. His encounters with the other were occasions of perpetual reintroduction and continued enjoyment, as repeatedly emphasized by his next verbal utterance: “arrrrrraaaaaaah,” most properly translated “again.” Karl found this a refreshing reminder of the wonder of creation, a correlative and corrective to the subject-object relationship. “By thus fixing the thoughts of others upon their relations with Heaven, [Quintus] Fabius [Maximus] makes them more cheerful regarding the future” (Plutarch’s Lives LCL, Vol. 3, p. 131). Reality for our Quintus was other, exciting and concrete, yet always new and so never completely objectified. Although often couched nowadays in a highly elaborate (and often hilarious) vocabulary, to our delight, his exuberant outlook remains. May he always say, “I spy with my little eye something…poop. There it is!” and do it with more joy than most.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Reading this made me feel dumb and uneducated. Or maybe, someone studying too much science that they're losing a grasp on the english language :P Thanks, karl. Way to use big words.