T e Sea f Ice (Das Eismeer), b Caspar Da id Friedrich (1823). C e e Ha b ge K a e/W ed a
I ai e f a h i m Wha if e see he his or of philosoph no as a grand s s em of s s ained cri iq e b as a series of brillian fragmen s? Andre H i
A ical ni e i c e in he hi f hil h e he g ea hinke f We e n ci ili a i n a a a el ce i n f m Pla A i le De ca e Kan Hegel Nie che. e e magni cen in ellec e hei idea in eigh hil hical me , ed i h chi elled de ni i n , ell- ea ned a g men and ained c i i e . In n, in c e en he g and na a i e f idea a ne gene a i n f den .
Imman el Kan i e hi magi e ial a ach. In he cl ing age f hi Cri iq e of P re Reason (1781), he Ge man hil he na a e he hi f We e n hil h f m Pla A i le L cke Leibni him elf a a e ie f a e c c e . I deed, he h g f a c a ch ec f h gh :
B a archi ec onic I ea he a f e . S ce e a c ha c c g c e ce.
a , c e ce ha a e e agg ega e f a d h gh e h g c he e . O he ca h h bec e a d c e e h d f dg e f ha edge a d ha . N e , ea h h .
B gh he e be e h g hea e a d ea h ha a e d ea f Ka h h ? Wha ha e he e c de he h f h h f he f e -b d g, b h gh a a e a e acc ha a a e he f ag e f h g?
C de He ac Na e e h de ; B a e Pa ca e e e a e ce f he e e ace e e e ; F ed ch N e che If a e e be e ec ed, a e e be de ed. He ac c e bef e a d aga P a a d A e, Pa ca af e a d aga Re De ca e , N e che af e a d aga Ka a d G W F Hege . M gh he h f h gh be ac a d e b a h ?
M ch f he h f We e h h ca be a a ed a a e e f a e c c e . C e e , ch f he h f a h ca be a a ed a a a ad e , a g a a f ch g a d e h gh he c c f e a f ag e . e h he c ea e a d c e c e f a g e ; he a h , he he ha d, c e ca e ed e f . O e e a cha f g c; he he b ea a d b d .
ef e he b h f We e h h e , he e a he a h . I a c e B G eece, he h a g f A a a de , Xe ha e , Pa e de He ac c e he e a ec a e h g, b he a e a e h g h ch P a a d A e a e h e. e e g a c ce e e de d c e a a . e ef e be c a ed e a c de . N e d de ha he h a e e gh be e; b P a a d A e e e a b a e ab he . e ha e g a a he a e he ca e ed e a ce f c e e e .
He e P a c e f He ac :
If a a e f he a e , he e e e g a c h a e f h e a d h a ; a d f a e h g e a acc f ha he ha a d, ge h b a he , f f a ge f a g age.
F P a , he He ac ea a age f c a e a a b e beca e he c a d ce e a h de b e c e. I h e e, H a P a a a a a a : , a F ; a , a a , , a , a P a a a a , a , .
P a a a a a a a : a a a a a a , b a , a a a a a a a a a . F S a a , b a .
Y I b H a a a P a a a . P a a a a a . O a , a a a . Ta - a :
Na . [ ] A a .
a a . W a a ? W a ? W a ? F P Ha e Veil of Isis (2004) a a a a a : a a ; a an s b ; a , a a a ; a b ; a , a , a a a . a H a a a a a a . A , a a a : A , a I a a .
a H a a a . a b a a a , a a b a a a a . F a a b an i he ical a propaede ic a a : a a b a a a ; a a b a a b ab a a .
G a a b . A a a a a a a . A , , a a b , a a a a .
A a a , a b
I 17 , D a a a b a a . Y a a a , Pa a a . P a , a , a . B a a , Pa a a a genius of his time. At a young age, he made landmark contributions to geometry and algebra. Plagued by ill health, he had a religious conversion in his late 20s, and spent the last 10 years of his short life in vain attempts to construct a justification of Christianity intended as an ‘Apology for Religion’, published posthumously as the Pen e (1670).
