Grace again. Misc.

[David Morris]

I love the Ishmael quote. Such a dance of thought.

David Morris

On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 6:06 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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