Eric Yost wrote: "Certainly you disagree with writers like William Barrett, whose _Irrational Man_ puts K strictly in existentialist territory." That book by Barrett has done more to confuse people about K. then any other. (A bit of hyperbole there but the point stands.) K. is not an existentialist and in the right context I would be happy to show it. Eric again: "Fundamentalism is rationalist in the same way a woodpecker is a carpenter. Only by accepting your initial presupposition--that a rationalist system can be based on any particular delusional system--could you even claim that fundamentalism is a form of rationalism. But you appear to desire to do so...in which case you would have to allow Nazism as a form of rationalism." To be clear, I said rationalistic, which is a different beast from rationalist and rationalism. It is rationalistic in that it begins with a self-described literal, as opposed to figurative or analogical, reading of the Bible. Next, it perceives fundamental principles or laws at work that are understood as principles of reality. From these fundamentals, further laws can be deduced that then govern how one ought to live. Finally, rejection of the fundamentals or the laws that follow is a sign of a defect of character and mind. This basic structure applies also to Nazism but here I invoke Godwin's law. What identifies a rationalistic approach is the belief that there is a structure of reality that can be determined 'literally', that this literal perception of reality produces principles of action, and that disagreement is the result of a weakness of character or mind. Eric concludes: "As for 'reason and faith' making intellectual headway, I think you confuse headway with head count." Fascinating. While the two are not identical, what could 'headway' mean if it didn't also involve headcounts? Sincerely, Phil Enns Toronto, ON ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html