From bazburns at hotmail.com Wed Nov 2 19:04:22 2005 From: bazburns at hotmail.com (Basil David Burns) Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2005 00:04:22 +0000 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From KMitch2626 at aol.com Thu Nov 3 00:04:29 2005 From: KMitch2626 at aol.com (KMitch2626 at aol.com) Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 00:04:29 EST Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Message-ID: <1c0.34e7911b.309af45d@aol.com> Father Burns, I once attempted such a project. But to make a very long story short, after many committee changes, life problems, and several rewrites, i ultimately put my dissertation aside and started a new life outside of academia. My only regret is that my work would have been a perfect resource for persons such as your self. Towards the end of my work i found all of Ketner's writing to be the most helpful on the subject. (even kinda had him on my committee at one time). I still have the roiginal abstract, although it doesnt quite capture where i ended up. I'll send you that at the bottom of this text. I'll also try to dig through some of my disks and see if there is any info i can share with you and others interested on the listserve. I lost a lot of my work due to a hard drive failure. but i think i still have some of the rough drafts of some of the capters lying around. if nothing else, they could give you some ideas and some good references to look at. Much of the philosophical work at the time, only dealt with Percy and Keirkegaard. Mine focused more on Peirce and Percy. Its definitely a project that needs to be done. However, i'm not in a spot right now to finish it. Also, I think if i ever were to try such a thing again, I'd simply revise/rewrite Lost in the cosmos. Bring it up to date, and change some of the stuff in the semioitc primer section. Let me see what if anything i can dig up for you, if you and others are interested. somewhere lost in the cosmos, ken mitchell DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Along with the rise of the natural sciences, there has been an increasing attempt to apply empirical methodologies to the study of human beings. This scientific approach has generated a wealth of fruitful insights into human nature and the workings of the human body. However, there has been a long-standing debate within philosophy over the limits and applicability of empirical methodologies to the study of human beings. Many philosophers have argued, and I think quite convincingly, that scientific approaches yield necessary but not sufficient explanations and understandings of human activity. Instead, they suggest the need to implement a plurality of methodological approaches to persons. Hermeneutics, phenomenology, and narrative for example, are just some of the varying methods that philosophers are increasingly turning towards to study the self. Walker Percy, perhaps best known for his fiction, developed in his philosophical writings a philosophy of the self which addresses these issues. He develops a non-Cartesian, semiotic account of the self which critiques empirical and reductionistic approaches to the self, and sets forth a theoretical foundation for the use of other methodologies, especially narrative. Percy's theory emphasizes the constitutive role of language in the formation of the self, along with the self's intersubjective and narrative structure. His theory is especially interesting in that it is built upon the metaphysics, epistemology, and semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, which until recently, have been seen by many Peirce scholars as philosophically inadequate for building a useful theory of subjectivity. My dissertation first explicates the elements of Peirce's philosophy that Percy employs, and then presents a systematic account of how Percy uses these elements to construct a semiotic account of the self. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From padraig at well.com Thu Nov 3 00:34:55 2005 From: padraig at well.com (Patrick Lynch) Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 21:34:55 -0800 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? In-Reply-To: <1c0.34e7911b.309af45d@aol.com> References: <1c0.34e7911b.309af45d@aol.com> Message-ID: <9177757A-1385-4F20-9A3C-656DB4D57D0E@well.com> How kind of you to share this and your process. Share what's comfortable. Patrick On Nov 2, 2005, at 9:04 PM, KMitch2626 at aol.com wrote: > Father Burns, > > I once attempted such a project. But to make a very long story > short, after many committee changes, life problems, and several > rewrites, i ultimately put my dissertation aside and started a new > life outside of academia. My only regret is that my work would have > been a perfect resource for persons such as your self. Towards the > end of my work i found all of Ketner's writing to be the most > helpful on the subject. (even kinda had him on my committee at one > time). I still have the roiginal abstract, although it doesnt quite > capture where i ended up. I'll send you that at the bottom of this > text. I'll also try to dig through some of my disks and see if > there is any info i can share with you and others interested on the > listserve. I lost a lot of my work due to a hard drive failure. but > i think i still have some of the rough drafts of some of the > capters lying around. if nothing else, they could give you some > ideas and some good references to look at. Much of the > philosophical work at the time, only dealt with Percy and > Keirkegaard. Mine focused more on Peirce and Percy. Its definitely > a project that needs to be done. However, i'm not in a spot right > now to finish it. Also, I think if i ever were to try such a thing > again, I'd simply revise/rewrite Lost in the cosmos. Bring it up to > date, and change some of the stuff in the semioitc primer section. > Let me see what if anything i can dig up for you, if you and others > are interested. > > somewhere lost in the cosmos, > ken mitchell > DISSERTATION ABSTRACT > Along