[lit-ideas] Re: The Donalling of Donal
- From: Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 17:00:26 -0700 (PDT)
-----Original Message-----
From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Oct 6, 2004 8:48 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Donalling of Donal
--- Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Oct 6, 2004 4:05 AM
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Donalling of Donal
>
>
> Donal is not reducible to what Donal does: Donal is, in part, a *self* and
> Donal is a complex of *dispositions* and neither of these are reducible to
> what he does.
>
>
> A.A. If we aren't what we do, then what are we?
To be clear and I not saying we are not at all what we do, just that we are
not merely what we do. Our selfhood and dispositional range are not reducible
to our actions: a self is not a mere 'doing' and neither is a disposition.
Not everything that exists is a 'doing'.
A.A. I can see this on the level of someone who, say, might routinely perform
macho activities (bull fighting) when in fact he would prefer to be shopping at
the mall for curtains. It can be argued here that this person is not macho,
but rather, is sensitive. The operative word here, of course, is "is" rather
than "performs" (or does). We can conceivably *be* sensitive without doing
sensitive.
>What does one call a self
> that sits and does nothing?
For a long time the answer was Brian Wilson. But I don't see the relevance of
the question to the issue - are we merely what we do, or is there more to
it/us than that?
A.A. Here I think we can go a step further and say that if we in fact are
sensitive but do macho, then we are really a hypocrite, or too scared to show
our real self. Therefore, the doing of the macho to cover up for the sensitive
is what makes us who we are, i.e., the scared person. We are still proving
being through doing. How else can anyone know someone, except by what they do?
>Even sitting and doing nothing is doing
> something.
Yes, this is true, though I find it is often hard to convince the boss. Even
sleeping the body is active - active, for example, in maintaining the state
of sleep. But this does not mean we are simply what we do.
A.A. If something is alive and does nothing at all, what is it?
Andy
Donal
___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!
Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
