Thanatos Syndrome

A.E. Manier Sr. (A.E.Manier.1@ND.EDU)
Fri, 28 Feb 1997 13:22:54 -0500

I've just finished going through The Thanatos Syndrome and Peter Kramer's
Listening to Prozac with a nice bright group of undergraduate students.

I think Kramer and Percy are well matched on the plane of ethical
discussion. Kramer understands Fr. Simon Smith's craziest indictment of
the Qualitarian ethos, "tenderness leads to the gas chambers," perfectly
well. The issue is a matter well contained within the framework of
contemporary secular ethics and does not require heroic efforts by a knight
of faith.

Fr. Simon charges Qualitarianism with the oldest consequentialist offense
against the central deontological principle: "never treat a human being as
a means to an end."

Comeaux and van Dorn sacrifice the dignity of the individual to promote
"the greater good of the greater number" and a "quality of life" that
obliterates the plane of ethical judgment by "blasting the neocortex" in
two directions at once. Back to pongid forms of sexuality and over some
rainbow to a computerized form of cognitive processing. What is
distinctively human is annhilated for the sake of social order.

What is distinctively human? The capacity for meaningful inter-personal
conversation.

I know Fr. Simon is a priest and I understand his confession. I
understand the prayers at the foot of the alter. I just can't see an
expression of religious faith in the novel's essential tension.

Can any of you corroborate or correct that reading?

Ez Ed

A. Edward Manier, Professor
Philosophy & History and Philosophy of Science
Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values
314 Decio
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556

(o) 219-631-6520
FAX 219-631-8209
Dept 219-631-6471
http://www.nd.edu/~amanier/index.html