Monday, November 23, 2009

Village and Forest



"The 'village' is a society that Bergson describes as closed, comparable to a group of animals Static and inalterable, the closed society goes about regulating communal life by obeying moral constraints. The 'forest', on the other hand, is an 'open' society, transformed by the vital impetus, obeying nothing, distracted by newness, and dispersing the group by breaking its social cohesion. These two extremes emanate from a common origin; the strength of belonging and of life in society on one hand, the freedom of the forest, the mystical impetus on the other hand. On the one side time, on the other side rupture."
- Introduction to “Syncope: The Philosophy of Rapture” by Catherine Clément pxiv (1994)

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