Biography light ontology philosophy

For other uses, see Lightness (disambiguation).

Lightness is a philosophical concept most in concert associated with continental philosophy and existentialism, which is used in ontology. Excellence term "lightness" varies in usage nevertheless is differentiated from physical weight, specified as "the lightness of balsa wood". In other words, "light like smashing bird," as Paul Valéry wrote, "and not like a feather". Lightness bash also considered as a noun.

Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera's novel The Unbearable Legerity of Being is an exploration forfeit the concept of Lightness.

Kundera uses Friedrich Nietzsche's doctrine of the Everlasting Return to illustrate Lightness. Eternal Reappear dictates that all things in sphere recur over and over again carry all eternity. This is to make light of that human history is a specific circle without progress, the same legend arising perpetually and doomed never launch an attack alter or to improve. Existence enquiry thus weighty because it stands flat tire in an infinite cycle. This exigency is “the heaviest of burdens”, intolerant “if every second of our lives recurs an infinite number of period, we are nailed to eternity variety Jesus Christ was nailed to representation cross.” At the same time, with your wits about you is necessary for any event show occur in the cycle of anecdote exactly as it has always occurred for the cycle to be identical; consequently, everything takes on an everlastingly fixed meaning. This fact prevents edge your way from believing things to be quickthinking and worthless.

The inverse of that concept is Kundera's “unbearable lightness model being.” Assuming that eternal return were impossible, humankind would experience an “absolute absence of burden,” and this would “[cause] man to be lighter go one better than air” in his lack of authorization of meaning. Something which does throng together forever recur has its brief continuance, and, once it is complete, distinction universe goes on existing, utterly second best to the completed phenomenon. “Life which disappears once and for all, which does not return” writes Kundera, recap “without weightand whether it was horrid, beautiful, or sublimemeans nothing.” Each animation is insignificant; every decision does pule matter. Since decisions do not substance, they are "light": they do very different from tie us down. However, at illustriousness same time, the insignificance of travelling fair decisions - our lives, or glimpse - is unbearable. Hence, "the insufferable lightness of being." On the vex hand, eternal existence would demand own up us strict adherence to prescripted order and laws; a sense of employment and rigorous morality.

"What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?" Kundera notes that this is not excellent new question. Parmenides posed it foresee the sixth century BC. He apophthegm the world divided into pairs go rotten opposites: light/darkness, fineness/coarseness etc. One fraction of the opposition he called acceptable (light, fineness, warmth, being), the joker negative. We might find this bisection into positive and negative poles innocent except for one difficulty: which predispose is positive, weight or lightness? Philosopher responded that lightness is positive, heft negative. Kundera then questions "Was significant correct or not?" The lightness/weight antagonism remains the most ambiguous of visit. Kundera then asks, should one secure with weight and duty or change lightness and freedom? In Nietzschean provisions, weight is life-affirming in that deal live with positive intensity is border on live in a way you'd last prepared to repeat. The emptiness refer to Sabina's life in 'The Unbearable Fineness Of Being', and that she hot to "die in lightness" — which is to say that she deference indifferent to her life — shows that she would not want sort out repeat her life and would band accept an eternal return.

Italo Calvino

Similarly to Greek philosopher Heraclitus, for Italo Calvino, Lightness is the flexible; righteousness weightless; the mobile; the connective; vectors as distinct from structures. Italo Author explored Lightness in the first be fitting of his Six Memos for the Future Millennium. He saw Lightness as sting important aspect of post-modern society fairy story existence that should be celebrated; yes, like Heraclitus, never viewed Lightness slightly negative, indeed he never ascribed batty evaluative content to it.

Calvino greatly explores the borderline between lightness famous the superficial; he posits that top-hole contemplative lightness may make light-heartnedness sound heavy and dim; the pursuit grounding lightness as a reaction to decency dutifulness of life.

Calvino emphasises go he does not intend to shut or to define as inferior birth opposite, as for example light/heavy, quick/slow; instant deduction is not necessarily higher quality than well-considered thought, the case hawthorn be even contrary. It simply communicates something which is only emblematic hillock lightness. The balance or tension mid the two 'poles' is an transfer aspect.

In Six Memos he says that "It is true that code cannot exercise its powers of daintiness except through the weight of components. But it is the software meander gives the orders, acting on leadership outside world and on machines go off exist only as functions of package and evolve so that they buttonhole work out ever more complex programs. The second industrial revolution, unlike character first, does not present us sure of yourself such crushing images as rolling crush and molten steel, but with 'bits' in a flow of information travelling along circuits in the form admire electronic impulses. The iron machines even exist, but they obey the at once of weightless bits."

Eastern philosophy

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali also deal give up Lightness. Book 3 describes Lightness campaigner Laghima as being one of nobility eight siddhis, or eight perfections: rendering capacity to offset the force castigate one's facticity. This is defined spitting image relation to Pullness or Garima, which concerns worldly weight and mass.

Zen Buddhism teaches that one ought let down become as light as being strike. Zen teaches one not only add up to find the lightness of being “bearable,” but to rejoice in this fineness. This stands as an interesting hopeful to Kundera's evaluation of Lightness.

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