[lit-ideas] Re: Philosophy of the Weather (Was: Meteorologica)
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 14:27:39 +0000 (UTC)
For once in a way>
There are two theories as to the sense of the above - the standard one and
JLS'.
The standard is that it is an idiomatic expression where "in a way" adds
nothing but a kind of flavouring to "For once...". There are many kinds of such
expression in English where words are added for flavour and emphasis even
though their omission would not alter the substance: "Do it immediately if not
sooner", "That applies to everyone and anyone else". Though closer in sense
would be an expression like "Once upon a time and a time it was...".
The JLS' theory is that "in a way" is added by way of "conceptual analysis", to
show that any "For once" holds only "in a way" i.e. without that "way" of its
being, there could be no "For once" of that particular once-itude. [This is
what Heidegger is trying to get at, pages 651-1032 "Being and Time".]
Confirmation of JLS' thesis that "Conceptual analysis is essential to
everything" today emerged from the Professional Footballer's Association in
England: their spokeperson proclaiming that "People are human". This, JLS
maintains, is an analytic claim - perhaps indeed one of the outstanding
products of "conceptual analysis" in the sporting field.
People are human - PFA on Sterling
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| People are human - PFA on SterlingLiverpool's Raheem Sterling is only human
and made a mistake, according to the PFA's deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes.
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On Monday, 13 April 2015, 17:55, David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On Apr 12, 2015, at 11:01 PM, Omar Kusturica wrote:
The philosophy of weather is at least as developed in the Bay of Kotor as in
England.
The definitive study of P.G.Wodehouse on the subject of spring has yet to be
completed, but early indications in the journals and so forth indicate that
it'll be a corker. Omar here is onto one of the early themes, viz, that
spring's character has in it both something of nature and hints of nurture.
Here, for example, is spring in London, "It was a cheerless prospect that met
his eye. Like all English springs, the one which has just come to London
seemed totally unable to make up its fatheaded mind whether it was supposed to
be that ethereal mildness of which the poet sings, or something suitable for
skiers left over from the winter. A few moments before, the sun had been
shining with extraordinary brilliance, but now a sort of young blizzard was
raging, and the spectacle has the effect of plunging Pongo into despondency."
Uncle Fred In the Springtime, chapter one.
In the countryside, however, we see a spring that has been raised to different
standards.
"This morning Baxter was forgotten, and [Lord Emsworth] was experiencing that
perfect happiness which comes from a clear conscience, absence of loved ones,
congenial society and fine weather. For once in a way there was nothing which
he was trying to conceal from his sister Constance, no disrupting influence had
come to mar his communion with the Empress [his fat pig], and the weather, as
almost always in this favored spot, was wonderful. We have seen spring being
whimsical and capricious in London, but it knew enough not to try anything of
that sort on Blandings Castle."
U.F. in the S., chapter two.
BTW, I can't make sense of "For once in a way..." I've checked the accuracy of
my typing and--'strawdinry-- I seem to have avoided introducing an error, so
that's what Plum, or the typesetter, intended. Thoughts?
And so, to work!
David Ritchie,
where spring has sprung.
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