azzazza, based on what you're saying, is looking forward to things an impediment to lasting inner peace? Because although I've mastered to some degree the art of not mistaking a material want for a need, I find it very hard to live an enjoyable life without looking forward to what events and epic adventures may come.
no, not neccesarily (at least according to Levinas). it depends how this looking forward is filled in. or rather, not filled in. its not an impediment if you leave room for the Other and accept otherness as the a priori. the future should remain as an infinite 'not yet'; that is: not a product of your 'design', or project, but a 'feeling your way in the dark'. the subject 'vaguens' in it, there are no forms in this night that he may 'grasp' and is thrown back unto itself, but it does
not dissappear,
as a subject.
in concreto that would mean there is nothing 'wrong' with dreaming as long as you do not take it as more as a dream. sort of a weak 'proposition' or 'entertaining thought' to your own future which is a priori other to yourself, but of which you are able to completely let go of and forget, just like a dream or an illusion. enjoy it, but take it for what it is. these things
may very well influence your future, but don't force them to, or you will be at least somewhat disappointed somewhere.
(but not to the extent that it would 'ruin' your fun, should one choose to turn away from it). its only a very weak 'appèl' (french for a 'calling'), in Levinas' words, but, it is nonetheless an
ethical choice. it means to turn your being to something different then ones own being/pleasing ones own being in the face of another, namely, to actually turn to an
other being; and not insofar as 'it' can be dragged back to ones own.
Talking to yourself is a sign of mental illness.
i think we're all at least a bit mentally ill then. if not completely bonkers. don't be to hasty dismissing the thought. when you talk to someone else, you are also talking to yourself as you hear your own words. when someone else talks to you,
you talk
your words in his voice in yourself. you do not speak his words inside yourself, he speaks yours (to quote Merleau-Ponty). nuances, feeling associated with the same words differ for every person. a man who becomes deaf quickly becomes mute as well.
i ment what you will probably be itimately acquainted with as 'internal monologue' or the internal you as you know yourself. this is not about splitting the you of which you are aware in two entities you are aware of. what it means is that there is a fundamental distinction to be made between the you that talks/knows and the you that registers that to itself. it is called reflection or self-awareness. in its deepest intimacy, the subject is an other to himself, which is his essence as sub-jectum. underneath the foundation of 'you yourself' as you
know yourself is a radical otherness to this 'you'; that, by its very nature, resists all 'bringing to light' that is knowing. this is a purely/absolute passive principle that has no content other then its own pure 'otherness' to whatever it reflects.
yes yes, tales from the deep end.
thank you all for the kind words