[lit-ideas] Re: The Institution of Slavery and the Concept of Free Will
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:45:14 +0100 (BST)
Assuming some indeterminancy (at least of interpretation): could not this story
hinge on a play on words between the literal meaning of 'twisting a leg' and a
non-literal meaning, that may be akin to 'pulling my leg' or 'twisting my arm'
or even 'twisting my melon' in their non-literal meanings? So it is a kind of
joke and not a case where Epic (as his friends called him) was making a
prophecy, the fulfillment of which demonstrated determinism?
Btw, apparently Epic was a depressive and so this story is also the first
instance of saddo-maso-stoicism.
Donal
--- On Sun, 24/4/11, jlsperanza@xxxxxxx <jlsperanza@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: jlsperanza@xxxxxxx <jlsperanza@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Institution of Slavery and the Concept of Free
> Will
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Sunday, 24 April, 2011, 23:47
> Geary asks:
>
> > Is the physical world strictly determined?
>
> This was partly Epictetus´s problem. For those who know
> Greek, they should be amused that what Epictetus said, in
> Greek, was:
>
> "You will twist my leg."
>
> His master did eventually twist Epictetus's leg. Epictetus
> commented,
>
> "I told you you would twist my leg."
>
> Epictetus held that the physical world was strictly
> determined. He said, ironically, that he had "free" will.
> This offended a few.
>
> And so on.
>
> Cheers,
>
> J. L. Speranza
>
>
>
>
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