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2 - A Two-fold Symbol of Knowledge: Sight in Natural Philosophy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2012

Norman Klassen
Norman Klassen
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Summary

They speken of Alocen, and Vitulon,

And Aristotle, that writen in hir lyves

Of queynte mirours and of perspectives,

As knowen they that han hir bookes herd.

(Chaucer)

Look for the parasite who reestablishes a hathy situation. … Health remains the couple message-noise. Systems work because they do not work. Nonfunctioning remains essential for mtioning. And that can be formalized. Given, two stations and a channel. They exchange messages. If the relation succeeds, if it is perfect, optimum, and immediate; it disappears as a relation If it is there, if it exists, that means that it failed. It is only mediation. Relation is nonrelation. And that is what the parasite is.

(Michel Serres)

Vision in natural philosophy extends the parasitic relationship of hostility and symbiosis between love and knowledge. In Chaucer's Squire's Tale, a knight brings four gifts to the court of Genghis Khan, each of which provokes marvel and considerable debate as to its qualities. Of the brass horse, for instance,

Diverse folk diversely they demed;

As many heddes, as manye wittes ther been. (202–3)

As each gift in turn comes under scrutiny, speculation on its properties touches on various branches of learning. Chaucer parodies a speculative appeal to authorities and theories at the same time as he gives an indication of the smor-gasbord of opinion available in his time. The squire's insistence on recounting the substance of this speculation reflects a narrative style that verges on the interminable: the tale as a whole represents an excess of rhetoric, detail, and learning.

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Chaucer on Love, Knowledge and Sight , pp. 39 - 74
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 1995

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