Hugur - 01.06.2011, Page 46

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Björn Þorsteinsson
Abstract
Nature, Being and the Real: On Rules and Machines in Light of Páll
Skúlason’s “Meditations on the Edgc of Askja”
In his essay “Meditations on the Edge of Askja”, Páll Skúlason raises profound
and intriguing, and classic, ontological questions about the relation between na-
ture and the human being. This article plunges into these issues, referring con-
stantly to Skúlasons text, but also seeking inspiration from Hegel, Lacan and
Zizek. At stake is the dynamics inherent in the Hegelian basic triad of spirit,
nature and the Idea, as well as in the corresponding Lacanian distinction between
the realms of the imaginary, the real and the symbolic. Substantial attention is
given to Skúlason’s double-sided claim that while humankind should believe that
nature obeys a set of rules, it should refrain from depicting nature as a machine.
Towards the end of the paper, Zizek’s brief discussion of Skúlason’s “Meditations”
(in the former’s In defense of lost causes) is tried and tested, and found lacking in its
attempt to attribute a na'ive idealism to Skúlason, whilst the latter’s position can
more accurately be construed as a Hegelian Aufhebung of an idealistic stance on
the one hand and an impotent ‘chaos theory’ on the other hand.