Yesterday Mani Matter once again opened his notebook, "in which I have not written anything down for such a long time. While reading the notes from the beginning of this and the last year, I did not feel at all – as one might think – superior to these thoughts, advanced; on the contrary, I regretted having gotten away from the habit of making notes. Afterwards I wanted to write something again, but I noticed that my present thinking does not move at all in Forms that can be written."
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What does writing mean? [⇒ Schreiben]
In any case, it is not an additional effort that one does not have to make in a non-writing state, just as one who is not a mountain climber is relieved of the effort of climbing. It is rather only the orientation of the ordinary mental faculty towards a certain space in which it becomes communicable. I speak of Space because I once heard someone refer to Logos as Space, as the "space of intersubjective understanding." And didn't Heraclitus also call the logos that which is common to all? Thus, the activity of the mind is to be directed towards it. This is, as I said, no additional effort, it is only the liberation, fruitfulness of forces that are already at work. We think anyway, we have to cope with our life spiritually anyway. But if we don't write, we waste our strength, we move in circles, we don't get ahead. Writing and rereading what has been written enables Progress – a move forward (einen Fortschritt).
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[…] So, I'd say "ein Fortschritt" translates to "one step of progress", right?
chat.openai
**No**, "ein Fortschritt" translates to "a progress" or "an advancement" in English. It refers to a move forward, an improvement, or an increase in development. It does not necessarily mean "one step of progress."
[…]
This passage is a complex philosophical argument that seems to be making the point that writing and rereading what has been written is not an additional effort, but rather a liberation and fruitful use of mental faculties that are already at work. It argues that if we don't write, we waste our strength and don't make progress. The use of the term "Fortschritt" in this context reinforces this idea by suggesting that writing and rereading leads to a forward movement or an advancement. The passage appears to be drawing on the idea that Language and Communication (represented by the term "Logos") are crucial to human understanding and that directing our mental faculties towards this space of intersubjective understanding is an important aspect of our spiritual lives. Overall, the passage presents a strong argument for the value of writing and rereading.
DE
Diese Passage ist ein komplexes philosophisches Argument, das darauf hinzuweisen scheint, dass das Schreiben und erneute Lesen des Geschriebenen keine zusätzliche Anstrengung darstellt, sondern vielmehr eine Befreiung und fruchtbare Nutzung der geistigen Fähigkeiten, die bereits am Werk sind. Wenn wir nicht schreiben, verschwenden wir unsere Kräfte und kommen nicht voran. Die Verwendung des Begriffs "Fortschritt" in diesem Zusammenhang unterstreicht diesen Gedanken, indem er suggeriert, dass das Schreiben und Wiederlesen zu einer Vorwärtsbewegung oder einem Fortschritt führt. Die Passage scheint sich auf die Idee zu stützen, dass Sprache und Kommunikation (dargestellt durch den Begriff "Logos") für das menschliche Verstehen entscheidend sind und dass die Ausrichtung unserer geistigen Fähigkeiten auf diesen Raum des intersubjektiven Verstehens ein wichtiger Aspekt unseres geistigen Lebens ist. Insgesamt ist der Text ein starkes Argument für den Wert des Schreibens und Lesens.
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