Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

["Karey L. Perkins" <karey AT charter.net>]

Well, if you do figure it out, let me know!   I had a literary theory professor once -- young, largely liberal leftist, Marxist, atheist (as is often found in the academy these days) -- who refused to debate Percy with me, saying, "I would be hostile to your point of view" (since he knew Percy's stance before we even began).  I was sorely disappointed, as I thought his thoughts would inform mine -- especially since we began from different premises.  Either I would discover flaws in my arguments, or new points to consider, or change it slightly or entirely, or, in the end, find it confirmed and strengthened -- or all of the above in some way.  Anyway, perhaps the important consideration here is:  what did Percy think about it?  Didn't he think that the 20th century culture (on the whole) lacked spirituality?  Wasn't that one of his primary messages?

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Jim Wesson

To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 2:04 PM

Subject: Re: [percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts, Largely Unrelated, Based on Previous Discussions and Readings

> defines us.  There are many
> sub-cultures that do so -- I live in Atlanta, and a
> whole lot of my students
> are good ole South Georgia Baptists, firmly viewing
> themselves with a
> meaning, and defining themselves and their place and
> purpose in the world as
> spiritual creatures -- saved by Jesus Christ no less
> -- but this is a
> sub-culture and they have just traveled only 50-100
> miles from their
> hometown to sit side by side in a classroom (and at
> work I suppose as well)
> with others -- the majority I'd say -- who think
> they're living a fairy
> tale.
>
>hi,

 well, i am not religious but you may have this all
wrong and i can not even explain what i mean!
   peace,
   jim
>
>
>
> > Oops -- same message, but Plain Text format this
> time.  I keep forgetting.
> >
> > KP
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Karey L. Perkins
> > To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 12:05 PM
> > Subject: Re: [percy-l] Re: Some Random Thoughts,
> Largely Unrelated, Based
> on
> > Previous Discussions and Readings
> >
> >
> > Aristotle thought the teenagers of his day were
> all going to pot.  An
> essay
> > in Percy's Signposts says more (American) men were
> killed in the Civil War
> > than WWI and WWII put together. On a physical
> level, the 20th century
> wasn't
> > any worse than other centuries... On a material
> level, our lives are
> > terrific (Percy would agree) and far better than
> they have been ever (at
> > least the Northern Hemisphere).   The 9/11 tragedy
> and the wars that are
> > following it are tragedies of course -- but no
> worse than those that came
> > before and actually far less I would say.
> >
> > However, on a spiritual level, we don't know why
> we're here, or who we
> > are -- THIS is what's different about our century.
> >
> > On an ETHICAL level, however, I'd have to say this
> century is no better or
> > worse than any others...  We can still learn to be
> "ethical" in this
> > transient, anonymous, capitalist, postmodern
> society -- ethical implies a
> > statement about our behavior in the physical
> world, and the laws of nature
> > still apply.  I.E.:  If you're lazy and don't
> work, you won't produce and
> > hence you will be fired, become hungry, and become
> motivated to work.  If
> > you're a freeloader, people will know it, resent
> you, abandon you, and
> > you'll soon lose people to freeload off of.  If
> you cheat and lie, you
> will
> > (eventually) be found out.  Enron and WorldCom.
> Being unethical just
> > doesn't work -- in the long run -- and the
> structure of the universe will
> > ensure that we learn our lessons and act ethically
> to succeed, or not
> learn
> > our lessons and fail.  "What doesn't work will
> eventually fail."  There
> are
> > exceptions, of course, but generally our world --
> THE world -- works that
> > way.
> >
> > However, ethics is different from spirituality --
> though the two are
> related
> > more often than not.  Spirituality implies a sense
> of meaning and purpose
> > behind our actions.  Spirituality implies
> something that is transcendent
> of
> > the physical world.  Spirituality implies, esp.
> for Percy, something
> > human -- different from the animals -- and entails
> such concepts and
> > experiences of "joy" and "alienation" and a "soul"
> and a "dark night" and
> > "pattern" and "purpose."
> >
> > In other words, I can act ethically for the
> physical rewards/benefits of
> > that and have no spiritual purpose behind it at
> all (though spirituality
> > usually entails ethical actions).  You referred to
> the "Thanatos
> > Syndrome" -- in it you have the characters
> cavorting about engaging in all
> > sorts of meaningless sexual acts -- it's not that
> that's unethical that is
> > the problem with this -- but that it shows the
> absence of spirituality --
> > there's no meaning or purpose behind what should
> be a spiritual act.  In
> TS,
> > the water is tampered with to make a happy society
> on a physical plane,
> but
> > there's no purpose to the happiness, no
> transcendent meaning related to
> > that.  (In this way, to me, Thanatos Syndrome is
> very closely related to
> > Huxley's Brave New World -- in events and in
> theme.)
> >
> > Huston Smith (best known for his "World Religions"
> work) has a great
> little
> > book, a pretty quick read, called "Beyond the
> Post-Modern Mind" (1989?
> > though that might not be the first edition).  In
> it he says the middle
> ages
> > was an era in which man saw himself as a creature
> of God, as a creature
> with
> > a soul, and his place in the world was determined
> by the state of his soul
> > and relationship with God.  So the middle ages was
> "Man with a soul,"
> which
>
=== message truncated ===


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