Philosophy from the Bottom of the Well: The Creative Potential of Misunderstanding Metaphorical Anecdotes

Abstract

Abstract Philosopher Hans Blumenberg’s book Das Lachen der Thrakerin (1987, The Laughter of the Thracian Woman) addresses the various iterations of a single Aesop’s Fable. In the anecdote, a stargazing philosopher stumbles into a well and a maid laughs at his absentmindedness. Blumenberg suggests the various reinterpretations of the anecdote over the millennia reveal each epoch’s attitude towards philosophical endeavour. The work becomes a metanarrative when the laughter directed at diligent scholars is extended to Blumenberg and his readers. For architects, speculating about that laughter offers insights into the indeterminacy of architectural meaning. To demonstrate, this paper deconstructs two anecdotes from architectural discourse to contribute an alternate and nuanced perspective of the relationship between architecture and philosophy. The first anecdote regards a border-crossing from Le Corbusier’s writing, and the second is an epiphany from Charles Jencks. Lastly, this paper considers the creative returns potentially generated for architects through ambiguity and misunderstanding.