with the rise of the natural sciences, there has been an > increasing attempt to apply empirical methodologies to the study of > human beings. This scientific approach has generated a wealth of > fruitful insights into human nature and the workings of the > human body. However, there has been a long-standing debate within > philosophy over the limits and applicability of empirical > methodologies to the study of human beings. Many philosophers have > argued, and I think quite convincingly, that scientific approaches > yield necessary but not sufficient explanations and understandings > of human activity. Instead, they suggest the need to implement a > plurality of methodological approaches to persons. Hermeneutics, > phenomenology, and narrative for example, are just some of the > varying methods that philosophers are increasingly turning towards > to study the self. Walker Percy, perhaps best known for his > fiction, developed in his philosophical writings a philosophy of > the self which addresses these issues. He develops a non- > Cartesian, semiotic account of the self which critiques empirical > and reductionistic approaches to the self, and sets forth a > theoretical foundation for the use of other methodologies, > especially narrative. Percy's theory emphasizes the constitutive > role of language in the formation of the self, along with the > self's intersubjective and narrative structure. His theory is > especially interesting in that it is built upon the metaphysics, > epistemology, and semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, which until > recently, have been seen by many Peirce scholars as > philosophically inadequate for building a useful theory of > subjectivity. My dissertation first explicates the elements of > Peirce's philosophy that Percy employs, and then presents a > systematic account of how Percy uses these elements to construct a > semiotic account of the self. > -- > An archive of all list discussion is available at http:// > lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sldye at bluegrass.org Thu Nov 3 13:35:03 2005 From: sldye at bluegrass.org (Dye, Steve) Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 13:35:03 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Message-ID: <74C25147FD45F644AAB363F7A432E5F53DBC4E@KingKong.Bluegrass.Board> I have made the pilgrammage to visit Percy's grave at St. Joseph Abbey. Beautiful setting. In fact, such an "understated" setting we had some difficulty even locating his grave. Perfect for Percy. -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Basil David Burns Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 7:04 PM To: Percy-L at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Dear Percy-lover-list-servers, I just wanted t0 introduce myself to the list, and perhaps spark some discussion. My name is Fr. Basil Burns, O.S.B., and I am a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Dallas. Dr. Percy is, quite literally, "buried in my backyard." I am a monk of St. Joseph Abbey in Covington where he used to take retreats, though I entered the monastery too late to ever know him personally. I know his wife, and am friends with his grandson, John Walker. I spent a year living with the family of Dr. Russell Kirk, the critic and historian, and he always spoke very highly of Dr. Percy. I am considering writing a dissertation on Walker Percy's philosophy of language, and its particular relationship with find the "new theory of man" for the modern age that he so ardently sought. I know that he always wanted to write a more coherent book on the subject, but was never able to tie things together. As far as I know, no one has attempted this specific project. I have looked up dissertations on Walker Percy that touch on his language theory, but they usually are from a literary rather than a philosophical perspective. I think that perhaps I might be able to make a contribution to this field. I do not know whether or not this project will be approved by the powers that be -- but it's the best idea that I have come up with so far. I have taken several language theory classes in anticipation of the possible project, and will wait to see what Providence unfolds. In any case, I wanted to offer a cordial "hello" and see if anyone had any thoughts. Many blessings to you all. Fr. Basil Burns, O.S.B. Monk of St. Josephy Abbey Covington, LA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a1irish at comcast.net Thu Nov 3 15:59:21 2005 From: a1irish at comcast.net (a1irish at comcast.net) Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:59:21 +0000 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Message-ID: <110320052059.3779.436A7A290004081F00000EC32207000953089C079D07CE0E@comcast.net> Fr. Basil, As someone who wrote her dissertation on Percy, I can only encourage you to explore your topic if "providence" smiles on you. It will be a journey that will bring you great joy and insight. I too have made several pilgrammages to St. Joseph Abbey and find great comfort in the beauty and serenity. I have been concerned about it since Katrina. I hope all is well there. Linda -------------- Original message -------------- I have made the pilgrammage to visit Percy?s grave at St. Joseph Abbey. Beautiful setting. In fact, such an ?understated? setting we had some difficulty even locating his grave. Perfect for Percy. -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Basil David Burns Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 7:04 PM To: Percy-L at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Dear Percy-lover-list-servers, I just wanted t0 introduce myself to the list, and perhaps spark some discussion. My name is Fr. Basil Burns, O.S.B., and I am a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Dallas. Dr. Percy is, quite literally, "buried in my backyard." I am a monk of St. Joseph Abbey in Covington where he used to take retreats, though I entered the monastery too late to ever know him personally. I know his wife, and am friends with his grandson, John