On Sat, Apr 01, 2017 at 02:22:07AM -0300, Juan wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 15:54:04 +1100 Zenaan Harkness <zen@freedbms.net> wrote:
On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 09:26:41PM -0700, Razer wrote:
On 03/31/2017 06:36 PM, juan wrote:
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:24:50 -0400 grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
Before the law sits a gatekeeper.
I wonder what he meant by "law" - actually what's the original word in german?
Google translate shows multiple definitions all having legal implications:
Of which word?
gesetz
Cecilia kindly provided the original text here
http://www.cordula.ws/stories/kafkalawde.html
looks like one common meaning/translation as rayzer said would be act/bill, but I don't think that's the one Kafka intended.
The text made me think of somebody wanting to enter "law school" or wanting to become a lawyer but I doubt that's what he meant either.
I suppose the meaning could be cryptic, surreal or...kafkaesque after all.
I hear a prescient observation of externalisation of authority, so severely prevalent today. The Tim May interview you posted is right on topic in this regard - something like "plant your flag way out there, do NOT go and ask your local politician for lawfulness/ permission etc, plant your flag" - with Uber being an example cited. (Aka better to ask forgiveness than permission.) I hold that externalisation of authority by the majority of humans today, is the root cause of most of the ills the world faces. The internalisation of authority has been hijacked by the eternal carrot, the competition for "the most golden cage" ("gotta keep up with the Jones's"), where those who find a space of creativity and insight in spite of our schooling system, are materially rewarded beyond reason and elevated by the media, politicians etc, thereby perpetuating the cycle. To internalise ones authority, without falling on that ever present sword of ego, is the true challenge for individual humans it seems ... sad state of affairs seems to universally result, despite the ultimate higher purpose of these ever present tests for "man". Aiming for something higher than self might be a razor's edge pathway for some. Whether one beholds this as "pursuit of universalism", "God", "The Creator" or some other thought 'of realities beyond self, beyond present limited perceptions, beyond present reality' I don't think matters so much, mainly the forgoing of ego.
The question is - what's the original Kafka word, before it was translated into English - probably need a German speaker/ reader, to find Kafka's original word.
law Recht, Gesetz, Jura, Rechtsordnung, Rechtswissenschaft, Regel
act Akt, Gesetz, Handlung, Tat, Urkunde, Aufzug
bill Rechnung, Gesetz, Gesetzentwurf, Schein, Entwurf
statute Satzung, Statut, Gesetz