Adventure is an island in life with self-defined boundaries

Evidence

We speak of adventure precisely when continuity with life is thus disregarded on principle—or rather when there is not even any need to disregard it, because we know from the beginning that we have to do with something alien, untouchable, out of the ordinary. The adventure lacks that reciprocal interpenetration with adjacent parts of life which constitutes life-as-a-whole. It is like an island in life which determines its beginning and end according to its own formative powers and not—like the part of a continent—also according to those of adjacent territories. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 466

Categorization

• DEFINE: The island metaphor — sharp boundedness independent of before-and-after — is a vivid explanatory image for the adventure form.
• XREF: connects to: Adventures are remembered as dreamlike and as happening to someone else — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 465; The adventure and the artwork share a self-contained integral form — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 467; Life as a whole can be perceived as an adventure from a higher standpoint — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 473 (+4 more)

Related

• Adventures are remembered as dreamlike and as happening to someone else (similarity 0.86)
• Life as a whole can be perceived as an adventure from a higher standpoint (similarity 0.86)
• The adventure and the artwork share a self-contained integral form (similarity 0.85)
• Religious estrangement from earthly life mirrors the adventure’s fragmentary character (similarity 0.83)
• Adventure as a form of experience belongs essentially to youth, not old age (similarity 0.83)
• Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Life is simultaneously boundless continuity and boundary-determined ego #expands (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 811
• Life as a whole can be perceived as an adventure from a higher standpoint #expands (0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 473
• Anticipatory travel moments produce distinctive joy distinct from daily life #exemplifies (0.65) — Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Death in the Family, 1274
• Religious estrangement from earthly life mirrors the adventure’s fragmentary character #exemplifies (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 474