Inquired Of

W. is continually turning over in his mind something Rosenzweig wrote to Meinecke:

Cognition no longer appeals to me as an end in itself. Whereas the questions asked by human beings have become increasingly important to me. This is precisely what I mean by 'cognition and knowledge as a service': a readiness to confront such questions, to answer them as best I can out of my limited knowledge and my even slighter ability. You will now be able to understand what keeps me away from the university …

This is why Rosenzweig abandoned academia, W. says. He was looking for another kind of speech. He was looking to be interrupted. Henceforward, he said, he would only inquire when he found himself inquired of, that's what he said. And inquired of by people, ordinary people rather than scholars.

Ah, have we ever been inquired of?, W. says. Would we know what it meant? Interrupt me!, he cries. Go on, say something!