Marvin Conner Weblog

_An Essay on Man_, Cassirer. Bantam Books, NY, January 1970. Part I: What is Man? Chapter I: The Crisis in Man's Knowledge of Himself. Section 1, pp. 1 – 6. In _An Essay on Man_, Cassirer offers a great deal of guidance that is relevant to our times. Indeed, the recent renaissance of Cassirer studies seems to have occurred precisely because a restatement and deeper understanding of his humanism is desperately needed. I hope to contribute in some small way to this reaffirmation of the importance of his philosophical project with this reading by alternately summarizing the text and relating Cassirer's argument to my understanding of present cultural conditions. As far as is possible, my comments will be separated from the summary by appearing in italics . Cassirer begins with a statement of the generally acknowledged importance of the pursuit of self-knowledge as a guiding philosophical principle. I fear that this may no longer be the case, as this imp

Consciousness is not an unending state of self-congratulation.

    The recent release of the initial results of the investigation into the shooting in Las Vegas confronts us  once again with the senselessness of that act.  As he announced the report’s publication, Sheriff Lombardo  of the LVMPD stated that it “is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question as  to why he did what he did.”  And the report itself matter-of-factly states that “nothing was found to  indicate motive on the part of Paddock”. Thus, in spite of their obvious wish to facilitate some  understanding of that horrendous event, the investigators have been unable to shed any light on the aspect  which, as the sheriff rightly pointed out, troubles us most.       This disappointing lack of a plausible, let alone definitive, motive seems to confirm the point made by  Elif Batuman (“Searching for Motives in Mass Shootings”,The New Yorker, 11/27/17) with regard to the  motives of attackers like Paddock.  She argues that the usual reasons given for moment

    Some months ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop downtown when a gentleman entered in a rather excitable state.  It turned out that his property had been burglarized and, even as he seemed to almost admire the thief’s brazenness, he complained with understandable bitterness about the rising level of crime.  After mentioning his military service in the Middle East, he demonstrated his advocacy for carrying guns by directing attention to the automatic on his hip, but he was surprised by the cool reception his comments received.  Another customer spoke up and said that, although she agreed with him, many people in town still regarded the possession of firearms in public with some disapproval. The gentleman expressed dismay at this critical attitude and encouraged everyone to arm themselves because he was certain that the plague of violence is “headed this way”.     Since that day, I have regretted my failure to engage in that conversation.  The fact that a call to arms was the fi