Pascal’s lifelong task became an exercise of endlessly reducing words to their essence, in order to probe a pure nothingness and bring us to its edge. For him, all finite things are fragments, for they are nothing but pieces torn from infinity. All the same, the nature of finitude is such that not even a vast quantity of fragments could ever approach wholeness, ‘a unit added to infinity does not increase infinity at all, any more than a foot added to an infinite length’. e Pascalian lack of order is an acknowledgment of the failure of the human intellect to understand such infinity. As such, the Pen e operate within a poetics of the fragment.
When Pascal died in 1662, there were more than 800 slips of paper in various stages of disorder. ese fragments are, in a large part, a direct consequence of his rejection of the Cartesian insistence on order and clarity. e saying ‘ e heart has its reasons of which reason does not know’ is one clear case. Pascal’s principal criticism is that Descartes reduces philosophy to an all-too-rational system. For Pascal, the proposition ‘I think, therefore I am’ rests on shaky grounds, for this self that Descartes posits to be the foundation of all reasoning is but an impoverished thing. is is Pascal’s view of the human condition:
What a monster, what chaos … weak earthworm; repository of truth, and sewer of uncertainty and error; the glory and garbage of the universe!
e glorious heap that makes up the Pen e might then be conceived of as a monumental rejection to Cartesian reason’s supreme confidence in itself.
he dialectic between aphorisms and philosophy reaches its apex in 19th-century T Germany. After Kant, thinkers as varied as Friedrich Schlegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Søren Kierkegaard and Nietzsche all used the microform to grapple with how to do philosophy after systems. e Romantics loved ruins, the unfinished, shadows. ink of Caspar David Friedrich’s landscapes, Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, or the obsession with classical antiquity. is cult of the fragment is a response to Kant’s relentless system-building. Confronted with how to adequately represent the unity of transcendental knowledge, the Romantics insist that the only possible way of doing so is in parts. us, a ho i ic hinking : ema ic hinking :: he mic o : he mac o.
In a series of dazzling essays, reviews, dialogues and manifestos published over just three years – 1798 to 1800 – the German journal Da A henae m established Romanticism as a unified aesthetic reaction and a viable philosophical alternative to idealism. On one hand, as an A henae m fragment holds, ‘all individuals are systems, a ea e b a d e de c . O e e , a d a e a c a a a d a e . He ce, e a a a e d a e a e a d a e e. I a e dec de c b e e .
N e c e a a e de ce da R a c a . I T gh f he Id (1889), e dec a e :
I a e a e a d a d e . e a e a ac e e a , e a e , c I a e a e a Ge a , a e e e e ; a b a 10 e e ce a e e e e e a a b a e e e e e d e a a b .
N e c e e be a a a c a c c ec e a e ea G ee e . S dab e a e d a , 1869, ea ed a e G ee a e U e Ba e a e a e 24.
The Plo ghshare Notebook b Friedrich Niet sche contains 176 aphorisms set do n in 1876. Co rtes Bibliotheq e Nationale, Paris/Niet scheso rce.org
H a e beca e a f a e e e aba d ed e a a c a c e a e 1870 . Ra e a d a , e a ed d c e . I e e e e c e, H a , A T H a (1878) Ecce H (1888), e c ed a d a d a a d a . e a e a beca e e e e ed e e e e. e e S e Za a h a (1883-85) ea e a c d a b e ce e d e a e a . I e e, d c a e a e ea f eade , de ab g e ab f g
N e c e a c f bec e a f a g eade b c be a d c e a a c a N e c ea e f fe, b a e c ea e a d c af e f fe. He e a b f a e e e e a e e f f b dde , g g a d c a f g be ee a d be d a . W a ea a N e c e -feed eade . H e d e He ac e e, d c , a e c a a d a a e a e ea f eade , e g de ab g e ab f g . e a e e ed d c , e ga e a be ee a d be d a d . He e e c e c g g :
We a e a ead g be d a e e e a e d f ; a a g e e e a g a f c e e ea e a a ead ga ed e f b ea g.
N e c e e e f ce ab e e c be ee e g , eec a d g. e d c f g e e e f dea d dea e e ed g e e ea e ; e e a a a de b e f a . O g ca be ca ed a a g age: e e a be d d . I Sc ege e ega f a :
A f ag e g be e e a ed f e d g d e a e f a a d c e e e f e a edge g.
