Claude Levi-Strauss (Obituary): Philosophy Forums

Claude Levi-Strauss (Obituary)
another nail in the coffin of 20th century thought

Claude Levi-Strauss (Obituary)

180 Proof
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Posted 11/03/09 - 10:44 AM: Subject: Claude Levi-Strauss (Obituary)	#1
Anthropologists Claude Levi-Strauss, who applied structuralism to real world situations and problem-solving, dies at age 100. NY Times Obituary is here. His Tristes Tropiques was a revelation to me nearly thirty years ago that has taught me how to travel without being a 'tourist'. Edited by 180 Proof on 11/03/09 - 10:51 AM. Reason: Bricolage ...
The question isn't "Which explanations do I believe?" but rather "Which explanations do I least disbelieve?" Absence of evidence THAT MUST BE THERE (i.e. implied by any claim, concept, or (its) predicates, that affects changes in/to the world) entails evidence of absence. [What cannot be done?[What cannot be hoped?[What cannot be known?]]]

rigelrover
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Posted 11/03/09 - 12:32 PM:	#2
Thanks for this 180. I hadn't heard of him (directly), and am glad that I have now.
I am more interested in questions than answers; dialog than dictation. If we can reasonably believe that there is not just a breach, but a fundamentally unclosable gap between the individual mind and the ultimate nature of the reality; the primordial thing in itself, then 'true' mystery does exist.

coolazice
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Posted 11/04/09 - 04:55 AM:	#3
Yeah, I feel the same way. I am just now finishing an undergraduate degree with a major in anthropology. It is all largely because of Tristes Tropiques. Reading it felt like my head getting blown open and a whole lot of fresh air coming in. I couldn't really sum up why I find it so amazing - it seems to work profound insights on multiple levels. It works outside all the genres. And, I also have to say, it does for me what many works of philosophy have failed to do: to provide me with inspiring lucidity. Edited by coolazice on 11/04/09 - 05:10 AM
One of the greatest weaknesses in human nature is to be dogmatic about issues of which we are ignorant. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio/Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

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