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Sorin Sabou


Letter to the Romans, Nicomachean Ethics, and more

A Humble Grass that Thinks

Human being is just a humble grass, but a grass that thinks. (Pascal)
Most probably that in the West the metaphor of grass applied to humans is taken from the Bible (‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls.’ (1 Peter 1.24) The temporal character of the human existence is the main point of this metaphor.
I believe that Pascal goes beyond this in two ways: on the one hand for him a human is a ‘humble grass,’ and on the other a human is a grass ‘that thinks.’ The attitude and the function of humans are in thus identified. Fragility and temporality are front stage and also the ability to comprehend existence and the surrounding world. The metaphor of grass makes the humans part of the natural world integrating them in the cycle of life.
The abilities to think, relate, and communicate are the most important aspects of me as a person. Without these perhaps I would not be a person.

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