I acc de a , e Sc ege c a e a a a edge g (e Ige ), e fa edge g We e g c e f a f ag e f A c c a I a a Be a e a ed:
e f a g , b e edge g e b g g.
g a a b de cc c , a a a fe a e a e ab e e e f e a . B a e, e a e e edge g a a a a . S g c a e b age, - - ec e a a e e g b a g a e c d e g e e.
e a a a e a e d e a . F e d e a e f e Y S e a a d Eg a a d, e d e g e c a c ec e f a g e . Eac a g e e be c e e e f , a Sc ege c a , b a f a de a e , f e a a a a e g ea ge , ca ab e f c e a . A d e be de a e e e e a , b a a a a g ea a : F a de La R c ef ca d, J a W fga g G e e, Ge g C L c e be g, Pa ca a d N e c e himself had notebooks upon notebooks lled with them, and often had trouble nishing them.
So while a single aphorism might be a hegemonic hedgehog, a collection of aphorisms morphs into a multitude of cunning little foxes.
Etymologically, ‘aphorism is composed of the Greek apo- ‘from, away from + hori ein ‘to bound . A horizon is de ned by Merriam-Webster s dictionary as:
a: the apparent junction of Earth and sky; b: the great circle on the celestial sphere formed by the intersection of the celestial sphere with a plane tangent to the Earth s surface at an observer s position.
It is impossible to ever arrive at the horizon; it is in nitely receding, both immanent and imminent. Ever transcendent, as a line it is without beginning or end, cutting the visible and invisible.
Is not a well-wrought aphorism precisely that which walks, leaps, climbs, and dances?
An aphorism makes a de nitive statement, sets boundaries, establishes property. Yet any good de nition is aware of its own limits, what is within and without. To de ne anything, after all, is to delimit it. e curvature of the globe, like the shape of thinking, means that there is always a limit to our eld of vision. An aphorism, in this sense, is a mark of our nitude, ever approaching the receding horizon. Beyond the horizon of language, thinking can go no further.
In times of great di culty, we might not have the powers of concentration to read weighty tomes – even Either/Or (1843), the magnum opus of Kierkegaard, that great philosopher of fragments, runs to two volumes totalling 1,200 pages in the Princeton University Press translation. Hegel s e Phenomenolog of the Spirit (1807) is 600 pages; Plato s Rep blic is 500; Kant s three Critiq es (1781; 1788; 1790) add up to some 2,400. Michel Foucault also wrote big books – Madness and Ci ili ation (1961), e Birth of the Clinic (1963), Discipline and P nish (1975), e Order of ings (1966) and e Archaeolog of Kno ledge (1969), among others. Toward the end of this life, Foucault re ected on a more modest genre of writing in antiquity called ‘hupomnemata , the sayings of the Stoics, the Epicureans, Jesus. In ‘Self Writing (1983), Foucault said:
In this period there was a culture of what could be called ‘personal writing : taking notes on the readings, conversations, and re ections that one hears or has or does; keeping notebooks of one sort or another on important b ec ( ha he G ee ca h m ema a), h ch be e ead f e e a eac a e ha he c a
T ac e e f-ca e, he , h ab a h a d h a h ca .
I e Ga Scie ce (1887), N e che e ha :
We d be g h e h ha e dea a g b , he a ed b b . I hab h d a g, ea g, c b g, da c g, efe ab e a ea he ea he e e e he a bec e h gh f .
I he e da f COVID-19 c d , a f a e h eb d. I a e - gh a h , e a d be , ec e ha h ch a , ea , c b , a d da ce ? Pe ha b ead g e a h , a d c g e f , e ca e a f g he e da e . Af e a , h ca ea ead Hege d a a ?
A e f he A h i m (2019) b A d e H i i bli hed b P i ce U i e i P e .
A d e H i i a cia e fe i li e a e a Yale-NUS C llege i Si ga e. He i he a h f e P e ic f R i i Re ai a ce Li e a e (2016) a d A e f he A h i m (2019).
a .c 1 J 2020