THE KNUCKLEHEAD
'
S GUIDE TO COVENANTAL THEOLOGY
25
But now none of them has a genuine 'place.' Now Ben can freely
move about, anywhere in the 'space,' but only because it doesn't matter,
at all, where in the 'space' he is. By becoming 'free,' Ben has lost any
special 'place' where he 'belongs.' This total loss of 'place' also destroys
any intrinsic relationship Ann, Laya, Ben, and Tim can have to each
other. Since it must never matter where Ben is in the 'space' (so that he
can be 'free'), it must also never matter where he is in relation to any of
the others.
Ann
Tim
Laya Ben
This is we, in the "state of nature" portrayed by some philosophers.
Each of us is 'free,' each of us has the right to move about the 'space' as
he wishes. This does, however, mean that it can't intrinsically matter
where our place is. This is necessarily so, because the new name for
each of us in this formulation is not "many," but "the One." Each one
of us is "the One" -- we are our own place, our own space. No One, no
First Thing, by definition, can have an intrinsic, a necessary,
relationship with anything else. We are each "the One." We are "free."
This reality is inherently atomistic. It consists of some number of
intrinsically unrelated Ones, 'freely' moving about the 'space.'
Paradoxically, we again lose our names. Each one of us still has the
same name, but this time, the single name for every single one of us is
not "many," but "the One." This particular re-naming is this account's
version of "freedom."
One
One
One One
Since there is no 'place' where Ben, or anyone else, is 'supposed' to
be, Ben can move around in the 'space' wherever he wants. However,
there is also no special reason why Ben can't move other beings
around, too. They're not 'supposed' to be any particular place, either, so
why can't Ben move them around if he wants? In this version of the
world, there is no One to which appeal can be addressed, to prevent
Ben from devising the following clever arrangement of beings in the
'space,' if he can get away with it:
many many many
many many Tim
many many many many many many
many Ann many many many many many many
many many many many many
many many many many many many
many many many many many many Laya
This particular arrangement, or at least attempts at it, will no doubt
be familiar to many readers. Some political theories are based on the
belief that Ben will not be able to get away with this plan. Ann, Tim,
and Laya will gang up on him, and prevent it.
N.B. This is an html-ized copy of a page from the pdf file, The Knucklehead's Guide to Covenantal Theology.