Just a thought...Apart from what makes the story of Chris and his Crisp, you do have to wonder what preservatives are in this little crisp that has kept it twelve years strong (kind of like McDonald's?) Yikes! {~_~}
Probably the same ingredients that lets twinkies last through a nuclear apocalypse..haha
While thinking about whether objects can have meaning and/or capacity outside of human interactions with them, in relations to the text, it seems like the answer is yes and no and kind of hard to answer. However, if the question was asked in reverse, I think it illuminates interesting things about the text and how to think about an object’s capacity in general. If we think about how much of our subjectivity and identity is comprised of our necessarily relationship with objects, its hard to think about our lives without those objects. Even from the perspective of the most mundane objects, I wouldn’t be the same person without my glasses or without my toothbrush or without the chemicals in my food. If I lived in a more luxurious house, I would have drastically different socio-economic ideas about the world. In the same way, these object’s orientation in the world would be different without human interactions and definitely have no meaning outside of it, in so far as if we’re thinking of meaning as something human-centric. But to isolate either, intellectually, kind of makes this thing almost impossible to think about. Objects will definitely do what they do without people, but its not like we’ll ever have access to whatever that is (unless you think about it as physics question). On other hand, to think of objects has having propensity is radical enough not for the sake of itself but as a lens questioning and rethinking Western ideas of structure and movement/agency/ etc. Jullien’s ideas of propensity is really about thinking differently about the relationship and network between objects and people. Normally, most Western metaphysics assumes people using or controlling objects of the world, for their own ends. But from the perspective of chinese philosophy of shi, objects have their own disposition and for a person to interact with the object, one must think about it’s deposition in order to socialize with it. It’s kind of like socializing with another person. In his example about painting, its not that an artist creates the work of art through utilizing colors, but rather the artist has an understanding of the paints’ capacity to create a certain effect. You can’t mix yellow and blue, and expect to have orange because you want it to. His example about a person navigating through unknown landscape with a compass is an elegant example, because the of space’s capacity to have an irregular structure that would necessitate a person to be at the mercy of the space. I don’t its about having a natural or harmonious or even a completely oppositional relationship with objects, as much as Jullien makes it sounds sometimes. It seems more about opening up the complexities that exists between people and objects, as it does between people.
Hugh wasn’t kidding when he said this reading was dense and difficult! I’m not familiar with most of the writing we discussed as background for the text, so that makes it all the more hard to decipher. The concept of shi being the disposition of objects was the hardest thing for me to understand, even though I understand it means arrangement and not actual disposition. It was interesting to read about the calligraphy and shi, and how the shi is the force “that runs through the letters.” It gives calligraphy more of a defining feature.
In comparison to “In Praise of Shadows”, “The Propensity of Things” explores the notion of things as non-objective things but nonetheless weight heavily upon the way people interact with what is beyond their bodies. Like the shadows Tanizaki praises, “shi” has meaning metaphorically and aesthetically; they are both everywhere and nowhere. Jullien is aware that this Chinese concept of “shi” is intangible in Western thought, but examines the idea of “shi” as another form of understanding philosophy towards ideas of art and war. In comparison to Western thought, “shi” does not strive to be definitive, or a finality. Instead movement of power is circular, communication of philosophy through language both in writing and art is allusive; things are not one thing or another but are understood through the tension between things. The “shi” of something is measured by its breath, or inner life of something. The propensity of things is its disposition to be effective, but effectiveness and power are allusive and invisible, and exists on opposing taxonomies (dynamic/static, separation/tension, visible/invisible, reason/theory, continuity/discontinuity. Outside of things themselves, “shi” itself is a tacit form of knowledge, and a question of how to experience things beyond objective and functional qualities as a inter-dynamic reality .
In The Propensity of Things, François Jullien attempts to describe the concept of shi by explaining its presence in different mediums. In chapters four through seven he describes shi as it is a part of calligraphy, painting, and poetry. He writes, “…shi can be defined overall as the force that runs through the form of the written character and animates it aesthetically” (76). Shi is not tangible, but it is a valued aspect of tangible art forms. It is the determining factor in the success of the work. Shi is meant to be a continuous flow, or a breath that eases in and out of calligraphic script, along the lines of a mountainous landscape, or through poem. It implies effortlessness, and is therefore present in situations of coincidence or connection. It is an invisible fluidity that is naturally a part of things.
