Negative definition
Negative definition“Pluralism and dualism are not, as we are frequently invited to believe, the final achievement in experience with regard to some ideas; they are characteristic of any world when insufficiently known. A diversity judged to be ultimate and unconditional is the form of all that fails to be satisfactory in experience.”Michael Oakeshott, Experience and Its Mode (1933)
Of course we delineate experience within the bounds of what we, as individuals, can humanly do, but in this post-postmodern world, where, for example, advertising is based almost entirely on the blatant fallacy that “I can achieve anything”, it’s almost a shock to realise that we experience negative definition not only through what we are (or rather aren’t), but through what we choose not to do. If the things you cannot humanly do define you, then you can, ironically, make a positive attempt to gain identity by discarding some of those you can. People need boundaries, and we define ourselves through the limitations imposed by our choices – it’s just a question of whether you view the walls you build around yourself as a secure unit or a prison.
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose leaves
The way I feel today - 10 July 2004
Just seventeen - 17 March 2004
Roads to freedom - 25 February 2004
Confessions of a failed self-harmer - 25 February 2004
Manchester, united - 25 February 2004