Grace again. Misc.

[Mark Kohut]

On free will. Ishmael:
"Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the
Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others
were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy
parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces – though I cannot tell
why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think
I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly
presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing
the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice
resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment."

There's this anecdote I've always liked re this 'scientific' question.
William James had a young man crisis of mind, a 'depression'
that immobilized him, at least mentally, for awhile, over whether he/we had
free will or all was determinism all the way down. He reported that he got
out of it by self-declaring that his first act of free will will be
believing in it.

I debated whether to post this since it is not really Pynchon-related, but
I had to anyway.

On Sat, Jul 29, 2017 at 5:16 PM, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at gmail.com> wrote:

> In the way back, Pelagius (St Agustine's antagonist) thought we didn't
> need Grace--that our free will was sufficient to overcome sin. So, the
> opposite of Grace is Free Will.  Which science now says doesn't exist.
>
> On Sat, Jul 29, 2017 at 4:03 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From the wayback (but eternal?) religious uses, the opposite might be
>> damnation.
>>
>> What might it be in Pynchon's transformation of the meaning of the word?
>>
>> On Sat, Jul 29, 2017 at 3:28 PM, Jochen Stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> You are the native speaker, Mark, but I would say it's bullshit if you
>>> don't provide context. What kind of grace? You have disgrace, you have
>>> clumsiness, I'm sure you have more opposites of grace.
>>>
>>> 2017-07-29 21:11 GMT+02:00 Erik T. Burns <eburns at gmail.com>:
>>>
>>>> I suggest "trump"
>>>> ------------------------------
>>>> From: Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>>>> Sent: ‎7/‎29/‎2017 20:06
>>>> To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>>> Subject: Grace again. Misc.
>>>>
>>>> Gracelessness is an absence of grace, but the English language lacks a
>>>> word for the opposite of grace.--Cass Sunstein, very recent essay.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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