Irenic Knowledge
Substituting an irenic (aimed at peace) knowledge for a battle of ideas…marginal, type of violon d’Ingres* (cf, myself and painting: not having the project of being my own Narcissus, it is restful) – in relation to Rousseau on Saint Pierre (Lake of Bienne): inventory of all the plants on the island, roughly: idleness in relation to the “specialization” of the intellectual, [Mr Teste: it is pacifying to classify].
Roland Barthes, The Neutral, 140.
*the painter J.D Inres played the violin as a hobby, hence the expression.