[percy-l] Contra Gentiles?

RHONDA MCDONNELL rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com
Tue Aug 26 20:41:57 EDT 2003


Thanks for the info, Jonathan.


>From: "Jonathan Potter" <jdp at scn.org>
>Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" 
><percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" 
><percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>Subject: Re: [percy-l] Contra Gentiles?
>Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 19:38:44 -0700
>
>I had a brief conversation with Walker Percy in November of 1989.  When I
>asked him what he was working on, he said it was a journal he had kept
>during lent and that he was going to borrow the title from Aquinas' "Summa
>Contra Gentiles."  He added wryly that his publisher was opposed to the
>title because  people wd be confused and think it was about the Nicaraguan
>contras.
>
>I also visited the Chapel Hill archives in 2000 and didn't see it 
>referenced
>in the inventory.  It seems to me the Samway biography mentions it.  Since
>Samway edited Signposts in Strange Land, I wd suspect he also has (or had)
>access to the Contra Gentiles ms as well.
>
>Jonathan Potter
>Spokane, WA
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "RHONDA MCDONNELL" <rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com>
>To: <percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
>Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 5:46 PM
>Subject: Re: [percy-l] Contra Gentiles?
>
>
> > Thanks for the vote of confidence, Karey, but I don't have much to add.
> > While I think Dr. Ketner is right--the sum of the parts = contra 
>gentiles,
> > it also seems that he was working on it actively. If I remember 
>correctly,
> > reference to the project appears both in  correspondence to Ketner and 
>in
> > his correspondence with Shelby Foote.   But that doesn't mean that he 
>had
> > anything down on paper.  I'm hoping to get to the Chapel Hill archives 
>and
> > see what may be revealed, if anything.  What little I've picked up from
> > reading the correspondence seems to indicate that he was planning on a
> > Christian apologetic for the post-Christian world.   In other words, a
>LOST
> > IN THE COSMOS type of project (remember his working title for that one 
>was
> > NOVUM ORGANON, if I remember correctly).  Not to beat that dead mule, 
>but
> > that's the primary reason I see him as reaching beyond the post-Modern
> > vision toward some future that has yet to be glimpsed.  But we'll see if
>my
> > research bears that out.
> >
> > Sorry Mike, not too much enlightenment from these quarters.
> >
> > Rhonda
> >
> >
> > >From: "Karey L. Perkins" <karey at charter.net>
> > >Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> > ><percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
> > >To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion"
> > ><percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org>
> > >Subject: Re: [percy-l] Contra Gentiles?
> > >Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 17:25:20 -0400
> > >
> > >I think Rhonda would be a great person to ask about that -- she seems 
>to
> > >have gone far in her research in that area --
> > >
> > >KP
> > >
> > >
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: Mike Frentz
> > >To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion
> > >Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 10:24 PM
> > >Subject: [percy-l] Contra Gentiles?
> > >
> > >
> > >Does anybody happen to know how far Percy got on his Contra Gentiles,
> > >which, if I remember correctly was a defense of the Church somehow
>aligned
> > >with Peirce's principles, based on the model of Aquinas?  Any record of
>it
> > >after his death?  Does the manuscript exist in his papers, perhaps?  
>Just
> > >curious if anyone in this august group knows anything about it.
> > >
> > >(actually, the SUDDEN SILENCE has been killing me on this list..  
>Hoping
> > >the big one (sobig etc..) didn't do us in.  Figured this was better 
>than
>a
> > >"TEST" message  :-)
> > >
> > >Mike
> > >
> > >--
> > >
> > >An archive of all list discussion is available at
> > >http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail
> > >
> > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
> > >--
> > >
> > >An archive of all list discussion is available at
> > >http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail
> > >
> > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Enter for your chance to IM with Bon Jovi, Seal, Bow Wow, or Mary J 
>Blige
> > using MSN Messenger http://entertainment.msn.com/imastar
> >
> > --
> >
> > An archive of all list discussion is available at
>http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail
> >
> > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
> >
>
>--
>
>An archive of all list discussion is available at 
>http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/hypermail
>
>Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy

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