Things do not simply mean what humans attribute to them. The entire idea of shi insists that there is a propensity, or a natural inclination within things that should not be tampered with. Shi is something that one should strive to achieve, because this invisible ease and flow is the sense that something is right or meant to be. Jullien argues, “It is crucial to achieve shi because the reality of things only exists- and thus only manifests itself-in a totality, through the force of propensity that links various elements as a whole” (99). The symbolic connection and continuity of things exists because of this energy. Our understanding of what’s whole and genuine is because of this streaming breath.
I was really not impressed with The Propensity of Things upon my initial read through of it. However, after class on Monday and giving it another read through, I definitely appreciate the concept Jullien examines of 'things' needing a certain capacity. In order for objects and/ or things to be assigned value they must possess the capability of having value for x reasons. This idea is really quite intriguing to me and has actually made me re-evaluate the ways which i look at objects of my own and in my more general material world.
In order to dissect the Chinese person’s relationship to the world in which he or she lives, Francois Jullien explains a certain vital aspect of Chinese aesthetics. He describes a life force, or “vital breath” (92), referred to as shi, that pulses within the earth itself, and is extended therefore to that which is on the earth as well. This sort of “magnetic field” (94) is a physical manifestation, and is experienced at the physical level through interaction with nature. When one has learned to understand and have the ability to see this circulating energy, it is only then that one will be able to harness it to one’s advantage, and allow oneself to become a part of it. This, Jullien sites, can be seen easily through various Chinese art forms. Originality, specific presentation of this life force, through thoughtful chaos, well-placed density and sparsity, technique (energetic, having an energetic essence), etc… all comprise the shi in a work. I think the world perception explicated in this book is incredibly interesting (also that it is likely quite a beautiful book in its original French, or another romance language), because it seems to distinctly differentiate itself from Western ideas about the existence of a divinity. The regulating force described here is experienced tangibly and physically in a way quite distinct to that which we in the West can easily conceive of.
after Hughe's lecture on monday I felt much more welcoming towards 'the propensity of things'. and once I learned that disposition does not mean what I had thought (as I read half the book!) but rather, arrangement, everything became more clear. I suppose my misunderstanding of the term clouded my perception of the text--as I can be flippant towards seemingly vague and I don't know..."spiritual" sounding things if I don't take time to understand them. I quite enjoyed the chapters on calligraphy and painting. my favorite sentences in chapter 7 are, "...the art of the Chinese painter lies in depicting reality in its unceasing process. The mounting of paintings on scrolls illusrates this most cogently. The scroll 'opens' and 'closes' just like the cyclical process of all reality" (page, 138). Calligraphy and painting are the embodiment of a process; they represent renewal. I love the description of calligraphy and painting as being 'alive'; they are not static. They embody the idea of the thing(s) or word (s) they represent. that essence (can't believe I used the word essence) is physically represented in the brush strokes.
I had trouble truly understanding the overall picture that Jullien was trying to create with "The Propensity of Things". When he was discussing military strategies, I understood that he felt victory should be thought before the war rather than during. I also understood how he felt that there was more depth in both creating caligraphy strokes and the character itself.
When he discussed caligraphy, it made me feel a deeper appreciation for creations and the process of creating them. Caligraphy can be seen as an art rather than writing. I also felt more depth as he discussed that little details make a difference in perception. He emphasizes how a woman with beautiful clothes rather than rags would truly be seen.
Although a lot to grasp onto, in the "The Propensity of things," Jullien utilizes the Chinese concept of Shi in dialogue with meaning we place on things and things as they are arranged to procure the meaning we estimate of them. To this effect, early on in his introduction, he (speaking out of Eastern consideration) for instance, challenges the Western perception that "Instead of always imposing our own long for meaning on reality, let us open ourselves to this immanent force and learn to seize it." [p.13]
I understand the aforementioned in comparison to as if you are in yoga and are told to "empty your mind and body of the day's activity to allow yourself to [just be]." Shi, I believe, is suggestive of that energy, potential,or capacity that fills the cavities of ones being and allows you to rise above the moment in order to fully experience the movements enabled by the conditions fostering them or it (whatever "it" may be).
Moving along in the text, Jullien poses examples of shi actualized in military strategy, as well as in the Chinese arts like calligraphy. In this way, he takes to account form and essentially function contrived through modes of continuous process that is seen as "constantly dynamic because it is self-regulating" [79], and therefore effectual. Shi is the breath, force, opportunity and actualization of things that speak to their propensity or dispositions for depth.
How do we find shi? Elaine, I really enjoyed your response and would like to use expand on it by using the same point of departure.
