Punctuation & philosophy...
I’m convinced that the decline in punctuation is a big reason why everyone is so insane and schizophrenic now. Punctuation is like the only thing holding our minds together, at the end of the day, and now nobody uses commas anymore, so everyone is insane—thoughts running together, one into the next, with no limits, lines of demarcation, or spots to take a breath.
Punctuation is also an easy—and free—form of generosity to the reader. You use punctuation to give the reader a break, to make things easier for them, and to show that you care about them, somewhat. But even this level of caring is beyond the pale now.
Language now is, I think, mostly viewed as a task, above all—some kind of mere work, a way to accomplish some goal; and punctuation is seen as somehow inefficient, getting in the way of the job to be completed. The decline of punctuation is just another sign of the indifference, even hostility, to humanity that is the defining characteristic of our age…
It’s also a sign of the rise of ends over means—that language is just about achieving an end, achieving some kind of work product, and the means, the language itself, the thing itself, is a matter of total indifference…
Theodor Adorno has written a brief philosophy of punctuation, in the essay “Punctuation Marks” in his book Notes to Literature. He views punctuation as a repository of history itself: “History has left its residue in punctuation marks, and it is history, far more than meaning or grammatical function, that looks out at us, rigidified and trembling slightly, from every mark of punctuation.” Elsewhere in the essay, Adorno calls punctuation marks “friendly spirits whose bodiless presence nourishes the body of language.”
In this way—through history and spirit—punctuation marks are crucial to language. They are not guideposts or appendages to language—they are the scaffolding upon which language relies; and without scaffolding, things collapse, unable to get off the ground…
Language today precisely does not get off the ground—it does not go anywhere, or do anything—it is disconnected from both history and spirit, the two things that language exists to facilitate and serve.
Language without spirit, and without history—this is the situation today. But without spirit and history, language cannot really be called language…there has to be some other word for it…whatever it is, this new demonic entity—language minus history and spirit—is what surrounds us today…