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the notion of absolutes is an illusion: it rests on one of the grammatical features of a sentence like this one: the words at once refer to themselves (as parts of an utterance) and to a more transcendent sphere simply because they formalize the world as they purport to describe it---because written words operate through generalized meanings---because of the nature of grammatical relations--the proposition "i think x...." is both particular and transcendent.
example: in descartes's proof in the "meditations on first philosophy" and "discourse on method" the argument goes like this: i can doubt that there is a world, doubt everything, but cannot doubt that i am doubting.
cogito blah blah, and i see that this is clear and distinct.
i have within me a notion of perfection
i know that i am an imperfect being
so the notion of perfection must have come from somewhere else.
therefore god.
that perfection can be arrived at by inverting the meaning of imperfection does nto cross his mind.
same kind of problem with the notion of absolutes.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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