We have already looked a little bit at the agency of objects in the context of our other readings, but I think The Propensity of Things reveals new ways that we may understand the sense of their autonomous activity. What I thought to be the most enlightening passage in this section of the text, in terms of this discussion, is in chapter 4 under the heading, "The Force of Form in Calligraphy." Jullien quotes, "'When they discussed calligraphy, the Ancients stressed the paramount importance of shi... Calligraphy is a study that rests on the configuration [of ideograms]. Now, once there is a configuration, there is a potential stemming from that configuration. Strategists ascribed the greatest importance to the positioning [of the troops on the battlefield] and to the potential [born of that disposition]: as soon as one obtains the advantage constituted by that potential [shi], one holds the key to success,'" (76). Objects can now be seen to have varying types of agency, outside of the Western perspective, of what they ask of people and space in their interactions. An object as a configured "thing" additionally has a wide range of potentialities. They thus have a projected agency in the push and pull of the realm of the conceptual, not only the physical. And, whomsoever harnesses any of those advantageous potentialities "'holds the key to success.'" Objects can now be thought of as active agents in physical action, conceptual thought, and even key events in history that shape futures. Finally, objects become a portal for the interaction of a person (or people) with the concept of shi. One may now "...'pursue' the shi through the lines [of the object] traced," (77). Viewed this way, an object can be the means through which shi surrounds and acts upon an individual, even if only in a specific instance. Objects thus take on, and project, a new kind of tension - one that extends beyond the person-thing interaction, and into the realms of cosmology, morality and politics.
In “The Propensity of Things,” François Jullien explores the Chinese way of thought that, I think, adds another dimension to objects. For Jullien, objects not only have a certain figure, shape, or configuration, but also a very well considered kind of force, energy or movement, which he terms “propensity.” Jullien guides the reader through Chinese thought with the word, shi, which can mean anything from position to potential. I found it fascinating that its ambivalence has such a distinct purpose. Contrary to Western thought, which emphasizes objective, scientific, and definite terms, the openness through which one can define “shi” is essential to Chinese thought. It took me a while to really grasp what Jullien was trying to convey, and I think I’ll have to read it a few more times to get used to the different kind of thinking. I think that although an object may have its own propensity, there is essentially a person who attributes certain characteristics to that object. It is from that person and that person’s life experiences that bring them to perceive an object as one thing or another. Is Chinese thought unattainable for Westerners?
12 comments:
Just a thought...Apart from what makes the story of Chris and his Crisp, you do have to wonder what preservatives are in this little crisp that has kept it twelve years strong (kind of like McDonald's?) Yikes! {~_~}
Probably the same ingredients that lets twinkies last through a nuclear apocalypse..haha
While thinking about whether objects can have meaning and/or capacity outside of human interactions with them, in relations to the text, it seems like the answer is yes and no and kind of hard to answer. However, if the question was asked in reverse, I think it illuminates interesting things about the text and how to think about an object’s capacity in general. If we think about how much of our subjectivity and identity is comprised of our necessarily relationship with objects, its hard to think about our lives without those objects. Even from the perspective of the most mundane objects, I wouldn’t be the same person without my glasses or without my toothbrush or without the chemicals in my food. If I lived in a more luxurious house, I would have drastically different socio-economic ideas about the world. In the same way, these object’s orientation in the world would be different without human interactions and definitely have no meaning outside of it, in so far as if we’re thinking of meaning as something human-centric. But to isolate either, intellectually, kind of makes this thing almost impossible to think about. Objects will definitely do what they do without people, but its not like we’ll ever have access to whatever that is (unless you think about it as physics question). On other hand, to think of objects has having propensity is radical enough not for the sake of itself but as a lens questioning and rethinking Western ideas of structure and movement/agency/ etc. Jullien’s ideas of propensity is really about thinking differently about the relationship and network between objects and people. Normally, most Western metaphysics assumes people using or controlling objects of the world, for their own ends. But from the perspective of chinese philosophy of shi, objects have their own disposition and for a person to interact with the object, one must think about it’s deposition in order to socialize with it. It’s kind of like socializing with another person. In his example about painting, its not that an artist creates the work of art through utilizing colors, but rather the artist has an understanding of the paints’ capacity to create a certain effect. You can’t mix yellow and blue, and expect to have orange because you want it to. His example about a person navigating through unknown landscape with a compass is an elegant example, because the of space’s capacity to have an irregular structure that would necessitate a person to be at the mercy of the space. I don’t its about having a natural or harmonious or even a completely oppositional relationship with objects, as much as Jullien makes it sounds sometimes. It seems more about opening up the complexities that exists between people and objects, as it does between people.
