Jelle Groen
A few thoughts on thinking
I.
In “The Arts of Theory” Michel de Certeau reminds us of the Kantian figure of the tightrope walker that functions as a metaphor to theorise the difference between ‘art’ and ‘science’. In his Critique of Judgement Kant clarifies this distinction with the help of this figure:
‘In my region, the common man, when confronted with a problem like that of Columbus and his egg, says That is not an art, it is just a science. I.e., if one knows it, then one can do it; and he says the same thing about all the putative arts of the conjuror. But he would never refuse to call those of the tightrope walker art. (183, emphasis in original)
Art distinguishes itself from science as that “which one does not immediately have the skill to do even if one knows it completely” – the difference between art and science thus framed as a question of “to be able” and “to know” (ibid.). I may be able to know how to walk upon a tightrope, but that does not protect me from falling off.
For De Certeau, who is concerned about the interdependence of theory and practice, of science and art, the tightrope walker is interesting in another way. Precisely the practice of trying to stay on the rope is what is crucial:
‘Dancing on a tightrope requires that one maintain an equilibrium from one moment to the next by recreating it at every step by means of new adjustments; it requires one to maintain a balance that is never permanently acquired; constant readjustment renews the balance while giving the impression of ‘keeping’ it. The art of operating is thus admirably defined, all the more so because in fact the practitioner himself is part of the equilibrium that he modifies without compromising it. In this ability to create a new set on the basis of a pre-existing harmony and to maintain a formal relationship in spite of the variation of the elements, it very closely resembles artistic production. It could be considered the ceaseless creativity of a kind of taste in practical experience. (73)
Retaining an equilibrium between a multitude of elements and on this basis trying to create a new set of elements is what De Certeau calls – a term borrowed from Freud – “a matter of tact” (ibid.). It is precisely this faculty that cannot be simply learned and known, because it situates itself on the border of knowing and doing: it ties together “(moral) freedom, (esthetic) creation, and a (practical) act” (74).
It is on this basis that De Certeau insists upon a new a practice of theory, another art of thinking. Instead of trying to pull everything within the discursive, of making everything that is not part of theory into an element of theory – a method that De Certeau describes as one of “cut-out and turn-over” (62) and one that can be summarised as the attempt to alienate everything non-theoretical into theory – we should rather try to maintain an equilibrium: between art and science, between theory and practice. Even in theory, practice must be enabled to find its way instead of being brutally assaulted and incorporated. In the same way theory must be enabled to find its way into practice. In this way, a new form of thinking arises, one that is “neither [...] scientific discourse, nor [...] a particular technique, nor yet again [...] an artistic expression. It is an art of thinking on which ordinary practices as well as theory depend. Like the tightrope walker’s activity, it has an ethical, esthetic, and practical character” (De Certeau 75). Tact and tactics are the keywords of the new theory.
II.
Let us at this point turn to that other tightrope walker, perhaps the antipode of Kant’s – the one described in Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra:
‘Then, however, something happened that struck every mouth silent and forced all eyes to stare. For in the meantime the tightrope walker had begun his work; he had emerged from a little door and was walking across the rope stretched between two towers, such that it hung suspended over the market place and the people. Just as he was at the midpoint of his way, the little door opened once again and a colorful fellow resembling a jester leaped forth and hurried after the first man with quick steps. “Forward, sloth, smuggler, pale face! Or I’ll tickle you with my heel! What business have you here between the towers? You belong in the tower, you should be locked away in the tower, for you block the way for one who is better than you!” And with each word he came closer and closer to him. But when he was only one step behind him, the terrifying thing occurred that struck every mouth silent and forced all eyes to stare: – he let out a yell like a devil and leaped over the man who was in his way. This man, seeing his rival triumph in this manner, lost his head and the rope. He threw away his pole and plunged into the depths even faster than his pole, like a whirlwind of arms and legs. The market place and the people resembled the sea when a storm charges in: everyone fled apart and into one another, and especially in the spot where the body had to impact. (11)
What to make of this? Nietzsche’s tightrope walker obviously does not possess the tact to retain his stable position when confronted with something that is unexpected and violently new. When the jester appears and mocks the tightrope walker for his apparent sloth and eventually jumps over him, the poor man falls to his death. In his art he was clearly not able to deal with things like these, something that he himself recognises and confides in his dying moments to Zarathustra: “I am not much more than an animal that has been taught to dance by blows and little treats” (ibid.). Although the common interpretation of this passage – one that usually condemns the leap, as if man was something that could be simply overcome, leaped over, by a simple act of will – doesn’t speak well of the jester, the question here is if there isn’t more sense in his leap than that Nietzsche gives it?
But perhaps there isn’t. For the leap can be understood as another metaphor for De Certeau’s ‘cut-out and turn-over’-method, where something is taken out of its natural context and being made to leap into a new one, thereby signifying a clean break. Understood in this way, the leap is the figure for an unwanted mode of thought, both for De Certeau and for Nietzsche. We might therefore do better to concentrate on that other mode of moving that is important for Nietzsche: dancing.
Near the end of the book, Zarathustra tells us about this dancing as a way to the ‘higher men’:
‘But it is better to be foolish with happiness than foolish with unhappiness, better to dance ponderously than to walk lamely. So learn this wisdom from me: even the worst thing has two good reverse sides –
― even the worst thing has good legs for dancing: so learn from me, you higher men, to stand yourself on your right legs!
[...]
You higher men, your worst part is that all of you have not learned to dance as one must dance – dance over and past yourselves! What does it matter that you didn’t turn out well? (239-240)
In this way, dancing can be – as a form of Kantian art – another instance of maintaining a balance at every step – in the most literal form. But for Nietzsche this is not enough – just like the tightrope walker was nothing more than a trained animal, the one who simply dances does not exhaust his possibilities for the fullest. A difference is needed, and not just the keeping and recreating of an equilibrium. Things need to be thoroughly shaken, and that the outcome may not turn out well does not matter at all – at least we’ve tried.
But how do we dance over and past ourselves? Don’t we come very close to the fearful leaping in this way? By trying to dance our way out of the comfort zone into the great unknown? Perhaps, but only when we’re not well prepared: “But this is my teaching; whoever wants to fly someday must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance – one cannot fly one’s way to flight!” (156). So we shouldn’t immediately try to get our feet off the ground, not unless we’ve first learned to exhaust our possibilities with our feet. Then, leaping and flying is not only possible – it is even desirable.
In this way Nietzsche’s conclusion isn’t even that radically different from the form of thought envisaged by De Certeau. The latter’s art of theory – a careful, balancing, and incorporating form of thought – can however only be a starting point for a more Nietzschean mode of thought. In the end, it all comes down to this: Shouldn’t the break, the intervention, the flight, be somehow incorporated in our thought? After the balancing act, after we’ve carefully posited ourselves in the middle of the discursive and the non-discursive, the theory and the practice; it is necessary to make a difference, to throw ourselves into the great unknown – even if the outcome will lead us completely astray. We should never refuse to take the last step, never simply walk, when we can dance – or even fly.
Philippe Petit, Man on Wire (documentary)
Works cited
De Certeau, Michel. “The Arts of Theory.” The Practice of Everyday Life. Trans. Steven Rendall. Berkely: University of California Press, 1984. 61-76.
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of the Power of Judgement. Ed. Paul Guyer. Trans. Paul Guyer, Eric Matthews. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2000.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Ed. Adrian Del Caro, Robert B. Pippin. Trans. Adrian Del Caro. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2006.
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