10-07-2021, 10:49 PM
That's a very interesting remark. I certainly agree that the VM is marked by a number of absences or scarcities. I don't know enough yet about the apophatic tradition though. I know one can make apophatic statements, like how God cannot be perceived or conceived in one's mind.
But which kind of apophatic drive would motivate something like the VM? (This question is out of curiosity, not a dismissal).
And how would that connect to avoiding certain other things as well? Scarcity of men, of clothes, of weapons or other recognizable utensils, of furniture...
The glyph set can be expressed in negative terms as well. They are almost all found in Latin manuscripts, but only a minority are letters of the alphabet. Most of the glyphs are (in appearance!) numerals, abbreviations, ligatures... Interestingly, letters from the alphabet that are included are "a" and "o". If one is philosophically concerned with the question "what can we say about God?" then "he is the alpha and the omega" is surely one of the allowed answers.
But which kind of apophatic drive would motivate something like the VM? (This question is out of curiosity, not a dismissal).
And how would that connect to avoiding certain other things as well? Scarcity of men, of clothes, of weapons or other recognizable utensils, of furniture...
The glyph set can be expressed in negative terms as well. They are almost all found in Latin manuscripts, but only a minority are letters of the alphabet. Most of the glyphs are (in appearance!) numerals, abbreviations, ligatures... Interestingly, letters from the alphabet that are included are "a" and "o". If one is philosophically concerned with the question "what can we say about God?" then "he is the alpha and the omega" is surely one of the allowed answers.