Hugh wasn’t kidding when he said this reading was dense and difficult! I’m not familiar with most of the writing we discussed as background for the text, so that makes it all the more hard to decipher. The concept of shi being the disposition of objects was the hardest thing for me to understand, even though I understand it means arrangement and not actual disposition. It was interesting to read about the calligraphy and shi, and how the shi is the force “that runs through the letters.” It gives calligraphy more of a defining feature.
In comparison to “In Praise of Shadows”, “The Propensity of Things” explores the notion of things as non-objective things but nonetheless weight heavily upon the way people interact with what is beyond their bodies. Like the shadows Tanizaki praises, “shi” has meaning metaphorically and aesthetically; they are both everywhere and nowhere. Jullien is aware that this Chinese concept of “shi” is intangible in Western thought, but examines the idea of “shi” as another form of understanding philosophy towards ideas of art and war. In comparison to Western thought, “shi” does not strive to be definitive, or a finality. Instead movement of power is circular, communication of philosophy through language both in writing and art is allusive; things are not one thing or another but are understood through the tension between things. The “shi” of something is measured by its breath, or inner life of something. The propensity of things is its disposition to be effective, but effectiveness and power are allusive and invisible, and exists on opposing taxonomies (dynamic/static, separation/tension, visible/invisible, reason/theory, continuity/discontinuity. Outside of things themselves, “shi” itself is a tacit form of knowledge, and a question of how to experience things beyond objective and functional qualities as a inter-dynamic reality .
In The Propensity of Things, François Jullien attempts to describe the concept of shi by explaining its presence in different mediums. In chapters four through seven he describes shi as it is a part of calligraphy, painting, and poetry. He writes, “…shi can be defined overall as the force that runs through the form of the written character and animates it aesthetically” (76). Shi is not tangible, but it is a valued aspect of tangible art forms. It is the determining factor in the success of the work. Shi is meant to be a continuous flow, or a breath that eases in and out of calligraphic script, along the lines of a mountainous landscape, or through poem. It implies effortlessness, and is therefore present in situations of coincidence or connection. It is an invisible fluidity that is naturally a part of things.
Things do not simply mean what humans attribute to them. The entire idea of shi insists that there is a propensity, or a natural inclination within things that should not be tampered with. Shi is something that one should strive to achieve, because this invisible ease and flow is the sense that something is right or meant to be. Jullien argues, “It is crucial to achieve shi because the reality of things only exists- and thus only manifests itself-in a totality, through the force of propensity that links various elements as a whole” (99). The symbolic connection and continuity of things exists because of this energy. Our understanding of what’s whole and genuine is because of this streaming breath.
I was really not impressed with The Propensity of Things upon my initial read through of it. However, after class on Monday and giving it another read through, I definitely appreciate the concept Jullien examines of 'things' needing a certain capacity. In order for objects and/ or things to be assigned value they must possess the capability of having value for x reasons. This idea is really quite intriguing to me and has actually made me re-evaluate the ways which i look at objects of my own and in my more general material world.
In order to dissect the Chinese person’s relationship to the world in which he or she lives, Francois Jullien explains a certain vital aspect of Chinese aesthetics. He describes a life force, or “vital breath” (92), referred to as shi, that pulses within the earth itself, and is extended therefore to that which is on the earth as well. This sort of “magnetic field” (94) is a physical manifestation, and is experienced at the physical level through interaction with nature. When one has learned to understand and have the ability to see this circulating energy, it is only then that one will be able to harness it to one’s advantage, and allow oneself to become a part of it. This, Jullien sites, can be seen easily through various Chinese art forms. Originality, specific presentation of this life force, through thoughtful chaos, well-placed density and sparsity, technique (energetic, having an energetic essence), etc… all comprise the shi in a work.
I think the world perception explicated in this book is incredibly interesting (also that it is likely quite a beautiful book in its original French, or another romance language), because it seems to distinctly differentiate itself from Western ideas about the existence of a divinity. The regulating force described here is experienced tangibly and physically in a way quite distinct to that which we in the West can easily conceive of.
after Hughe's lecture on monday I felt much more welcoming towards 'the propensity of things'. and once I learned that disposition does not mean what I had thought (as I read half the book!) but rather, arrangement, everything became more clear. I suppose my misunderstanding of the term clouded my perception of the text--as I can be flippant towards seemingly vague and I don't know..."spiritual" sounding things if I don't take time to understand them.
