82,891
edits
This page is intentionally left blank: Difference between revisions
This page is intentionally left blank (view source)
Revision as of 23:00, 31 December 2016
, 31 December 2016no edit summary
Amwelladmin (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Amwelladmin (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
Agonising over the writer’s [[mens rea]] obscures the real question: WHO CARES? What difference does it make why the page is blank? It ''is'' blank: that is a brute existential fact<ref>Or would be, had you not written that very thing on the page to contradict yourself. See below.</ref>. | Agonising over the writer’s [[mens rea]] obscures the real question: WHO CARES? What difference does it make why the page is blank? It ''is'' blank: that is a brute existential fact<ref>Or would be, had you not written that very thing on the page to contradict yourself. See below.</ref>. | ||
A [[mediocre lawyer|diligent student]] pipes up from the back: “But, why, can’t you see? | A [[mediocre lawyer|diligent student]] pipes up from the back: “But, why, can’t you see? A blank page is an omission. It is a ''failure'' to say something. A fellow can infringe her neighbour’s rights by omission just as well as she can by action.” | ||
Just so. But the semantic content of an empty page is null. It is neither action not omission, but a formless void. It is inert. It is neither [[alpha]] nor [[omega]], nor anything between. It lacks the divine breath of a creator. It conveys no premise and permits no conclusion of [[any type or kind]]. An ''omission'' to say this or that cannot be imprisoned within the margins of an empty page but is universal, inhabiting every page, however densely entexted, on which that thing is not said; riding every breath upon which the utterance does not pass. | Just so. But the semantic content of an empty page is null. It is neither action not omission, but a formless void. It is inert. It is neither [[alpha]] nor [[omega]], nor anything between. It lacks the divine breath of a creator. It conveys no premise and permits no conclusion of [[any type or kind]]. An ''omission'' to say this or that cannot be imprisoned within the margins of an empty page but is universal, inhabiting every page, however densely entexted, on which that thing is not said; riding every breath upon which the utterance does not pass. | ||