Falsification, a unifying theme in Paul Valery's "Cahiers"
Description
In Paul Valery's Cahiers, where the investigations and perplexities of the author's daily thought were recorded over a period of fifty-one years, Valery returns again and again to the theme of falsification in connection with almost every subject he explores. Indeed, in his view, falsification is a process not only present but even unavoidable in all human experience. Without it, whether it be conscious or unconscious, man would not be able to cope with the infinite diversity of reality, abstract or concrete In the Introduction of this dissertation, the writer presents an overview of some philosophical and artistic trends relating to Valery's concept of falsification as exhibited in the Cahiers in order to enable the reader to grasp a better understanding of it. Chapter I examines Valery's view of falsification as an essential process in man's perception and representation of the exterior world, of the past, and of dreams. In addition, Valery's reasons for considering language not only as the mind's most important tool, but also as its most considerable source of falsification are studied, as well as his theory that a more mathematical type of language would eliminate many of language's abusive falsifiers. In Chapter II, Valery's arguments against philosophy and religion for their falsity are analysed. Its inevitability in human relationships, including that of the self with the self, as Valery sees it, is investigated in Chapter III. Chapters IV and V deal with literature, history, and art. No literature, except poetry, in Valery's opinion, escapes useless falsification, and thereby qualifies as true art. In conclusion, falsification is something encountered at every turn in Valery's pursuits, acknowledged, and then used advantageously by him in particular ways to intimate and discover progressively reality, which is ultimately inexhaustible