IVIV (0) Title

[Dave Monroe]

On Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 5:18 PM, Dave Monroe<against.the.dave at gmail.com> wrote:

> inherent vice
>
> Hidden defect (or the very nature) of a good or property which of
> itself is the cause of (or contributes to) its deterioration, damage,
> or wastage. Such characteristics or defects make the item an
> unacceptable risk to a carrier or insurer. If the characteristic or
> defect is not visible, and if the carrier or the insurer has not been
> warned of it, neither of them may be liable for any claim arising
> solely out of the inherent vice.
>
> http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/inherent-vice.html
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inherent_Vice

Inherent Vice Title

Like all Pynchon titles, it's hard to know where to start, trying to
gather up all the possible meanings and resonances. But, for openers:

Inherent Vice - as a legal term: "A loss caused by the inherent nature
of the thing insured and not the result of a casualty or external
cause." 'Lectric Law Library

Inherent Vice - as it relates to classic Pynchon themes: compare with
entropy. Everything declines. Everything falls apart. Everything goes
wrong.

Inherent Vice - as an analogy for the Christian doctrine of Original
sin, which says that everyone is born sinful [1]. Indeed this is what
Doc initially believes the phrase to mean when he wonders, "Is that
like original sin?" (IV 351). This theological interpretation raises
the question, 'If vice is inherent, where do we locate virtue?'[2]

Inherent Vice - as a general term: "A defect or cause of loss arising
out of the material itself, such as the acid content in paper which
will eventually destroy the paper." Online Encyclopedia uk defitition

The bit about paper in the above definition is particularly apt, when
we consider all the stuff in Gravity's Rainbow about Slothrop
(Pynchon'n's?) ancestors, paper mills, etc. 'Money, shit, and The
Word' indeed.

There's also the connections between this book and Vineland to factor
in. That earlier book's theme (or one of them) was, reductively, 'what
went wrong?', i.e. how did the 'revolutions' of the Sixties fail? Was
it something inherent to the spirit of those times, and/or inherent to
human nature? Why is it that some people are attracted to Fascism?

Finally (?), a further political dimension which dovetails nicely with
the 'flaws that let us fall for Fascism' question - the phrase was
used by Winston Churchill: "The inherent vice of capitalism is the
unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the
equal sharing of miseries."

http://inherent-vice.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Inherent_Vice_Title