Since anomie has been brought to the table

[Paul Mackin]

On 1/7/2012 1:25 PM, Ian Livingston wrote:
>> Lack of rule was extended to mean lack of meaning.
> Interesting. Is it rules that shape meaning--in the abstract, I mean?
> Hm. A point to ponder. As this discussion started as discussion of
> acedia, which is more a spiritual funk than an interpersonal malaise,
> as anomie seems to be, I wonder, if there is fertile ground in
> thinking about the two as shadings of one another?
Yes, several ideas seem closely associated.  One is the Christian idea 
of Despair which if voluntary is considered a serious sin. Despair is in 
turn associated with Sloth, one of the seven deadly or cardinal or 
sources of sin(s), the idea that one can voluntarily become too inert to 
continue to hope for the good, the  good of course being eternal 
salvation.  Aquinas spoke of it in Aristotelian terms. It is unnatural 
for the appetite not to seek the good, the unnatural of course being 
sinful by Aquinas's lights.      (something like that, Alice can correct)

I don't know if this latter interpretation has any metaphoric value for 
moderns who no longer hope for resurrection of the body and life 
everlasting but still want to hope in something.  Suicide is often, I 
believe, the result of loss of hope. Hope in anything. For 
super-thoughtful people, the loss of any meaning in life.

This may tie in with Pynchon's young people in Vineland, who despite 
their anti-authority stance still in their heart of hearts needed a 
leader to follow. (if I'm remembering at all accurately--was it Brock?)

Anyway, there may be some deep, ineradicable thing in us that requires a 
ruler or in Durkheim's words a rule, and without one we are thoroughly 
befuddled and lost.

The implications for anarchism I won't dare speculate upon.

P

P
>
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 7:35 AM, Paul Mackin<mackin.paul at verizon.net>  wrote:
>> On 1/7/2012 5:37 AM, Mark Kohut wrote:
>>> Check out the curious wikipedia article on it which Kai first sent.
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie
>>> One curious thing is the "original research' that is, effectively,
>>> literary criticism,
>>> finding anomie as a major theme in many writers and movies......
>>> (Seems a bit loose to me.....The Stranger, yes, Brothers K?, maybe not so
>>> much.)
>>>
>>>   Q: Could describe Benny P.?
>>>   article links it to tourism(?!) in later studies, a motif of V....
>>>     "Durkheim describes anomie as "a rule that is a lack of rule,"
>>> "derangement," and "an insatiable will."[2]
>>> Why "an insatiable will"?..interesting, yes?
>>>
>>>
>> The staff sociologist at the think tank i was at used to use the word to
>> described the psychological state of workers brought about by the
>> meaninglessness of industrial work.
>>
>> Lack of rule was extended to mean lack of meaning.
>>
>> He quoted Durkheim sometimes.
>>
>> P
>>
>> P
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