Walker. I spent a year living with the family of Dr. Russell Kirk, the critic and historian, and he always spoke very highly of Dr. Percy. I am considering writing a dissertation on Walker Percy's philosophy of language, and its particular relationship with find the "new theory of man" for the modern age that he so ardently sought. I know that he always wanted to write a more coherent book on the subject, but was never able to tie things together. As far as I know, no one has attempted this specific project. I have looked up dissertations on Walker Percy that touch on his language theory, but they usually are from a literary rather than a philosophical perspective. I think that perhaps I might be able to make a contribution to this field. I do not know whether or not this project will be approved by the powers that be -- but it's the best idea that I have come up with so far. I have taken several language theory classes in anticipation of the possible project, and will wait to see what Providence unfolds. In any case, I wanted to offer a cordial "hello" and see if anyone had any thoughts. Many blessings to you all. Fr. Basil Burns, O.S.B. Monk of St. Josephy Abbey Covington, LA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Dye, Steve" Subject: Re: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 18:36:04 +0000 Size: 719 URL: From ttbrader at mindspring.com Thu Nov 3 17:36:08 2005 From: ttbrader at mindspring.com (Teresa) Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:36:08 -0600 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? In-Reply-To: <110320052059.3779.436A7A290004081F00000EC32207000953089C079D07CE0E@comcast.net> References: <110320052059.3779.436A7A290004081F00000EC32207000953089C079D07CE0E@comcast.net> Message-ID: <436A90D8.3010009@mindspring.com> From what I've heard, St. Joseph's Abbey is doing basically okay and has taken in seminarians from Notre Dame Seminary (in N.O.) for the fall semester. Teresa -- in suburban New Orleans a1irish at comcast.net wrote: > > > I too have made several pilgrammages to St. Joseph Abbey and find > great comfort in the beauty and serenity. I have been concerned about > it since Katrina. I hope all is well there. > Linda -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From a1irish at comcast.net Thu Nov 3 18:29:16 2005 From: a1irish at comcast.net (Linda Carroll) Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 17:29:16 -0600 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? In-Reply-To: <436A90D8.3010009@mindspring.com> Message-ID: <002b01c5e0ce$68ccbc60$c8a3ae43@LINDA> That's good to know. Thanks, Teresa. Linda -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Teresa Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 4:36 PM To: Percy-L at lists.ibiblio.org:Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? >From what I've heard, St. Joseph's Abbey is doing basically okay and has taken in seminarians from Notre Dame Seminary (in N.O.) for the fall semester. Teresa -- in suburban New Orleans a1irish at comcast.net wrote: I too have made several pilgrammages to St. Joseph Abbey and find great comfort in the beauty and serenity. I have been concerned about it since Katrina. I hope all is well there. Linda -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nikkibar at aol.com Sun Nov 6 14:41:41 2005 From: nikkibar at aol.com (nikkibar at aol.com) Date: Sun, 06 Nov 2005 14:41:41 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? In-Reply-To: <9177757A-1385-4F20-9A3C-656DB4D57D0E@well.com> References: <1c0.34e7911b.309af45d@aol.com> <9177757A-1385-4F20-9A3C-656DB4D57D0E@well.com> Message-ID: <8C7B1213EC03115-C70-54D8@mblk-d38.sysops.aol.com> Dear Fr. Basil, I had invited you to contact me just before the hurricane complex hit but that disrupted things. We are neighbors and should have tea or whatever stronger you like. Nikki Barranger 77130 Hwy 25 Covington 504 908 6060 (cell phone while my land line is still out.) -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Lynch To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion Sent: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 21:34:55 -0800 Subject: Re: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? How kind of you to share this and your process. Share what's comfortable. Patrick On Nov 2, 2005, at 9:04 PM, KMitch2626 at aol.com wrote: Father Burns, I once attempted such a project. But to make a very long story short, after many committee changes, life problems, and several rewrites, i ultimately put my dissertation aside and started a new life outside of academia. My only regret is that my work would have been a perfect resource for persons such as your self. Towards the end of my work i found all of Ketner's writing to be the most helpful on the subject. (even kinda had him on my committee at one time). I still have the roiginal abstract, although it doesnt quite capture where i ended up. I'll send you that at the bottom of this text. I'll also try to dig through some of my disks and see if there is any info i can share with you and others interested on the listserve. I lost a lot of my work due to a hard drive failure. but i think i still have some of the rough drafts of some of the capters lying around. if nothing else, they could give you some ideas and some good references to look at. Much of the philosophical work at the time, only dealt with Percy and Keirkegaard. Mine focused more on Peirce and Percy. Its definitely a project that needs to be done. However, i'm not in a spot right now to finish it. Also, I think if i ever were to try such a thing again, I'd simply revise/rewrite Lost in the cosmos. Bring it up to date, and change some of the stuff in the semioitc primer section. Let me see what if anything i can dig up for you, if you and others are interested. somewhere lost in the cosmos, ken mitchell DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Along with the rise of the natural sciences, there has been an increasing attempt to apply empirical methodologies to the study of human beings. This