The irreplaceable
August 25th 2006 06:19
In "On the beach", the planet is nearly dead from nuclear fallout. Australia is the only living continent (woohoo!). Melbourne is the only living city. Gregory Peck comments, on visiting America, that one of us on this submarine will be the last person alive to see San Francisco.
In "Blade Runner", the dying android's final words are: "I've seen things… seen things you little people wouldn't believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium… I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate… All those moments… they'll be gone."
Jorge Luis Borges writes that with each death, a world is lost.
For any object, there is a person who will be the last to experience it, though they might not know it. And for any person, there are events that he, she alone has experienced, that will never come again. Your world is unique.
And your presence in my world is unique. Roland Barthes, in his own last book, writes: "It is said that mourning, by its gradual labor, slowly erases pain; I could not, I cannot believe this; because for me, time eliminates the emotion of loss (I do not weep), that is all. For the rest, everything has remained motionless. For what I have lost is not a Figure (the Mother), but a being; and not a being, but a quality (a soul): not the indispensable, but the irreplaceable."
In "Blade Runner", the dying android's final words are: "I've seen things… seen things you little people wouldn't believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion bright as magnesium… I rode on the back decks of a blinker and watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate… All those moments… they'll be gone."
Jorge Luis Borges writes that with each death, a world is lost.
For any object, there is a person who will be the last to experience it, though they might not know it. And for any person, there are events that he, she alone has experienced, that will never come again. Your world is unique.
And your presence in my world is unique. Roland Barthes, in his own last book, writes: "It is said that mourning, by its gradual labor, slowly erases pain; I could not, I cannot believe this; because for me, time eliminates the emotion of loss (I do not weep), that is all. For the rest, everything has remained motionless. For what I have lost is not a Figure (the Mother), but a being; and not a being, but a quality (a soul): not the indispensable, but the irreplaceable."
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Comment by Clare
Comment by SexandSydneyCity
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
I've only seen the original black-and-white version. There was also a recent version starring Bryan Brown.
I found the original haunting... Apocalpyse films in general haunt me. Apocalypses give a perspective to life.
And to humanity. After the end of humanity, what is there?
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
I once had a friend who dated a librarian from Sydney Uni. Friend was 18, librarian was 40-something, so why the hell did she do it? Well, it was only a once-off date, but basically, because she checked out a book, and "He looked at me as if he really cared about me." Whereas, I suppose, most people treat most people as objects.
I hope that someday you find Laura.
Comment by jon
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Comment by Adrian
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Would it matter? Well, I'm inclined to think it wouldn't. But some might disagree.
It wouldn't matter if you think things only ever matter in terms of their consequences. So, for instance, pursuing this line you might think that what's importantly wrong with death is the consequences to other people (not the rights violation of the person himself/herself; death is not an injury done to them, because they're not around to complain).
It would matter if for instance you believed, for whatever bizarre reason, in good/bad and right/wrong being inscribed in nature. For instance, GE Moore once asserted that even if there was no one around to experience it, it would be better to create a beautiful world than an ugly one.
Comment by jon
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Comment by Sisi
As for what I think, I believe in a creator, so I think it would matter
Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
This post is mostly quotes of other people, so I can't take credit for the writing. But the compliment is very kind of you.
Comment by Sisi
Comment by Damo
The strange thing about valuing your own life is how it makes you value everyones life, even that of a stranger or an enemy.