"charles moyer" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >OK, I see what you mean. How could Nietzsche and I ever have thought that >God wrote in bad Greek? We must have been deluding ourselves. Well, I wasn't really sure whether you believed it or not. (Or whether N. believed it). Literally. Frankly I thought it might be just a little joke. I poked fun at it, but did not intend offense. >Thank you for >correcting us. In a genuine dialectical process, there is no such thing as "correcting"; no such thing as blame toward the person or persons one is conversing with. Each person merely puts forward a statement which will be succeeded at some point by a greater, wider and more expansive viewpoint, a viewpoint which will encompass all that is valid and soundly reasoned. I agree with Hegel on this much at least: The Truth is the Whole. >And you're also right about N's typos. He had only himself >to blame. It would have been hypocritical and foolish of him to make a >perfect superman and then blame this guy for his own errors. For how can >the perfect make a mistake? Right? > This remark reminds me somewhat of Voltaire, and an adapted version of his aphorism, which said something like: "If the Ubermensch did not exist, man would have to invent him." What I find most interesting in the original saying is the word, "IF." >Wei, I'm curious. Assuming we all did finally agree with you and gave you >the assignment, what would you do with Pound's works? Agree with me about what exactly? Agree with which specific statement I have made? Presumably you might agree with some statements I have made, and disagree with others. And who is "we"? I assume each individual person might disagree with me on some points and agree with me on others. >I assume you would >not want to destroy them, not after we have seen all those filmclips of the >Nazis burning books. You assume correctly. However, while we are on the subject of censorship and Pound, is Pound the only major modern author who has sanctioned and agreed with censorship? Did he ever denounce or disagree with the Nazi book burning you mention? Of course, he did not want his own works censored. (He complained, we know, to Mussolini that one of his publishers censored a passage critical of Rothschild in the Cantos; however did he ever complain to Mussolini about the Italian fascist censorship policies? I don't think so). When the issue of censorship comes up in relation to Pound, I always wonder why he appeared so fond of Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China, who buried hundreds of scholars alive. A rather strange figure for a poet to eulogize. Even the current communist leadership in China (not known for their leniency when it comes to freedom of expression) condemn Qin Shihuangdi for having gone too far. >But would you have a government warning label put on >them? Not necessary. Are you concerned that someone might want to put such a warning on his works. Has anyone tried to ban Pound's work during the post-war era? I don't know of anyone who would take such an idea seriously. Do you? >Or would you make it a requirement to >swear some type of oath in order to gain access? In China's largest library (in Beijing) you have to fill out forms to read various books which might be deemed subversive. For instance, you can read Trotsky (in French translation only), if you fill out the proper form. Anyone who wants to should be allowed to read anything they like in a society which claims to be modern. Let people themselves make their own judgments about what they want to read. I am a bit surprised that you consider the following notion: When a person puts forward arguments about a work which could cast it in an unfavorable light, that means the person wants to censor or ban the work. If that were the case, and such people had their way, we would be able to read precious little. A more interesting question for this list might be "What was Pound's attitude toward the censorship of works he did not approve of . . . , or When Pound gave his support to dictators and strong men (even in his late years he expressed fondness for Franco) how did he feel about their censorship policies? Regards, Wei ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com