scientific approach has generated a wealth of fruitful insights into human nature and the workings of the human body. However, there has been a long-standing debate within philosophy over the limits and applicability of empirical methodologies to the study of human beings. Many philosophers have argued, and I think quite convincingly, that scientific approaches yield necessary but not sufficient explanations and understandings of human activity. Instead, they suggest the need to implement a plurality of methodological approaches to persons. Hermeneutics, phenomenology, and narrative for example, are just some of the varying methods that philosophers are increasingly turning towards to study the self. Walker Percy, perhaps best known for his fiction, developed in his philosophical writings a philosophy of the self which addresses these issues. He develops a non-Cartesian, semiotic account of the self which critiques empirical and reductionistic approaches to the self, and sets forth a theoretical foundation for the use of other methodologies, especially narrative. Percy's theory emphasizes the constitutive role of language in the formation of the self, along with the self's intersubjective and narrative structure. His theory is especially interesting in that it is built upon the metaphysics, epistemology, and semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, which until recently, have been seen by many Peirce scholars as philosophically inadequate for building a useful theory of subjectivity. My dissertation first explicates the elements of Peirce's philosophy that Percy employs, and then presents a systematic account of how Percy uses these elements to construct a semiotic account of the self. -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy -- An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bazburns at hotmail.com Sun Nov 6 16:56:53 2005 From: bazburns at hotmail.com (Basil David Burns) Date: Sun, 06 Nov 2005 21:56:53 +0000 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? In-Reply-To: <002b01c5e0ce$68ccbc60$c8a3ae43@LINDA> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sldye at bluegrass.org Mon Nov 7 10:01:34 2005 From: sldye at bluegrass.org (Dye, Steve) Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 10:01:34 -0500 Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Message-ID: <74C25147FD45F644AAB363F7A432E5F53DC10F@KingKong.Bluegrass.Board> Interesting about the plots - but would Percy want the company? Steve Lexington KY -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Basil David Burns Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2005 4:57 PM To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org Subject: Re: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Yes, most of the seminarians from Notre Dame are now residing in our retreat center. Some of the bishops, of course, have decided to send their seminarians abroad, which actually annoyed the Archbishop a great deal. From what I hear from my brother-monks, it seems that the new seminarians are taking quite a liking to the monastic setting and don't really want to return to the inner city -- don't suppose I blame them. As for some other tidbits that Percy fans might be interested in -- our cemetary (where Percy is buried) has just expanded and opened heretofore closed plots. We are certainly in need of funding. If you want a beautiful setting for your "temporary" repose and wouldn't mind being buried next to Percy, call the monastery at 1-985-892-1800. Fr. Basil _____ From: "Linda Carroll" Reply-To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" To: "'Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion'" Subject: Re: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 17:29:16 -0600 That's good to know. Thanks, Teresa. Linda -----Original Message----- From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Teresa Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 4:36 PM To: Percy-L at lists.ibiblio.org:Literary and Philosophical Discussion Subject: [percy-l] walker percy dissertation? >From what I've heard, St. Joseph's Abbey is doing basically okay and has taken in seminarians from Notre Dame Seminary (in N.O.) for the fall semester. Teresa -- in suburban New Orleans a1irish at comcast.net wrote: I too have made several pilgrammages to St. Joseph Abbey and find great comfort in the beauty and serenity. I have been concerned about it since Katrina. I hope all is well there. Linda >-- >An archive of all list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ > >Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From desmond at whitman.edu Sun Nov 20 13:51:26 2005 From: desmond at whitman.edu (John Desmond) Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 10:51:26 -0800 Subject: [percy-l] Call for Papers Message-ID: <000d01c5ee03$69d4bf30$0d01190a@desmond> CALL FOR PAPERS The Walker Percy Society will sponsor a special session on Walker Percy at the annual meeting of the American Literature Association in San Francisco, CA, May 26-29, 2006. Presentations of 15-20 minutes are solicited, on any aspect of Percy's writings. Topics and abstracts should be sent to: Professor John Desmond, Department of English, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wa. 99362, no later than 15 December, 2005. Proposals can also be submitted by email to: desmond at whitman.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From desmond at whitman.edu Wed Nov 30 00:16:04 2005 From: desmond at whitman.edu (John Desmond) Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:16:04 -0800 Subject: [percy-l] Call for Papers References: <000d01c5ee03$69d4bf30$0d01190a@desmond> Message-ID: <001201c5f56d$29f1a5b0$0f01190a@desmond> CORRECTION The deadline for submission of abstracts/proposals for the Walker Percy Society panel at the American Literature Association annual meeting (San Francisco, May 25-28, 2006) is January 15, 2006 (not December 15, 2005). Send proposals to desmond at whitman.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: