Nor let yourself by usual habit follow this path bound by a random-moving eye, a ringing in the ear, and a tongue, decide but reckon the much-contested argument.
μηδέ σ᾽ ἔθος πολύπειρον ὁδὸν κατὰ τήνδε βιάσθω νωμα̂ν ἄσκοπον ὄμμα καὶ ἠχήεσσαν ἀκουὴν καὶ γλω̂σσαν, κρι̂ναι δὲ λόγῳ πολύδηριν ἔλεγχον.
Parmenides, Diogenes Laertius, Book IX, 6
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November 29, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Hypatia Callisto
Our senses do not let us perceive the world as it is, but as it seems to be.
November 30, 2010 at 2:32 am
Hypatia Callisto
Seeming is not illusion. It is the evident, as opposed to the non-evident. Illusion is just one category, the better term is “appearances”. Appearances are not always what they seem.
Contemplate the Diamond Sutra:
“So I say to you –
This is how to contemplate our conditioned existence in this fleeting world:”
“Like a tiny drop of dew, or a bubble floating in a stream;
Like a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
Or a flickering lamp, an illusion, a phantom, or a dream.”
“So is all conditioned existence to be seen.”
Thus spoke Buddha.
November 30, 2010 at 2:47 am
Hypatia Callisto
I love this first foray into translating. I really can feel the Homeric metaphors in Parmenides. λόγω I translated as “reckon”, rather than reason, because it recalls more closely Odysseus and his wandering, the way navigators would find their way in days of old. (the word is literally saying “tale” or “story” … not logic! David Gallop describes Parmenides’ words as perverse with double meanings, really reminds me of a Zen koan) It also captures that wiley mêtis (persuasion) that Odysseus had. It is a strong indication that it refers to the poets, NOT to reformers like Xenophanes.
November 30, 2010 at 3:12 am
Hypatia Callisto
κρι̂ναι is a tricky word. Literally it means “separate” which is the case with the poem, how the way of Truth and the Way of Seeming are separated. (think of cutting) I’m still not sure if I should use separate or decide. The word has a double meaning. In earlier parts of the poem, Parmenides’ Goddess is clearly a monist, so I can’t imagine that she would insist on dualism. However, I prefer to think here she is referring to the whole of reality, and that the way of seeming is merely the bit we can perceive. Deciding is a way of “cutting” so I used decide instead. It fits with the context, as the Goddess is referring to her argument in the Way of Seeming, here.
November 30, 2010 at 9:51 am
Hypatia Callisto
I see clear now. Decision – teleological reasoning – all the arts necessary to work your way to a goal (which I handled in is/ought, dealing with the aesthetic senses)
Reckoning – (logos) all the arts necessary to navigate to your destination. (this includes mathematics, sometimes translated as logic (but I think that’s wrong in this context – logic was invented by Aristotle and the word would be mistaken for analytics, and that is clearly anachronism) or more properly maybe computation, but seems to be broader to a general “mêtis” sense – whatever it takes to get home, as with Odysseus – with a practical aesthetic bent – and still goal directed. Just all the arts, maybe.)
December 1, 2010 at 4:46 am
Hypatia Callisto
a ringing in the ear – tinnitus, but also a criticism likely of the Pythagoreans who theorized on sound.
a random-moving eye? unsure but I wouldn’t put Heraclitus out of the picture.
another quote to follow up that it may be replying to could be Xenophanes: The substance of God is spherical, in no way resembling man. He is all eye and all ear, but does not breathe; he is the totality of mind and thought, and is eternal.
edit: very certain the passage is referring to the Sirens now. But it may still be a critique of all of the above at the same time. Clever clever wording!
December 1, 2010 at 10:06 am
Hypatia Callisto
Timon is quoted in DL about Parmenides “And the strength of high-souled Parmenides, of no diverse opinions, who introduced thought instead of imagination’s deceit.” really should be translated. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0258%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D3 It was a strong clue to how I translated this passage.
December 1, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Hypatia Callisto
I changed constrained to “bound” It is clear to me now that this passage is recalling the episode of Odysseus and the Sirens, when he tied himself to the mast to hear their call while he stuffed up the ears of his other shipmates with wax. However it is not the same passage, it is merely evoking the story. “Ringing” is still right – its a clear reference to tinnitus, and possibly a pointed jab at Pythagoreans. (especially the “akousmatikoi”) The Goddess is saying to use everything at your disposal, don’t just remain bound to the mast, you also have to be like the shipmates who refused to hear the Sirens call. She is both affirming and distrusting the senses. “Trust but verify” with a strong sense of “follow your gut instinct”
December 1, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Hypatia Callisto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_integration … note that reckoning is both a rational and instinctive process.
December 2, 2010 at 2:07 am
Hypatia Callisto
Now I know the Goddess is instructing us to decide and reckon our way through the Way of Seeming.
December 5, 2010 at 6:36 am
Hypatia Callisto
Ack. You know, there’s another allusion here. The gaping gap that Parmenides has to fly over to get to the Goddess in the opening proem.
December 6, 2010 at 8:41 am
Hypatia Callisto
Thwacks myself in the head with Heraclitus’ saying “Yet although the Logos is common, most men live as if they had their own private understanding.”
December 6, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Hypatia Callisto
I think this is why so many of Plato’s dialogues do not end with any clear resolution. The reader is supposed to consider the whole dialogue and make their own decision.
December 13, 2010 at 4:22 am
Parmenides of Elea | Best Philosophy Books
[...] Parmenides on Decision and Reckoning « avocatio virtualis – I really can feel the Homeric metaphors in Parmenides. λόγω I translated as “reckon”, rather than reason, because it recalls more closely Odysseus and his wandering, the way navigators would find their way in days of old. … [...]
January 6, 2011 at 5:14 am
Hypatia Callisto
νωμᾶν – the word “let” is likely a pun on “flow”
January 7, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Hypatia Callisto
“nor” is more elegant in English, but in the Greek μηδέ is a compound word that would be literally translated as “But not”. μη is not, δέ is but.
January 7, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Hypatia Callisto
also, I put this translation of this portion of Parmenides’s poem into the public domain. It is free to copy and distribute, print and whatever. I don’t care if its sold in a collection of quotations, I only stress that you can’t claim copyright in it either. The original poem is over 2500 years old, so I think it’s more than passed into the public domain, and its subject matter is too important to allow to be obscured by such short term interests. This poem is partially responsible for the world we live in, the least we can do is preserve that which brought its existence about.