[percy-l] I hope I am not becoming a pest / WP student video

Henry Mills III henry at henrymills.info
Tue Jul 10 05:38:50 EDT 2012


Janet,
Thanks for sharing this video and your other many recent stimulating 
thoughts. It's been great to see a recent resurgence of discussion on 
the list, and especially rewarding to see a person from a younger 
generation as in this video becoming inspired by Percy. I only wish I 
had been "turned on" to Percy at such an early age.  I will be certain 
to post a link to the video on the Percy Project website in the days 
ahead along with it already being archived in the Percy-L archives.  I 
hope also to announce to the Percy-L community new ways for it to get 
involved in the Project in coming months.

Best wishes,
Henry

--
Henry Mills, Director & Editor
The Walker Percy Project
Percy-L Moderator
www.ibiblio.org/wpercy


On 7/9/12 6:56 AM, janet cantor wrote:
> Re: The Thanatos Syndrome of Walker Percy:
>
> *Eros and Thanatos*---Freud identifies two drives that both coincide 
> and conflict within the individual and among individuals.  Eros is the 
> drive of life, love, creativity, and sexuality, self-satisfaction, and 
> species preservation. Thanatos, from the Greek word for "death" is the 
> drive of aggression, sadism, destruction, violence, and death.  At the 
> conclusion of /C&D,/ Freud notes (in 1930-31) that human beings, 
> following Thanatos, have invented the tools to completely exterminate 
> themselves; in turn, Eros is expected to "make an effort to assert 
> himself in the struggle with an equally immortal adversary. But who 
> can foresee with what success and with what result?"
>
> In *Civilization and its Discontents*, Freud struggles with paradoxes:
>
> 1.Human behavior is motivated by a desire for happiness ("satisfaction 
> of needs").  Humans bond together to promote happiness.  This bonding 
> or "civilization" works against individual happiness.
>
> 2.Although civilization prevents happiness, it is necessary for human 
> life.
>
> 3.In order for civilizations to be coherent, they channel their 
> aggression toward scapegoats (those excluded from the coherence), but 
> with little effect: "In this respect the Jewish people, scattered 
> everywhere, have rendered most useful services to the civilizations of 
> the countries that have been their hosts; but unfortunately all the 
> massacres of the Jews in the Middle Ages did not suffice to make that 
> period more peaceful and secure for their Christian fellows"
>
>
>
>
> AND this is an awkward kid who made a video for his teacher as a 
> school project to explain Existentialism. Forget about his hemming and 
> hawing and just listen to him. This is the clearest explanation of 
> Existentialism I have ever heard.  Note especially what he says about 
> Kierkegard. I just love this primitive video:
>
>
> Existentialism & Walker Percy.mp4 
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU5mozqWOEA&feature=em-share_video_user>
>
>
>
> --
> 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
>
> Contact the moderator: percy-l-owner at lists.ibiblio.org (note: add @ sign when addressing email)


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