I feel an almost physical aversion to work at the moment, a sort of gut-grabbing shudder, a squirming desire to RUN OFF. I think I need a break: a total break: two weeks off and not even think about my thesis. Hols are only a very short while away, so I think that what I'll do is this: Read through my current chapter; note down what I intend to do when I come back to it; read the Searle on Chomsky PDF; look for an overview of Functional Grammar; download it in PDF format to print-off and read; do one more basic German instalment tonight and then back up the hard-drive and not look at my stuff again until I get back from abroad. And try not to let my mind stray back onto it for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. Sorted.

Attribution

Of course (it occurs to me) I could easily attribute it all to Divine Providence - both the placing of the rose and any prominence readings I glean from my studies. God meant it to be there! Hey!I'm just a humble observer of Divine Intention! But I think that it would be intellectually dishonest if I don't really believe that.....and I don't. I do wonder if this convenient approach is used to paper over some pretty wide cracks in scholarship, but to me it seems a form of immense arrogance to subborn the Almighty into one's intellectual pursuits.
How can we attribute intention? I think this problem will run and run...

A Rose is a What.......? You Tell me!

I was walking the dog this morning, pondering as I went (I do my best thinking when walking), when I saw a lovely pinky-yellow rose growing out of a garden that was otherwise desolate and unkempt. 'How wonderful' I thought 'to see such beauty amidst such ugliness!' And as soon as I'd thought it, I had to do a mental readjustment. This was me projecting my emotions on to what was a biological accident. It was a random event that caused the rose to grow where it did. It's just a plant that is blindly following its genetic blueprint in a not too inhospitable environment. It just exists. I thought that it looked beautiful, but of what import is my interpretation?

I suppose what emphasised the plant's attractiveness was the contrast that it formed with its surroundings. It stood out by its seemingly unusual placement. But that was completely arbitrary. No authorial hand had placed it there to delight, or draw attention: there was no motive, either conscious or subconscious. It meant nothing: it just was.

I think that this might symbolise what I am finding my greatest sticking point with my thesis on prominence readings in the Pauline epistles. Linguistic data exists, and my eye will be naturally drawn to seek out contrast. But does it mean anything? Am I projecting authorial intention? Does it mean anything? Or is it just there? I seem to be back where I was a year ago, wondering what meaning means. Time for a revisit to Sinn und Bedeutung.....