Stop Saying You Are Independent
You are sitting alone in your house. You are self-employed. You are not in a romantic relationship and have severed ties with friends and family. Does this make you independent?
No.
Since we all use language, we are automatically involved in a chain of connection. Language implies the existence of other people to communicate with. To learn a language is to become involved in a relationship.
We do not create the languages we speak, we are born into an ongoing conversation. We do not name ourselves, we are named by other people. As we grow up, we are forced to identify with the identities we were assigned.
We are only able to navigate the world by using the words of others. We do not categorize our environments, other people label them for us. As we grow up, we are forced to accept and internalize these terms. Our ‘private’ desires can only be recognized and formatted through a language shared with others. For this reason, Jacques Lacan argues: “the unconscious is the discourse of the other.”
There is a difference between communication and language. Communication refers to sounds, looks, and movements utilized by all species to send a message. Language refers to an alphabet, words, rules of grammar, and a system of numbers used to send a message. Humans are the only species that use language. However, language is not simply an instrument. Language is the ultimate expression of humanity. We require recognition from others to gain coherence at all – and language makes that possible. Humans are language and language is human.
Humans use language because, unlike other animals, we have self-consciousness. This self-consciousness separates us from others (i.e. ‘I’ am not ‘you’) and the external world (i.e. ‘I’ am not ‘that’). Language is an attempt to fill these gaps. Thus, language is always deployed in the service of unity.
We can only exist in relation to others. There is no ‘I’ without ‘you’ and there is no ‘us’ without ‘them’. At birth, our body is literally connected to another person. However, the Western world fails to appreciate this. The father of modern philosophy – Rene Descartes – declared “I think, therefore I am.” This line of thought suppresses our social being in favor of individualism. Instead of “I think, therefore I am” – we should move toward the Ubuntu mantra of “I am because of who we all are.”
The word ‘independent’ depends upon the word ‘dependent’ to gain meaning.
The word ‘dependent’ depends upon the word ‘independent’ to gain meaning.
This is because language is dependency. Language prohibits independence. What we call ‘independence’ is simply a degree of dependency.
We need to stop saying we are independent.
No.
Since we all use language, we are automatically involved in a chain of connection. Language implies the existence of other people to communicate with. To learn a language is to become involved in a relationship.
We do not create the languages we speak, we are born into an ongoing conversation. We do not name ourselves, we are named by other people. As we grow up, we are forced to identify with the identities we were assigned.
We are only able to navigate the world by using the words of others. We do not categorize our environments, other people label them for us. As we grow up, we are forced to accept and internalize these terms. Our ‘private’ desires can only be recognized and formatted through a language shared with others. For this reason, Jacques Lacan argues: “the unconscious is the discourse of the other.”
There is a difference between communication and language. Communication refers to sounds, looks, and movements utilized by all species to send a message. Language refers to an alphabet, words, rules of grammar, and a system of numbers used to send a message. Humans are the only species that use language. However, language is not simply an instrument. Language is the ultimate expression of humanity. We require recognition from others to gain coherence at all – and language makes that possible. Humans are language and language is human.
Humans use language because, unlike other animals, we have self-consciousness. This self-consciousness separates us from others (i.e. ‘I’ am not ‘you’) and the external world (i.e. ‘I’ am not ‘that’). Language is an attempt to fill these gaps. Thus, language is always deployed in the service of unity.
We can only exist in relation to others. There is no ‘I’ without ‘you’ and there is no ‘us’ without ‘them’. At birth, our body is literally connected to another person. However, the Western world fails to appreciate this. The father of modern philosophy – Rene Descartes – declared “I think, therefore I am.” This line of thought suppresses our social being in favor of individualism. Instead of “I think, therefore I am” – we should move toward the Ubuntu mantra of “I am because of who we all are.”
The word ‘independent’ depends upon the word ‘dependent’ to gain meaning.
The word ‘dependent’ depends upon the word ‘independent’ to gain meaning.
This is because language is dependency. Language prohibits independence. What we call ‘independence’ is simply a degree of dependency.
We need to stop saying we are independent.
Comments (5)
This is [s]false[/s] not proven to be true, multiple other animals are believed to have consciousness.
Quoting Zoneofnonbeing
Is this a metaphor? If not, it's false. If yes, I don't see of what relevant claim it is a metaphor of.
Quoting Zoneofnonbeing
But it's not after that. Is that physical connection supposed to have a symbolical meaning?
Quoting Zoneofnonbeing
No it doesn't, because it's supposed to be taken literally. Whatever symbolical meaning you attach to it is attached by you and wasn't intended by Descartes. It's a logically valid statement, and where its meaning interpreted by you might lead us as human beings, or whether you like that or not, doesn't make it any more or less valid.
Quoting Zoneofnonbeing
This only makes that person's ability to call themselves independent dependent on language, not the person themselves.
This is not simply about a person being dependent on language. This is about the fact that we cannot know ourselves without language. Sure, when we are born there is pure materiality with the body. But the body is not known to us except through language. (revisit Butler's thesis on sex/gender for more).
Quoting Zoneofnonbeing
Actually, yes, I think it does :D
It's also different than your claim that they don't have self-consciousness, so your premise that "Humans use language because --- we have self-consciousness" doesn't stand. What are your claims such as that one and "we cannot know ourselves without language" based on?
Ironically, the sentience of animals can't be proven precisely because of Descartes' "cogito, ergo sum".
I wonder whether the reverse of this is truer.