This album is filled with Hegelian and Derridean philosophy, and this song borrows from both. This idea of an inner fortress is perhaps taken from Simon Glendinning’s brief work on Derridean philosophy. He says that Derrida resists the idea that a person is "the sole resident, as it were, of an inner fortress … withdrawal does not disclose the singularity of his being-there as an individual resident of a secure and impenetrable inner fortress, but, rather, as a singular point of confluence, a point of remarkable hospitality to the other, a generous gathering place” (A Very Short Introduction: Derrida, 20). This is huge in the rest of the album (and I mean HUGE), and in this song it is contextually relevant because of the images of deceit and tomfoolery surrounding them: con men, sycophants, imitation marble, and, of course, the Cardiff Giant, a huge 19th century hoax. Because these are convincing or intimidating images for such otherwise meager circus animals, they suffer from delusions of ungrandeur. Community is the cure.
A little bit about Hegelian phenomenology/community: in short, Hegel posits that self-consciousness cannot exist in isolation but needs an opposing object with which to contextually compare and contrast. However, though the comprehension of self might be grasped in relation to an external object, Hegel further specifies that self-consciousness demands not simply an external object, but another self-consciousness (Peacock and Tiger). Social isolation or impediment has a direct affect on the depth at which one may know himself. Singer (A Very Short Introduction: Hegel) paraphrases psychiatrist R. D. Lang in saying, “If the worth of one person is systematically denied recognition by all those on whom he or she depends … that person’s sense of identity can be utterly destroyed” (78).
Regarding the second chorus, the only thing I can get out of it is that if you die, you're alone, and then the 'I' is a lie because, as stated above, 'I' cannot be aware of itself in isolation.
I'm doing my senior thesis (undergrad) on Weiss' philosophy, mainly in Ten Stories. It's a freaking trip.
And as for the last line, it's hard to interpret. If the "we" in "off we flew" refers to Peacock and Tiger, then things get tricky because the following activity is negative. They infested a perfect paper nest with plastic pulp. Yet I can't figure out if Potter Wasp is a false protagonist just based on the last line. I've also a theistic interpretation that explores self-consciousness in light of God, specifically a megalomaniacal magnifying glass God, but it has some holes in it.
And as for the last line, it's hard to interpret. If the "we" in "off we flew" refers to Peacock and Tiger, then things get tricky because the following activity is negative. They infested a perfect paper nest with plastic pulp. Yet I can't figure out if Potter Wasp is a false protagonist just based on the last line. I've also a theistic interpretation that explores self-consciousness in light of God, specifically a megalomaniacal magnifying glass God, but it has some holes in it.
Amazing. I believe though that mewithoutYou adopted those concepts not from Derrida and Hegel, but from Sufi Islam and probably some Eastern philosophies. But they're all the same down to their core.
Amazing. I believe though that mewithoutYou adopted those concepts not from Derrida and Hegel, but from Sufi Islam and probably some Eastern philosophies. But they're all the same down to their core.
This album is filled with Hegelian and Derridean philosophy, and this song borrows from both. This idea of an inner fortress is perhaps taken from Simon Glendinning’s brief work on Derridean philosophy. He says that Derrida resists the idea that a person is "the sole resident, as it were, of an inner fortress … withdrawal does not disclose the singularity of his being-there as an individual resident of a secure and impenetrable inner fortress, but, rather, as a singular point of confluence, a point of remarkable hospitality to the other, a generous gathering place” (A Very Short Introduction: Derrida, 20). This is huge in the rest of the album (and I mean HUGE), and in this song it is contextually relevant because of the images of deceit and tomfoolery surrounding them: con men, sycophants, imitation marble, and, of course, the Cardiff Giant, a huge 19th century hoax. Because these are convincing or intimidating images for such otherwise meager circus animals, they suffer from delusions of ungrandeur. Community is the cure.
A little bit about Hegelian phenomenology/community: in short, Hegel posits that self-consciousness cannot exist in isolation but needs an opposing object with which to contextually compare and contrast. However, though the comprehension of self might be grasped in relation to an external object, Hegel further specifies that self-consciousness demands not simply an external object, but another self-consciousness (Peacock and Tiger). Social isolation or impediment has a direct affect on the depth at which one may know himself. Singer (A Very Short Introduction: Hegel) paraphrases psychiatrist R. D. Lang in saying, “If the worth of one person is systematically denied recognition by all those on whom he or she depends … that person’s sense of identity can be utterly destroyed” (78).
Regarding the second chorus, the only thing I can get out of it is that if you die, you're alone, and then the 'I' is a lie because, as stated above, 'I' cannot be aware of itself in isolation.
I'm doing my senior thesis (undergrad) on Weiss' philosophy, mainly in Ten Stories. It's a freaking trip.
And as for the last line, it's hard to interpret. If the "we" in "off we flew" refers to Peacock and Tiger, then things get tricky because the following activity is negative. They infested a perfect paper nest with plastic pulp. Yet I can't figure out if Potter Wasp is a false protagonist just based on the last line. I've also a theistic interpretation that explores self-consciousness in light of God, specifically a megalomaniacal magnifying glass God, but it has some holes in it.
And as for the last line, it's hard to interpret. If the "we" in "off we flew" refers to Peacock and Tiger, then things get tricky because the following activity is negative. They infested a perfect paper nest with plastic pulp. Yet I can't figure out if Potter Wasp is a false protagonist just based on the last line. I've also a theistic interpretation that explores self-consciousness in light of God, specifically a megalomaniacal magnifying glass God, but it has some holes in it.
Amazing. I believe though that mewithoutYou adopted those concepts not from Derrida and Hegel, but from Sufi Islam and probably some Eastern philosophies. But they're all the same down to their core.
Amazing. I believe though that mewithoutYou adopted those concepts not from Derrida and Hegel, but from Sufi Islam and probably some Eastern philosophies. But they're all the same down to their core.