I quite enjoyed the chapters on calligraphy and painting. my favorite sentences in chapter 7 are, "...the art of the Chinese painter lies in depicting reality in its unceasing process. The mounting of paintings on scrolls illusrates this most cogently. The scroll 'opens' and 'closes' just like the cyclical process of all reality" (page, 138). Calligraphy and painting are the embodiment of a process; they represent renewal. I love the description of calligraphy and painting as being 'alive'; they are not static. They embody the idea of the thing(s) or word (s) they represent. that essence (can't believe I used the word essence) is physically represented in the brush strokes.
I had trouble truly understanding the overall picture that Jullien was trying to create with "The Propensity of Things". When he was discussing military strategies, I understood that he felt victory should be thought before the war rather than during. I also understood how he felt that there was more depth in both creating caligraphy strokes and the character itself.
When he discussed caligraphy, it made me feel a deeper appreciation for creations and the process of creating them. Caligraphy can be seen as an art rather than writing. I also felt more depth as he discussed that little details make a difference in perception. He emphasizes how a woman with beautiful clothes rather than rags would truly be seen.
Although a lot to grasp onto, in the "The Propensity of things," Jullien utilizes the Chinese concept of Shi in dialogue with meaning we place on things and things as they are arranged to procure the meaning we estimate of them. To this effect, early on in his introduction, he (speaking out of Eastern consideration) for instance, challenges the Western perception that "Instead of always imposing our own long for meaning on reality, let us open ourselves to this immanent force and learn to seize it." [p.13]
I understand the aforementioned in comparison to as if you are in yoga and are told to "empty your mind and body of the day's activity to allow yourself to [just be]." Shi, I believe, is suggestive of that energy, potential,or capacity that fills the cavities of ones being and allows you to rise above the moment in order to fully experience the movements enabled by the conditions fostering them or it (whatever "it" may be).
Moving along in the text, Jullien poses examples of shi actualized in military strategy, as well as in the Chinese arts like calligraphy. In this way, he takes to account form and essentially function contrived through modes of continuous process that is seen as "constantly dynamic because it is self-regulating" [79], and therefore effectual. Shi is the breath, force, opportunity and actualization of things that speak to their propensity or dispositions for depth.
Kat said:
How do we find shi?
Elaine, I really enjoyed your response and would like to use expand on it by using the same point of departure.
We have already looked a little bit at the agency of objects in the context of our other readings, but I think The Propensity of Things reveals new ways that we may understand the sense of their autonomous activity. What I thought to be the most enlightening passage in this section of the text, in terms of this discussion, is in chapter 4 under the heading, "The Force of Form in Calligraphy." Jullien quotes, "'When they discussed calligraphy, the Ancients stressed the paramount importance of shi... Calligraphy is a study that rests on the configuration [of ideograms]. Now, once there is a configuration, there is a potential stemming from that configuration. Strategists ascribed the greatest importance to the positioning [of the troops on the battlefield] and to the potential [born of that disposition]: as soon as one obtains the advantage constituted by that potential [shi], one holds the key to success,'" (76).
Objects can now be seen to have varying types of agency, outside of the Western perspective, of what they ask of people and space in their interactions. An object as a configured "thing" additionally has a wide range of potentialities. They thus have a projected agency in the push and pull of the realm of the conceptual, not only the physical. And, whomsoever harnesses any of those advantageous potentialities "'holds the key to success.'" Objects can now be thought of as active agents in physical action, conceptual thought, and even key events in history that shape futures.
Finally, objects become a portal for the interaction of a person (or people) with the concept of shi. One may now "...'pursue' the shi through the lines [of the object] traced," (77). Viewed this way, an object can be the means through which shi surrounds and acts upon an individual, even if only in a specific instance. Objects thus take on, and project, a new kind of tension - one that extends beyond the person-thing interaction, and into the realms of cosmology, morality and politics.
In “The Propensity of Things,” François Jullien explores the Chinese way of thought that, I think, adds another dimension to objects. For Jullien, objects not only have a certain figure, shape, or configuration, but also a very well considered kind of force, energy or movement, which he terms “propensity.” Jullien guides the reader through Chinese thought with the word, shi, which can mean anything from position to potential. I found it fascinating that its ambivalence has such a distinct purpose. Contrary to Western thought, which emphasizes objective, scientific, and definite terms, the openness through which one can define “shi” is essential to Chinese thought. It took me a while to really grasp what Jullien was trying to convey, and I think I’ll have to read it a few more times to get used to the different kind of thinking. I think that although an object may have its own propensity, there is essentially a person who attributes certain characteristics to that object. It is from that person and that person’s life experiences that bring them to perceive an object as one thing or another. Is Chinese thought unattainable for Westerners?
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